Mealworms are bad for beardies?

[Krissyabbott]

Eugene is a spoiled brat. He is an adult and will only eat a few bites of veggies a day. He flat out REFUSES to have anything to do with crickets, but he loves mealworms. Superworms are his meal of choice. I saw somewhere that these are bad for him and now I'm worried because it's pretty much all he eats. Is that true? Anyone else have this problem with picky eaters?

 

[Claudiusx]

Mealworms are no good.

Superworms are a fine staple for an adult done growing. No more than 5 or 6 a day.

-Brandon

 

[Krissyabbott]

Thanks for the advise. My bf likes to give him like 20.

 

[Killzone3265]

Mealworms are no good.

Superworms are a fine staple for an adult done growing. No more than 5 or 6 a day.

-Brandon

so you're saying that with that amount of worms + the vitamin supplements, it would be fine for his bug side of food?

 

[Claudiusx]

For an adult, yes.

-Brandon

 

[Xeyla]

For his bug-side of food, yes. Make sure to offer greens everytime you feed him though. Try mixing in the worms to trick the little man into eating some greens.

Never, ever feed him regular mealworms. The ratio of chitin to meat is very high. Think of mealworms as a corn husk. Not much nutrition, is there? Think of the superworms as the ear of corn. There is more food in a ear of corn than in the husk. Mealworms also cause impaction, since they have too much shell, and not enough meat.

 

[Krissyabbott]

Okay, thanks for the advice. He hasn't had mealworms in a while so I'll just stop getting them all together. I have managed to trick him into eating some veggies by having him hang out with me when I'm having a salad because he likes to steal anything on my plate. His former owner used to give him mealworms and iceberg, and when I bought him he hadn't been fed in a week. Yikes. But he seems happy and healthy now.

 

[Xeyla]

If your salad has spinach in it, don't let him eat it. Spinach binds to calciun, and his body can't absorb it. The calcium will pass through his body, along with the spinach.

 

[Krissyabbott]

Okie doakie. We stick to mostly romain.