Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got my first batch of mealie worms tonight and they look kinda big. Im not sure if its safe to feed Leo a whole one or two.

Leo has been eating crickets one size larger than the pinheads with no problem. He would eat about 5 pinheads when I had those. Lastnight he ate 4 of the slightly larger crickets. Now all I have are these mealworms. Im guessing there size to be about
1 1/2"

Is it ok if they crawl outta the bowl? I assume Leo will find them in the night hours right?

Pet shop told me crickets if to large can break Leos back, ever heard this? Heres Leo for size and I got new substrate tonight=)

Crickets CAN'T break a leos back unless there is like 1000 of them on the back at once, or it has very serious MBD. Dont feed mealies if they are longer than the geckos head. And since you are using a particle substrate it is VERY bad if the mealies get out of the dish because your geccko might get a mealie and some little rock thingys. Get it off that substrate. What is the substrate?
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0.1 Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 ball python (felix)
1.1 feral cats (Fuzzy, and Bear; it used to be fuzzy, wuzzy, bear)

I already got the riot act for that substrate shown, so moving forward =)

Anyway then these mealies must be too big. Cut them in half maybe? That would be about the size of his head.

Im checking the internet I bet I was misinformed and these arent mealies... grr live and learn!

how long is his head? because mealworms dont get that much bigger than 1.5 inches, so you might have bough giant mealworms (Insect growth hormone ones) or superworms. Which i prefer over mealworms for adults because they are more digestable. I think you should take all the cage decor out of the cage and see if it will eat a cut in half mealworm/superworm/giant mealworm. Then if he/she does feed her/him some more. I don't think you whould leave them overnight because bacteria might start to grow.
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0.1 Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 ball python (felix)
1.1 feral cats (Fuzzy, and Bear; it used to be fuzzy, wuzzy, bear)

So I grabbed two small mealies and dipped em in leopard dust and I have 2 crickets in the tank as well. The crickets are eating on the mealworms and Leo has no clue there even in there yet..

I thought too I got large mealies but after looking at them again I guess maybe not, they just seem girthy...

most likely mis informed, pet store really suck sometimes,, i had that heppen... make sure they are the larvea of the darkling beetle. your leo looks like he could handle a full grown regular mealworm they are a little under an inch

How long will they keep before I end up with beetles?

I can't tell you for sure but, it may take a week or to at least 3-4 at the most. you can keep them in a cooler place to slow them down, but i advise against puting them in the fridge it slows them too much. it also depends on how big the worms are

The breaking the back statement came from eating a cricket that was too large for Leo. Being inside Leo.. Not from crickets jumping on his back lol

oh. I thought that sounded weird. I don't think a cricket could break its back if it was inside the leo seeing as how leos give them a nice big crunch when eating.
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0.1 Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 ball python (felix)
1.1 feral cats (Fuzzy, and Bear; it used to be fuzzy, wuzzy, bear)