Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i purchased 100 from the petstore and they had them in the fridge. the guy told me to put them in the fridge and then take them out for a little bit right b4 i feed them to my leos, then put them back. i'm supposed to take them out once a week to feed them, but otherwise they're fine.

what are your guys' suggestions? i would like to start my own colony, but for now, i would really just like to keep these other ones alive and maybe get a feel for the right kind of setup for breeding them eventually. i know ive asked a lot of questions about mealworms already, but i really wanna do this right. i have a lot of goals for my hobby, and i never seem to be able to meet them, so i'd really like to get at least this aspect right. thanks for all your help.

-chip

ps...don't be scared about giving too much detail

Hi Chip

There is a web page on a highly respected gecko breeders site that has a "Care Sheet" for mealworms that should answer all your questions.

Web page: http://www.geckoranch.com/care.html

Take Care, TLB

hi chip

well, you want to start off by making a gutload for your mealies... most people use rolled oats with a slice of carrot or potato at the top for mosture. my gutload consists of a mix of different things people suggested to me on this forum. i have a little bit of oatmeal (from the store, but not the instant kind), some non-fat powdered milk, some wheat, some of my leo's calcium, some baby cereal, and some fish flakes. i put my mealies on top and they dig their way down... and then i put a small piece of paper towel on top with a slice of apple, sometimes a carrot for mosture (they go up for that).

if you refrigerate them, they'll most likely go into hibernation and not be gutloading that much... so you'll wanna either (1) leave the mealies out to gutload --or-- (2) take out how many ever mealies you feed in one sitting, leave them gutloading for 24 hours, then feed them to your leo so they stay packed with nutrients. if your leo leaves a couple of them behind, you can put some trex sandfire cricket gutload in the dish and the mealies keep chomping on it while they wait to be eaten

if you have any more questions, be sure to ask! take care!

[aimee]
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1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Melvin)
1.0 Black Lab / Pitbull mix (Mikey)
1.0 Blue Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
2.0 Fire-Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
http://aimee.i8.com

thanks so much aimee for your help! but i have another question, and since you encourage asking, here goes!

i pretty much just need more clarification about the whole paper towel on top and then the water source. do i want to cover the whole top with paper towel and then put on a couple apple slices or something? or should i just pick out a little spot and cover that with paper towel and then put the fruit on? will the mealies drink the moisture off the paper towel, or directly off of the water source? i separate with a paper towel so it doesn't mold, but i'm just wondering how the mealies are going to get to the water source if the paper towel's stopping them...or maybe i'm still not understanding something. are the mealies sure to go searching for the water source if they need it? im so used to crickets, and most of the crickets that have died in my care seemed to have dried out when there was water not far away...so i don't want the mealies to just dry up cuz it's too hard to find the water source.

i hope that made sense. i'd appreciate anymore info/clarification that you can give. thanks!

-chip

hi chip you can keep those questions coming as much as you want

as for the mealies, you can choose a spot in the container to put the paper towel on - don't cover the whole top! when the mealies are thirsty, they'll go looking for the water source, so they'll either go from the top & sides of the paper towel & crawl up onto the apple, carrot, or potato slice(s) that are on there and start drinking - if you take the lid off, you might catch a few of them on top and trying to run for cover coz all that light just came in also, there may be a couple mealies clinging upside down under the paper towel b/c they're trying 2 get the water through it... either way, they'll get to it so just choose a spot

hope that helped! take care

[aimEe]

ps: if there are a couple mealies left in the dish after your leo stopped eating, you can put a gutload layer thin enough so that your mealies don't hide from your leo. i use the trex sandfire cricket gutload, which was recommended to me by a few forum posters. also, you can add a small slice of carrot/apple/potato for the mealies over night - so they'll be gutloading for your leo before he decideds to eat them
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1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Melvin)
1.0 Black Lab / Pitbull mix (Mikey)
1.0 Blue Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
2.0 Fire-Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
http://aimee.i8.com

Are the mealworms supposed to move? The ones that are in the feeding dish aren't moving.
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0.1 Leopard Gecko (Kai)
0.1 Spiney Soft Shelled Turtle (Berta)
3.1 Cats (Lancelot, Galahad, Orion, Mally)
1.0 Husband (Greg)

mealworms are definitely supposed to move--unless they're dead. when i first purchased mine, they weren't really moving because they were cold still (cuz the petstore kept them in the fridge). are yours cold? otherwise, they're pry dead.

-chip

Hello

If your mealies were hibernating during refrigeration, let them thaw for about an hour - but if you've gutloaded for 24 hours prior to feeding, then they should be fine. Sometimes they just stop moving, but will walk again eventually. If they look stiff and are somewhat hard and their legs aren't wiggling a few seconds after you touch it, then they're probably dead. If the mealies are BLACK in color, or EXTREMELY DARK, then yes, they're dead But sometimes they like to just hang out... after a while they should be back to normal. I also hear that it's best to store them in a container that isn't see through and doesn't have much light coming in because they prefer the dark.

I hope I helped!

[AiMee]

>>Are the mealworms supposed to move? The ones that are in the feeding dish aren't moving.
>>-----
>>0.1 Leopard Gecko (Kai)
>>0.1 Spiney Soft Shelled Turtle (Berta)
>>3.1 Cats (Lancelot, Galahad, Orion, Mally)
>>1.0 Husband (Greg)
-----
1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Melvin)
1.0 Black Lab / Pitbull mix (Mikey)
1.0 Blue Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
2.0 Fire-Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
http://aimee.i8.com