Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I think I have decided to go with the worms as my staple meal for when I get my Leo, and I'm just wondering what to use to gut load the worm? And also what and where do you guys keep the worms? I'd also like to thank you all for your help..this forum is really really helpful. Thanks.

Hi!

Mealworms are much easier to do than crickets, just make sure you offer some variety and give em crickets and waxworms every once in a while so they wont get bored with just the mealworms.

For the care, i keep mine in a small plastic critter keeper (you can get em at most pet stores.). you can use oatmeal and spirulina fish flakes as a substrate to keep them in, they will eat that, and you can put some foods like potatoes or apples, or anything that holds moisture, in there for water and another food source. Good luck!
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~Melissa~
1.2 Leopard geckos
1.0 Bearded dragon
1.0 Hog Island Boa
0.0.1 crested gecko
1.0 Ferret
0.1 Chinchilla
1.0 Chinese Praying Mantis

Melissas Menagerie

Mealworms are a great staple.

I keep them in rubbermaid tubs, shoebox size, $1.00 from Walmart.

For gutload I use chicken mash and carrot/potatoe as a moisture source.

Good luck with your new gecko(s).
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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Ball Pythons, Red Striped Leos, W.Hognose and Screaming AFT's

I started my mealworm colony at the beginning of Novemeber with 3000 worms. Right now I have more pupating than I can count. I have placed all of them in a separate container. When they turn to beetles I have put them in a container of their own. I was going to wait about 2 weeks and remove all the beetles from that container. I was hoping there would be enough eggs by that time.

I only have 3 geckos. How many beetles should I keep? Right now I just want to get the first batch of eggs going. I am assuming that I will have to buy more worms before I get my birst feeding batch of worms. So my questions are. How long from the time I introduce the beetles to each other to having worms large enough to feed to adult leopards? And how many beetles for 3 gecko worth? Right now I would guess I have about 100 beetles.

Thanks,
Matt

Go to a farm feed store and ask for layer mash or layer crumbles. This is chicken feed for hens used for egg laying. I bought a 10 pound bag for $2.35 (no tax). The ingredient list was identical to Flukers cricket cut load but for about 1/100 the price. I baked the mash for about 25-30 minutes at 250 degrees to kill any other insect eggs. Sometimes it is ground up finer than other times. If I don't think it is fine enough, I simply blend it. I will also include some oats to the blender. I just buy the local grocery store generic, much cheaper than Quaker. For moisture I use carrots, kale, potatoes. Sometimes I throw a slice of bread in, just watch for mold. Any veggie scraps get thrown in as needed. But definitely check out the layer mash, will save you money.