Mealworms

[flutter]

Let me first stress that I am not switching my dragons food, he's staying on crickets, so don't worry! I just want to know people's experiences, so please refrain from your beardie protecting instinct of 'ahhhhhhhhhhh no mealworms!!!!!!!!!!', I already know, the dragon is in no danger, so relax, have a beer lol

(for anyone reading my previous threads I've discovered that what he is eating is normal, so he's ok, so glad!)

I've obviously read all the stuff about mealworms being high in chitin and fat, and low in the good stuff that a dragon needs, so don't worry I know all the bad side. But I've come across some people that do feed mealworms as a staple.

Has anyone here fed their dragon primarily on mealworms, so used mealworms instead of crickets for their feeder? What was your dragons health like, and how long is/did the beardie live for? I want your story whether it be good or bad. I've just read all the evidence supporting mealworms as a feeder, and so far all the evidence is lacking in research or the figures used are falsified. So what are your experiences with using mealworms as a staple feeder instead of crickets?


P.S. Please don't worry, I'm not going to shoot you down, or call you a terrible owner, I just what your experience, because at the end of the day if your dragon is happy and healthy on it, then who am I to butt in? And if it was a bad experience, please still let us know, I'm sure it was part of a learning curve for you, and by telling your story, it can be a learning curve for others...

 

[VerriKerri]

I'm feeding mine mealworms right now instead of crickets because my house has a ridex monitor in it which kills insects with sound waves and Haku won't touch the dead crickets, he likes things that move. So for me it's because I have to. I just got him a few days ago but he seems to be doing ok with them. He won't eat them out of the bowl though, he waits until they escape and chases them around his tank.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Let me start by saying I do not condone feeding mealworms to baby beardies.
I have a 7 y.o. beardie who is happy and healthy. When I first bought her from a petstore at 4 wks of age, I was told to feed her crickets and/or mealworms. I started off with the crickets and after a while hated the care of them, so switched to mealworms. My beardie, Rex, was fed primarily mealworms(with the ocassional cricket) for pretty much the first 4 years of her life. I then decided to do some research online to see if I was giving my beardie the best care possible. This is when I stumbled upon this fantastic site. I found out here that I was using the wrong UVB's all along and not supplementing with calcium/multivits as often as I should. The mealworms I was not that concerned about, because she was already 4 y.o. I did however switch to more nutritional worms for variety and an overall healthier choice of feeders for my beardie.
Now I have to say... even though my beardie did not have any impaction problems with the mealworms, I do not recommend them being fed to the younger beardies. The reason for this is that over the course of being on this site for almost 3 yrs and helping many new members with their beardies, I realize not "ALL" beardies do well with mealworms. I have replied to post after post of baby beardies becoming impacted from mealworms and even ones that have died from the impaction that the mealworms caused.
I have come to the realization that mealworms "may" cause impaction, so why take the risk and feed them to your young beardie. It is no different than any other risk or danger in life. You know what the risks are with drinking and driving, so why do it? You know what the risks are of not putting your child in a car seat or seat belt, so why do it? You know what the risks are of feeding your dog chocolate, so why do it?
The moral of the story is.... Why do something that "MAY" pose a threat to your animals health and/or life. If you know the dangers or risks up front, then there should be no questions asked as to why you should or shouldn't do something.

Sorry... I know that was a long post and by no means was it directed at anyone. Just wanted to tell my story and also get my point across about the dangers of mealworms. :wink: I will say though that I think it is fine to give an older beardie mealworms as an ocassional treat.

 

[flutter]

We give our dogs chocolate, 2 small jack russells, I've just graduated from my chemistry degree so I know what it is in chocolate that hurts them and how much there is, and it actually takes quite a bit to do out, saying that, every animal is different and some ones dog may be hyper sensitive, so please don't go feeding your dog chocolate off this!

I think that's the message behind everything, like you said, every animal is different.

I was just shocked when I was on RFUK and they literally ripped my head off for saying about the negative effects of mealworms! They sent me a link to an article, this article referenced a journal. I found the journal, and the guy who wrote the article had used figures from the journal but they were the wrong figures, he used the figures in the journal for superworms, not mealworms, so the article was incorrect. So I added this information to the tread on RFUK that this article was wrong, so they came back saying that they had PHDs so they knew more than me, that this writer guy is very credible blah, blah, blah....... and then locked down the thread so I couldn't enlighten them further..........

So basically, I'm clueless as to why they think what they do, and was hoping someone else did, coz I just feel so....... I don't know how to explain it, but it's just that feeling when someone tells you something knew but then won't explain why....... I guess its kinda frustration.

 

[Terminator7777]

I have two dragons that are just a bit over 10 weeks and one eats mealworms and never had a problem. But the other one doesnt touch them even over nite i have tryed but if i feed waxworms loves them more then crickets and i do no there is a impaction issue with mealworms but waxworms come on there like mainly water. I cant wait til i can feed my two babys superworms cause my older dragon flys across the whole tank to receive them. It works for me but reptile owners need to push silkworms and phoenix worms in petstores even the reptiworms i believe you will see in petstores i think there new feeder. Just always feed small mealworms to dragons at any size the medium ones i believe will hurt them. Mealworms have a myth of eating they way out of reptiles but its only a myth.

 

[flutter]

I've heard that about mealworms, that they eat through the dragon lol. I'm not saying its impossible, but it is unlikely, you'd be unlucky if it did happen.