Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I use those glazed ceramic dishes that are about 2.5" diameter and 1" tall for holding mealworms in my leopard gecko cages. I also use those little tiny kidney bowls for calcium dishes. Every once in a while I will notice a mealworm that has gotten out in one of their tanks. Thats not too much of an issue as its usualy one and its usualy never far from the dish. Here is the problem I am haveing.

Whenever I put waxworms in the dish I come back 20 min later to see if any of them started eating and the majority of the waxworms have crawled out and are all over the place. I also got one of those hampster dishes that is the same size but 1.5" or 2" tall for superworms but the superworms always got out of that so I tried the dish on the waxworms and they still are able to crawl up the sides and get out.

What can I use for mealworms and waxworms that they wont crawl out of. I seen the lees mealworm dish but I think the mealworms might get out of that easier. I dont know why the waxworms can crawl up the dish so easily. Its glazed and smooth. If anyone also knows something good for superworms. I wont use them now cus everything I tried they get out. I dont want the worms crawling all over the place.

The kidney bowls are a little larger daimeter wise but I think they are a little shorter and they have sloped sides wich makes it easier for the worms to get out. I also tried some glass ashtrays but again they have sloped sides wich the wax worms were able to get out of. I saw an exo terra or I forget the brand worm dish that had a type of rim to keep the worms in but that thing is huge.

These are feed dishes you mean? Or are you storing waxworms etc in shallow dishes before feeding to your reptiles?

If the dishes are too shallow any worm can climb out just by using the length of their body and leaning against the sides of the dish. Waxworms are caterpillars and have feet that are similar to gecko feet..so they can climb nearly any surface though not quite as well as climbing geckos (leopard geckos of course can't do this but other species of geckos can, like the Rhac species, tokay geckos, house geckos etc.)

For all my reptiles I feed in ceramic containers I find at a dollar store. I never had super worms get out unless the lizard manages to tip it over or gets one crawling on his snout which is very rare...and even if it does get out of the container, the lizard eats it before it can run away and hide (I use paper towel or plastic table cloth as substrate in all my cages).

There are three sizes of these scalloped sided ceramic containers I use, the largest I use for my bearded dragon. The smallest size I use for geckos. I use the medium size mostly as water dishes. Actually I use them for feed or water dishes for all my animals...including my young or small species of snakes.

Below is a picture of the largest ceramic container I use. It is about 4" in diameter and 2" high.

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PHLdyPayne