Mealworms - yay or nay?

[graceface]

I'm curious about what everyone here has to say about feeding mealworms to adults as the main insect type in their diet. The care sheet says no, but my local vet and rescue both feed mealworms. If they're gut loaded, is it safe and healthy? Is the issue impaction or calcium deficiency? Haven't committed to what insect I'll be feeding yet but definitely won't be going with crickets or roaches, and mealworms seem to be the cheapest option of the worms.

 

[Taterbug]

You will most likely get responses telling you not to feed them. Impaction and nutrition are the main reasons. However nutritionally mealworms are similar to super worms (and thus fatty), they can be gutloaded. Supposedly they have a harder shell that's difficult to digest however impaction can have many factors including low heat and dehydration. I've not bothered to feed them - there are better options out there.

For me superworms are more appealing becuase the larger size. But they still aren't suitable to me as a staple becuase of the fat.

Almost all feeder insects are very imbalanced in Ca naturally, and should be gutloaded to enhance nutritonal content. (Most other worms can't be very effectively gutloaded).

 

[graceface]

I've always thought that Superworms had a harder shell also is this not true?
And could you gut load Superworms to make them nutritionally ok as a staple?
I'm also trying to think of what I could buy local, and I don't know if the pet stores sell Phoenix worms in store (and I really don't want to support pets mart). I know that my local rescue sells roaches which I could try to get over...

 

[SDragon]

Nay

Awful calcium to phosphorus ratio, high chitin content and as far as I understood it, won't gutload easily.

Superworms are better on all of the above including how hard the shell is, but still too high in fat and I'm not convinced can be gutloaded sufficiently (that's just an opinion though).

Pheonix worms are good.

Really, I think if you want to keep a dragon, you should give it the best diet you can, not exclude components because you don't like them.

 

[Taterbug]

Variety is best when ever you can offer it. All insects have pros and cons. Hard shelled insects can be good for keeping the teeth clean and dental health. Fatty insects can be good for nutrient variety or for animals needing more fat in the diet. Depending on care, age and diet insects can range wildly in nutrition content, especially fat when it comes to larval insects like hornworms and soldier fly larvae.

You can gutload most insects, and there is quite a bit of literature on the effects of different diets. Some are more challenging for us hobbiests due to specialized diets (hornworms, silkworms) or specialized feeding (black soldier fly larvae prefer decaying food). The most basic form of gutloading is feeding fresh produce, on up to specially formulated diets with specific nutrient levels in them. Supers and mealworms are typically kept on bran or oatmeal which is not a good gut load and unfortunately you cannot avoid the fat content in them.

This article does a good job explaining some of the details and how "chitin" content is a bit misleading. http://www.geckotime.com/nutritional-value-of-commercially-raised-insects/

 

[graceface]

Thanks everyone

In thinking of going with a mix of everything. Superworms, soldier fly larvae, butter worms and roaches if I can get them from somewhere.

Can worms be refrigerated to make them last longer?

 

[Taterbug]

Thanks everyone

In thinking of going with a mix of everything. Superworms, soldier fly larvae, butter worms and roaches if I can get them from somewhere.

Can worms be refrigerated to make them last longer?

Butterworms can. Soldier fly larvae and waxworms can be cooled, but you need something a bit warmer than a fridge, like a wine cooler.

Silkworms eggs can be kept in the fridge too, and hatched as needed if you ever want to try rearing silkworms.

If there are reptile stores or shows in your area you might be able to find roaches there. A lot of the vendors at the show local to me have dubia and sometimes there are others too (discoid, red runner, and bannana roaches are also used as feeders).

 

[graceface]

Are butter worms large enough to feed to an adult or are they so small that he would eat a zillion of them?

 

[Taterbug]

Are butter worms large enough to feed to an adult or are they so small that he would eat a zillion of them?

The big ones are pretty decent sized, maybe an inch or so? They are a lot like lawn grubs (but orange) if I had to describe them. Soldier fly larvae are pretty itty bitty.