Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what are the dangers of feeding too large of mealworms to my gecko. i have a small one and it eats whatever i put in front of it. i have various sizes because of my bigger gecko. can the little on choke on the worms if they are too long?

My male ate one giant mealie and that was it, he went on a hunger strike. Giant Mealies move Rapidly, making it annoying for the leo when they eat it. I havent heard of leos choking on them. They usually kill the meal by the time its in the stomoch. And just to add, The Giant Mealies are enhanced with a hormone to keep them from growing into flies, thats why there big like that.

I reccommend 3/4 of a inch mealies, thats why I buy. And if your local petstores sell 50 for 5 bucks, try a online petstore like reptilefood.com, they sell 1000 for 5.50 plus shipping.

Good Luck.
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Normal - Male - Ninja
High Yellow - Female - Ninjete

I'm not sure where you got your information, but mealworms do NOT turn into flies. Mealworms are the larval stage of the darkling beetle. On top of this, I've never heard of a hormonal treatment that prevents them from morphing into the beetle stage but I may be wrong about that. If you got that info from the same source taht said that they turn into flies, I'm pretty sure it is false.

Feed your geckos mealworms that are no bigger than about 90% of the head, just to be safe.
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-Kristin

0.2.2 Leopard Geckos
(Kumquat, Tamale, Jujube, and Nougat)

Just found this:

"Giant Mealworms are treated with a growth hormone that stops them from turning into the adult beetle. This hormone causes the worms to grow to two to three times their normal size. We do no recommend that you use Giant Mealworms to feed your reptiles, birds and pets, but they are great for fishing bait. Fishermen just love Giant Mealworms for bait." -www.mealworms.com/

So I guess if it is actually a GIANT mealworm don't feed it to any of your leos. If by giant you mean a large "normal" mealworm, then I would just feed it to the adult.
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-Kristin

0.2.2 Leopard Geckos
(Kumquat, Tamale, Jujube, and Nougat)

Never woulda thought.

if he can eat one that size it's no big deal the hormone is negligible but he will digest smaller worms easier and therefore obtain more nutritional benefit from them. in herps more med. size meals grow faster herp than a few big meals. -phillip

I was wrong about the flies, sorry. Im new, thanks for correcting me. Giant Mealworms on the other hand, are injected(or fed) with hormones which prevent them from growing into these beetles.
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Normal - Male - Ninja
High Yellow - Female - Ninjete

my leos won't even bother with mealworms, but they LOVE superworms. Even my 5 and 6 month old juvies will easily tackle a 1.5" super without problems.

and as an FYI, superworms are COMPLETELY different than giant mealworms.

I was thinking of trying superworms, but I haven't gotten around to it because all my leos seem to enjoy their mealies enough that I haven't really bothered with them.

Is it easy to "farm" superworms?
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-Kristin

0.2.2 Leopard Geckos
(Kumquat, Tamale, Jujube, and Nougat)

I wouldnt know. The ones I purchased awhile back were called Giant Mealworms, and the guys at Petco said they were treated with a hormone that kept them from changing into beetles.

And from what you said, All Leos have there own habits, In fact, Im sure Giants will eat giants no problem. That isnt the case for my leos.

If Superworms are not related to Giants, I wouldnt know, I have never seen supers then.
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Normal - Male - Ninja
High Yellow - Female - Ninjete

That's completely false. The giant mealworms (or superworms or zoophobas) are totally a different species from the regular smaller mealworms; they are not treated with hormones; they are just different species. They take longer to mature into the beetles; that's why most breeders prefer to use them over regular small mealworms. They should be kept at room temeperature, which they will stay in the larva stage for quite sometime. Ocassionally, I do feed them to my juvies, and they seemed fine. If you are worry, you crush their heads before giving them to your gecko.

That's completely false. The giant mealworms (or superworms or zoophobas) are totally a different species from the regular smaller mealworms; they are not treated with hormones; they are just different species. They take longer to mature into the beetles; that's why most breeders prefer to use them over regular small mealworms. They should be kept at room temeperature, which they will stay in the larva stage for quite sometime. Ocassionally, I do feed them to my juvies, and they seemed fine. If you are worry, you crush their heads before giving them to your gecko.

The only thing you got right here is that the supers are zoophobas and are a different species. There ARE Giant Mealworms that are treated with hormones. The Supers aka Zoophobas will not morph into a beatle with other supers around them, they have to be isolated to make the change. The reason I use supers over mealworms is I don't have to keep them in the fridge, they have a little more nutritional value than the mealworms, and they are more active making them a more attractive food for the leos.
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www.LeopardGeckoBreeder.com

www.LeopardGeckoArt.com

9.23.22 Leos
0.0.1 AFT
1.1 Red Ear Sliders
0.0.1 Russian Tort
1.0 Pembroke Corgi
0.2 Cats
8 fish

I had a some of mine morph into pupae and one turned into a beetle.