Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a couple of leos that appear they could probably use a little more size to 'em (one looks pretty healthy, but the other is probably skinnier than normal). I know wax worms shouldn't be a staple diet because of their fat content and addictive nature, but if I were to feed them to my geckos (about 5 months old) how often and how many should I feed? Thanks.

i give mine about 3 wax worms each a week and they still eat crickets and mealworms without a fight and they have grown much bigger in the month and a half i had them,the smaller one is now almost bigger than his cage mate who easily has a good size diffrence on her

I'd never feed waxworms. A good thing to bulk your leo up with is Superworms. Just give them as treats once in awhile. You'll notice your leo gaining weight in no time. But remember, fatter doesn't always mean healthier!
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-Jeff
Webmaster of Leo Land
Your One Stop Source for Everything Gecko!

I think superworms can be more than just treats, but only if your leo is big enough to take them. I feed mine at least a few everyday, and they do seem to enjoy them more than the mealworms.

A great way to put weight on a leo is to just keep a bowl of mealworms in the tank at all times.
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chickabowwow

Are super worms ok? i have a 8 month old fat tail, and have heard differing opinions. do i have to cut their heads off to feed them to my aft??
ive never tried wax worms either. only meal worms

No, you don't have to cut off their heads. I can't believe that myth is still out there, heh. If you ever see a leo or aft eat a meal worm or super worm, you'll notice that they crush them up pretty good. And if the worm manages to stay alive and go into the stomach, it will die within seconds of hitting the stomach acids. Hope that cleared things up for ya a bit!
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-Jeff
Webmaster of Leo Land
Your One Stop Source for Everything Gecko!

I don't cut the heads off, because they'll stop moving which takes most of their appeal away. I've never had a problem with them biting my leos, but my leos gobble them up fairly fast.

You don't want to feed wax worms because their nutritional value doesn't amount to anything. Superworms aren't that much different from mealworms nutrition-wise.
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chickabowwow

Actually, Waxworms are better for leo's than some other invertebrate prey... they have about the same calcium ratio with a lower phosphorus content than crickets do. But that benefit is balanced with an overall fat content 3 times what a crickets is. In all reality, Waxworms would make a very good supplement to a debilitated animals diet.

Nutritional Analysis of Invertebrate prey

www.darkwaters.com/lucien/animals/Invert.doc

Just click cancel when the username/password box comes up. You'll get to the file anyway.
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Lucien

1.0 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)
3.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzard and 2 het Blizzard)
0.1 Savannah Monitor
13 rats
12 Gerbils
2 Dogs
3 cats
1 Albino Corey (fish)

Well, yes for a debilitated gecko, but not for a growing gecko.

Besides, I don't think crickets and waxworms can be compared like that. Here's a quote from some literature my vet gave me:

"Studies have shown that gut loading crickets with a diet containing at least 8% calcium fed for at least 48 hours prior to being used as a food item for reptiles and amphibians would produce a meal that had a Ca ratio of 1:1 or higher (Allen and Oftedal, 1989). Crickets that received dietary supplementation of calcium of 8% or greater also had three times the calcium content of those that were dusted with calcium supplement but not gut loaded prior to being used as prey items (Trusk and Crissey, 1987)."

You can boost a crickets' calcium content by providing a high-calcium gutload. But you can't gutload a waxworm the same way, because all they eat is honey and bran.
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chickabowwow

Yeah, I always have a dish with mealworms in them at all times. I usually feed crix everyday if I have them. I can't feed superworms to my leos--my leos are too small.

I personally wouldn't feed them any waxworms at all while they're still growing. It'd be like giving Lays potato chips to a little kid. You should be filling his stomach up with healthier stuff.

There's no quick solution to fattening up your leo. And in fact, rushing the process will probably be detrimental to a developing leo. Just keep feeding the mealies, make sure they have a strong and varied gutload, and you'll get a healthier leo in the long-run.
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chickabowwow