Mealworm Disclaimer

[Bio123]

Many people criticize mealworms. Mealworms are the ideal food source for many herps.
Their chitinous shell is a great provider of structural protein. In general, all a mealworm is composed of is water and protein, which makes a mealworm poor in nutrition. Therefore, nutrition must be added to a mealworm's diet. Fruits and vegetables provide a great source calcium, fiber, carbohydrates, and vitamins for the mealworm. Mealworms excrete dry, dusty feces. This means that they absorb most of what they eat. In return, the chameleon has access to all these nutrients.
The popular beliefs about mealworms eating through stomachs are also false. Compaction is a threat, but if your mealworms and chameleon have plenty of water, this shouldn't be a problem. I conducted experiments testing if a mealworm could eat through a stomach. I placed a mealworm in an inflated balloon filled with moisture. After about 3 seconds, the mealworm stopped moving. Moisture blocks a mealworm's airways, so it dies.
Mealworms are the easiest insects to breed, and can have great nutrition if you feed them the right food. They are the perfect feeder! Go breed some mealworms today!

 

[Syn]

The popular beliefs about mealworms eating through stomachs are also false. Compaction is a threat, but if your mealworms and chameleon have plenty of water, this shouldn't be a problem.

This belief is more directed towards superworms.. and I believe the word you are looking for is impaction.

 

[Bio123]

From what I have read, people tend to be more liking toward superworms because they have a softer shell. I did mean impaction, thanks for the edit.

 

[Syn]

Sorry, I meant the eating through the stomach to the supers, and the compaction to impaction.

Yes, superworms have a higher meat to chitin ratio compared to mealies. Too much protein isn't good, either.

 

[Bio123]

I haven't done any tests on supers, so I wouldn't know. They seem close enough to mealworms to have the same effects though. Their size makes it easy for the chameleon's teeth to rip them apart before swallowing. Mealworms on the other hand only seem to get chewed before swallowing. Too much protein does cause problems. All their protein comes from oats and grains that most people keep as their substrate. I mix my oats with nutritional yeast, alfalfa powder, and a tiny amount of mineral salt. I also put half of my supplements into their bin. So the less oats and more food, the better.

 

[Syn]

Too much protein does cause problems. All their protein comes from oats and grains that most people keep as their substrate.

But would that not contradict what you just said? Or am I just confused? Please explain, I am curious to learn!

Their chitinous shell is a great provider of structural protein. In general, all a mealworm is composed of is water and protein, which makes a mealworm poor in nutrition.

 

[Bio123]

Well, balancing the protein in the mealworm's system is the key. You don't want your chameleon to have gout by intaking too much protein, but you still need a sufficient amount. Mealworms will naturally convert most food into protein for their minimum needs (i.e: chitin exoskeleton). Mealworms will not overload with protein if their food does not contain as much. A cup of oats contains a whopping 16.28g amount of protein. Therefore, giving the mealworms a variety of other foods will balance it's protein with minerals and calcium.

 

[Syn]

Interesting. Thanks for the information, I wonder if anyone else has anything to say on the matter, though.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Some chinton in your chameleons diet is a good thing, indeed a necessary thing. Too much however is certainly not a good thing (as previously noted, impaction).

Even well gutloaded mealworms have a fair chunk of chinton compared to what else they can provide. its Too much if used too often. Mealworms, like most larva, are also somewhat fatty. But They're certainly easy to breed and I see no reason not to use mealworms, sparingly, as part of a varied diet.

This article may be of interest:
http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=53

 

[summoner12]

it seems staying away from a meal worm might be better?

but yeah... as long as you vary the diet as sandra said.... I have not had meal worms since my first cham.

 

[kinyonga]

Don't superworms and mealworms eat the same things? So how is one better than the other in that respect?

 

[tkilgour]

The pet place near my home calls superworms, extra-large mealworms. JFYI

 

[sandrachameleon]

Don't superworms and mealworms eat the same things? So how is one better than the other in that respect?

Mine eat essentially the same things, except Supers will happily eat old horse dung and semi-rotting leaves whereas the mealworms dont (I do not give horse poop to the supers that are being fed to my chameleons, only to those being fed to wild birds). I dont think there is any difference there, except that superworms eat more (being bigger) gutload in a give period of time, and presumably that would pass along to the chameleon, along with being Thicker bodied, more "meat" vs skin.

 

[Pumpkinface]

i keep my king mealies in a goldfish bowl and gutload them the same as i do the crickets. i dont really give them a bedding but they make their own out of their food, like kiwi and pomegranite skins

 

[chameleon97]

They are the perfect feeder!

How?
Silkworms have more calcium,
Crickets can be gutloaded easier,
Superworms are softer,
Mealworms are only nutritious because their gutload, which they don't eat much of, anyway. And, too much protein is harmful. They are, however, excellent for enrichment feeders, just for the extra chinton boost.

I give them 3.5/10

-Steven

 

[renzo0684]

How?
Silkworms have more calcium,
Crickets can be gutloaded easier,
Superworms are softer,
Mealworms are only nutritious because their gutload, which they don't eat much of, anyway. And, too much protein is harmful. They are, however, excellent for enrichment feeders, just for the extra chinton boost.

I give them 3.5/10

-Steven

I agree with this. I would not change feeders from silkies and crickets to mealworms. I deffinatly would not breed meal worms if you only have chameleons that would be a waist.

 

[Pumpkinface]

my only problems with using mealies too often are the cham constipation which a little flaxseed oil can help with, and the fact that some cham's become stubborn and go on cricket strikes if you offer too many yummy, fatty mealies.

 

[dannigrrl]

but arent you supposed to keep mealworms in the fridge?

 

[draetish]

my only problems with using mealies too often are the cham constipation which a little flaxseed oil can help with, and the fact that some cham's become stubborn and go on cricket strikes if you offer too many yummy, fatty mealies.

How much flaxseed oil do you give a constipated cham and how often? At what point would you consider giving to them? Is it good for anything else?

 

[ballin]

but arent you supposed to keep mealworms in the fridge?

thats for storage over long periods of time. they dont eat or grow as fast as they would otherwise