Reptile & Amphibian Forums

which one should i feed my juvi. leo

Well, this has been debated a dozen times in this forum, so I'll give you a quick summary. Before I start, I should point out that I feed mealworms. Now that you know my bias, i'll try to keep this as unbiased as possible. Hopefully this won't stir the debate again and get everyone going.

Mealworms:

Pros:
-easy to keep. Don't make any noise, you only need a small containter for a colony, and they don't smell.
-freshly molted ones are easily digestible
-similar nutritional content to crickets based on proper gut loading
-you can feed them out of a small glass dish. If I go away for a weekend, I can just leave plenty of mealies in a dish and my geck will pick away as she gets hungry
-They can't get out of a shallow glass dish, so you don't have to worry about them biting your leo while it sleeps
-cheaper than crickets (unless you're dealing with thousands of crickets for larger groups of leos, then it's probably about equal)

Cons:
-Slightly higher fat content than crickets.
-they don't move much, so your leo may get lazy because it never has to 'hunt'
-Leos won't always eat the pupae stage because they don't wiggle much (if at all)
- Their hard chittin shell is harder to digest. Try to feed freshly molted mealies if possible

Crickets:

Pros:
- active food source, so your leo can have fun hunting
- slightly lower in fat content than mealies

Cons:
- If they're left in the tank too long, they can nibble on your leos toes while it sleeps
- Smell of housing if you don't clean a lot
- can carry parasites, and are more likely to have parasites than mealies
- if they eat corn based products that are moldy, it can cause serious health problems for your leo. (although mealies and crickets can both cause problems if they eat mold)
- If they get out in your room, you'll be annoyed beyond belief.

That's all I can come up with off the top of my head. I'm sure I missed something, and I expect to hear from a bunch of people. The 'mealworms vs. crickets' debate is almost as popular as the 'sand vs. paper towels' debate. (the 'UTH vs. Overhead Heat Lamp' debate comes in a close third for popularity)

So now that you know the differences, let me say that I prefer mealies because they're cleaner, they can't get out and escape in your room, and they're cheaper. I'm starting my own self sustaining colony based on 500 mealworms i bought for $5. They seems to be similar in nutritional content (you can search on google for nutritional sites), and as long as they're properly gut loaded, they're an acceptable feeder.

I'd say it's about a 50:50 split among members of this forum as to what they feed.

>>which one should i feed my juvi. leo
>>

-----
Blaine

0.0.1 High Yellow Juvenile Leo (Echo)

I think Blaine covered most of the pros and cons nicely in his post, so I'll simply post the reasons why I prefer (and feed) mealworms.

1) They do not stink
2) They are quiet
3) They are much cheaper
4) They don't die off like crickets can, one batch can last months
5) They take up way less space
-----
-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

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

LIfe has been easier - my herp room smells better - my attitude is rosier - and my leos are fatter with mealies. . .

Here's a good tip - Try the T-REX Sandfire Leopard Gecko Cricket Balancer on mealies. My first test results have been terrific. It's awesome stuff.
-----
Monte Meyer
Powergeckos
Email

No Fru-Fru morphs in the herp room

You would think Monte has some stock in T-REX!!!!
-----
You can never have just one gecko. Actually it is almost impossible to have two
My Geckos

Somebody needs to make a signature out of that.
-----
chickabowwow

3.2.3 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)

hmmm...I should jsut put a 'common sense caresheet' as my sig....

>>Somebody needs to make a signature out of that.
>>-----
>>chickabowwow
>>
>>
>>3.2.3 leopard geckos (Rosie, Locke, Lisa, Caesar, Tommy)
-----
Blaine

0.0.1 High Yellow Juvenile Leo (Echo)