Mealworms, yay or nay?

[utd007]

Hi guys

Wanted to try my 5 month old beardie with some mealworms as they are quite cheap at my local store, do you reckon I should? Will it hurt him? I've given him like 5 in the past 2 days, will he be ok?

He's currently on a staple diet of crickets and greens daily.

Thanks

 

[Claudiusx]

I don't think it would hurt to feed in small quantities as long as you have a good setup,

But my answer is NAY.

They are a very poor feeder. And by poor I mean in nutritional value.

-Brandon

 

[utd007]

Thanks for the advice Brandon.

What do you mean by good setup exactly? As in the vivarium?

So how many per day do you reckon?

Cheers

 

[Snowball0807]

Nay. No nutritional value, they're absolutely 99% chitin. The only thing they're good for is impaction. I wouldn't feed one to my baby, and especially at 5 months.
Hopwever, by setup I think brandon meant heat, UV, staple feeder, etc.

 

[omahadragon]

Nay.

 

[randommonks]

Meh occasional snack, maybe. Staple feeder, definitely not for a bearded dragon. If you do maybe 5 a week or so, it probably wouldn't hurt. They last a long time in the fridge, and a container of 20 mini-mealworms lasted me about 2 months (always forgot about them) when Darwin was about 8". I didn't buy them again even though Darwin seemed to enjoy them cuz it just didn't seem worth it to me.

Make sure your basking temps are about 105F and you have a good UVB, and it should be ok.

 

[Mirthy]

I'd say Nay, too. Just not worth it. Lower protein, higher risk of impaction. Even crickets have higher protein.

 

[drgnfly2265]

Nay

 

[Beardednoob]

Nay

 

[Carnivorouszoo]

I have to agree, its a waste of money. They'd need way too many to equal one cricket to make it cost effective plus the more they eat of them the more shell they have to force out the other end...ouch!