Mealworms - Have they been demonized unjustly?

[CooperDragon]

Do you have a contact for Allen, or should I just use the contact form on his website. At least I assume it's his website lol.

-Brandon

I don't have contact info for him, but if you can't get a hold of him directly via his website, then I think he has some material published about feeder nutrition and supplementation (I feel like I've read through some in the past but don't recall exactly)

 

[CooperDragon]

Mealworm were then reared in constant indoor condition at 25 ± 1oC, 50% ( ± 10%) relative humidity with a 14 L: 10D photoregime. Wheat bran likely the main food for mealworm and vegetable such as cabbage, reddish and carrot etc was added as water source twice a week.

This is from the Nutritional Value of Mealworm paper. I wonder if making changes to the diet would affect the end results for the nutritional values that were reported, or if they convert a wide range of foods into something specific that they need.

 

[Claudiusx]

I reached out, I'm not holding my breath though.

I wonder if making changes to the diet would affect the end results for the nutritional values that were reported, or if they convert a wide range of foods into something specific that they need.

I would have to imagine it's a mixture of both. I'm sure diet has some effect, but probably not as much as their genetic predispositions. But, it would be fun to experiment and see just how much we can change.

-Brandon

 

[Claudiusx]

Well I reached out on ig and was told I was only speaking to the manager and that they didn't know... lol. No recommendation on how to get ahold of him.

So I guess I'll try the contact form on his website and see where that gets me. I have a feeling I'll need my universities lab anyways so maybe I'll just skip straight to there.

-Brandon

 

[Claudiusx]

Actually, I'm finding a couple of online labs that you can send items out to. They aren't very cheap, but perhaps this could be a feasible option for testing.
Still doing research into this. Haven't found a lab specific to insects, but most of these labs do "pet food"...

Certified laboratories <personal note>

-Brandon

 

[AHBD]

I just saw this thread and I agree. I've always fed mealworms to my guys and once had a colony going for 5 years . They are SUPER easy to raise, easy to get and easy to keep. Feeding them in the manner that you all described gives them a decent nutritional value . I would say though that it's still advisable for new beardie owners that have baby dragons to use mostly small crix, dubias + bsfl [ silkworms too if you can ] rather than mealies. It's too easy to get mixed up and offer a 6=7" dragon a bunch of mealworms that are a bit too hard to digest which may then be thrown up later or the next day. So very small dragons as well as sickly dragons do better with only a very few mealies in their diet [compared to the other types of insects] or just freshly shed mealies and not in a large amount. Larger dragons can be fed mealies along with a few other good staples.