Mealworns and leopard geckos

[ccclcl]

Why are meal worms considered a pretty ideal staple for leopard geckos but not even recommended for chameleons?

 

[MissSkittles]

Why are meal worms considered a pretty ideal staple for leopard geckos but not even recommended for chameleons?

I wonder about that too, but don’t have a good answer. They aren’t recommended for beardies either. My Leo’s are the only ones I give mealworms too, but I’m trying to get them used to superworms instead. I always offer my Leos a variety of feeders as they can have fussy appetites at times.

 

[DocZ]

I don’t think there is anything wrong with feeding mealworms to any of your lizards. The reasons given to not use them are not supported by any scientific data. They can be part of a varied diet for most any lizard. I give my Leo all the same stuff I give my Chams

Here’s a good discussion on the Forums about them and some of the evidence showing that they are a good feeder to use
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/the-evils-of-mealworms.180182/

I think this applies well for Leo’s too. Ignore the “Not recommended” regarding mealworms

 

[ccclcl]

I don’t think there is anything wrong with feeding mealworms to any of your lizards. The reasons given to not use them are not supported by any scientific data. They can be part of a varied diet for most any lizard. I give my Leo all the same stuff I give my Chams

Here’s a good discussion on the Forums about them and some of the evidence showing that they are a good feeder to use
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/the-evils-of-mealworms.180182/

I think this applies well for Leo’s too. Ignore the “Not recommended” regarding mealworms
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Ok, this is a very important take! Since you have experience with Leos do you know how they do with black soldier fly larvae?

I saw those in legit Leopard Gecko husbandry communities being cautioned as less than ideal, but I worry to your point about that not being scientific.

 

[MissSkittles]

Ok, this is a very important take! Since you have experience with Leos do you know how they do with black soldier fly larvae?

I saw those in legit Leopard Gecko husbandry communities being cautioned as less than ideal, but I worry to your point about that not being scientific.

What did they say made them less than ideal?

 

[DocZ]

Ok, this is a very important take! Since you have experience with Leos do you know how they do with black soldier fly larvae?

I saw those in legit Leopard Gecko husbandry communities being cautioned as less than ideal, but I worry to your point about that not being scientific.

The negative I hear about about BSFL is issues with digestability. I have read reports of whole undigested larvae being present in the lizards poop

I suppose this is possible, but I would guess you’d see it more often if the lizard had eaten lots of them at one feeding

This article talks about BSFL digestability. It does note that there is less digestion of the calcium rich exoskeleton which would affect one of their most important characteristics, high calcium to phosphorus ratio
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7213736

I don’t think this precludes them from adding variety to the diet, but it does bring the high Ca to P ratio of BSFL to question. Sometimes it’s said not to dust them. I always still do, but this might mean they definitely need to

 

[ccclcl]

The negative I hear about about BSFL is issues with digestability. I have read reports of whole undigested larvae being present in the lizards poop

I suppose this is possible, but I would guess you’d see it more often if the lizard had eaten lots of them at one feeding

This article talks about BSFL digestability. It does note that there is less digestion of the calcium rich exoskeleton which would affect one of their most important characteristics, high calcium to phosphorus ratio
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7213736

I don’t think this precludes them from adding variety to the diet, but it does bring the high Ca to P ratio of BSFL to question. Sometimes it’s said not to dust them. I always still do, but this might mean they definitely need to

Yeah, that is what I heard as well. They recommend piercing the larvae before feeding to help with digestion, but ick. I guess I'll just try it for myself when I get a leo since there may be some individual variation involved.

They also said most leos just don't like to eat BSFL, but that's a little hard to decipher given that I personally believe there's a lot of mealworm-addicted geckos out there.

@MissSkittles that was it.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I tried BSFL with both my beardie and chameleons. In both cases, the darned things would either pupate or die within a week. In either case, they didn't stimulate feeder/hunting response sufficiently.

I've switched to giant mealworms in lieu of regular. They really aren't much bigger, but they're still cheap (leaving some $ for other more expensive "treats"), they last me 6 months without pupating, and they're well-liked and well-tolerated.