Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been feeding them pretty much only waxworms for about the past 2 years. They are both over 4 years old. If I put crikets or other food in there, they seem to ignore it. They will eat the occasional mealworm, but pretty much all they want are waxworms. What can I do to change this? I read that waxworms only are not good for them.

Also, when they shed, they always end up with skin on their toes that doesn't come off, so I have to pull them out and get tweezers and try to pull it off for them. I do not use a shed box because I tried it once and it didn't seem to work. Maybe I didn't leave it in there long enough?

One last thing, how can you "gut load" mealworms and/or waxworms? I know how to do it for crickets, but not for worms.

Any advice for any of the questions? Thanks for any help.

It's the same with my friend's gecko. He woudl only eat wax worms. So we got some butterworms, and gave him a butterworm or two. Then afterwards he would eat the mealworms. (We don't feed crickets). I don't know if that might help.

When you use a humid hide, make sure it's dark enough and on the warm side of the terrarium (on the end with the heating pad, if that's what you use). If it's on the cold side, it won't be too appealing to the gecko.

Gutloading....
You can't gutload waxworms. They don't eat at this point in their lives. But I have heard something about using honey or beeswax with oats, but that was for breeding (so unless you want breeding wax worms....). Just keep them in the fridge door.

For mealworms, you can do it in a similar way to crickets. keep them in a 1-inch bed of bran, or crushed 12-grain cereal, and sprinkle in some vitamin/calcium powder. The lay some slices of an apple or potato on top, to cover most of the exposed bran. There, that's it!. They feed off the bedding, and the fruit/vegetable is a source of water. Make sure you change the apple/potato regularly though, or it will dry out/mould. You don't want mould, lol.

Thanks for the input, I will try the butterworms and what you told me about the gutloading.

your right about the wax worm's there more of a treat for any gecko as they become addicted to them . you might have trouble getting them off of them ,
you could also try to take a wax worm and use the guts on a meal worm , ive herd it work's becuase they lick it.

i only use meal worms and cricket's
and i coat both with pure calcuim ,

i would recommend keeping your humid hut in the cage at all time's and just misting it for them.. it helps mosit there feet so when they shed it comes off there toes,

meal worms i only work with but i have them in like a tub from walmart and i have about 1 inch of corn meal in it you could use wheat germ too.
but i use corn meal and i just get like veggies from the store and put it in there for them
if there kept in a freezer then they dont eat so i just have mine out to gutload .
all they do is pupate into a larvae and then form into beetle's

any questions ask good luck with thoughs gecko's and there eatting habits

So what do you do with the beetles?

The beetles then make more mealworms for you right? So you never have to buy more mealworms?

It's the same thing for the beetles as it is for the mealworms. Except the beetles lay eggs in the substrate, so don't throw that out! In about three months you'll see mealworms in it. Remember to keep the life stages separate. I raise mine with very little vegetable content. Just carrots every once in a while. My substrate is chicken mash. And my colony grows every few months. I've been self sustaining for almost 7 months, so you should be able to no problem lol.

-Trav

I've tried the quishing wax worm guts over mealworms thing....
....it didn't quite work for me. The wax worm wouldn't spill its guts. It was just squashed like play-dough.

One other thing. Mealworms have to be kept in the refrig right? When they are in the frig they don't move right. So when you try to gut load them are you suppose to keep them out of the frig so they are active?

Leave them out.

If you want to breed the worms, keep them out at all times.
Or you can keep them in the fridge and take them out for one or two days a week for them to eat and shed. Shedded mealworms are very white, shiny, and squishy. They're better for your gecko because they're easier to digest.