Are baby mealworms ok

[NickyandKiki]

Can I give my baby bearded dragon small meal worms or is it best to stay away all together?

Thanks Nicky

 

[Geri]

Yep ur beardie can eat them.

 

[GReth24]

NOOO!!!!!! dont give them mealworms they have a hard shell and can cause impaction. its best to stay away from them

 

[ShannyBeard]

Can I give my baby bearded dragon small meal worms or is it best to stay away all together?

Thanks Nicky

Only as an occasional treat and not as the main staple feeder. What other feeders do you have available to you?

 

[NickyandKiki]

I'm so confused I keep hearing different advice they are baby mealworms but I've heard it's the shell my beardie can't handle is this right or not?

 

[Geri]

Your beardie can eat them but not to much. Just make sure ur beardie doesnt get impacted. If it does then DONT give it to ur beardie anymore. It depends on the bearded dragon. My beardie eats them fine.

 

[Kristen623]

I've been confused about the mealworms too. My beardie is 3 months old & I've been feeding him the mealworms since we got him (2 weeks). But after joining this site, I read the nutrition care sheet & realized that mealworms are not good for daily consumption. The mealworm container has a lot of expskeletons & I don't like that. Yuck! The reptile store I bought Rango from said it was ok to feed him small superworms. I was at Petco the other night & had a container of small superworms in my hand and the girl at the register refused to sell them to me. She said superworms will eat the stomach walls of the beardie from the inside out if not digested properly. She said she feeds her Beardie mealworms as a staple. Confusing I know. Once again I called the reptile store to ask them about the superworms & he said it's a myth & that superworms will not eat the inside of the beardie's stomach. Now according to this website, I should wait to give Rango superworms until he's bigger so that's what I'm going to do. Per the nutrition caresheet some of the staple worms that are safe are Phoenix worms and silkworms. I am going to try ordering Phoenix worms online and some of the local pet stores have silkworms.

 

[Claudiusx]

While baby mealworms would in fact be easier to digest, it doesn't change the fact that they really are a crap feeder when it comes to comparing them nutritionally to other feeders.

I don't feed them to my dragons because i'm worried about impaction, I don't need them to my dragons because they have such little nutritional value. A diet with low nutritional value can cause even more problems than just impaction.

-Brandon

 

[Kristen623]

Brandon, I can see what you're talking about when you say "crap feeders"... and I mean it literally! I noticed when my beardie craps, I can actually SEE small pieces of the mealworm in his feces. If I can recognize the parts, then he must not be digesting them well, correct?

 

[Claudiusx]

Brandon, I can see what you're talking about when you say "crap feeders"... and I mean it literally! I noticed when my beardie craps, I can actually SEE small pieces of the mealworm in his feces. If I can recognize the parts, then he must not be digesting them well, correct?

Heehehehe :lol: :mrgreen:

And to answer your question, Correct. :wink:

-Brandon

 

[dangit12]

yes they can cause compaction since of the hard exosckeleton. even if there babys i wouldnt do it and since i have a baby bearded dragon it i wouldnt risk it

 

[ShannyBeard]

yes they can cause compaction since of the hard exosckeleton. even if there babys i wouldnt do it and since i have a baby bearded dragon it i wouldnt risk it

You are right, but it is impaction, not compaction. but you have the basic concept right!

 

[Paradon]

These people are correct. I wouldn't feed them to my babies either. They're crap. Why fill their stomach with something that is low on nutrients when it could have been filled with roaches, crickets and soft bodied worms. You are just giving them less nourishment when the space of their stomach is fill with something like mealworms and less on the nutritious stuff. :wink:

 

[cybercat]

No to mealworms. Yes to baby superworms. You might want to try silkworms or butter worms or even large phoenix worms.

 

[NickyandKiki]

Thanks everyone gonna stay well away from the meal worms