Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've heard that mealworms aren't good as a sole diet because they have too much chitin.

Is there really anything to this, or is it just a rumor that hasn't been killed yet?

I know that many people have kept and bred leos on just mealworms, but I wouldn't want to harm my geckos (if I get some) by just feeding mealworms (I have a thing against crickets).
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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 2001 Hypo snow cornsnake
0.1 2002 Pastel Ghost cornsnake
1.1 2002 Bloodred cornsnakes
0.1 1998 Het Hypo, Het Caramel cornsnake
1.0 2000 Hypo Het Caramel cornsnake

well...relatively speaking...yes...the mealworm does have more chitin than other feeders...crickets, superworms, silkworms etc etc....however me and many other keepers im sure have found that geckos expel out the chitin so it doesn't matter anyway....my geckos have never had a problem with difficulty of digesting mealies...and they simply expel out the chitin....i like mealworms because of their convenient nature...ease of care..and easy to feed...simply put in dish and wait....if u think that mealies produce malnutrtioned/sickly geckos...check out this site:..

www.progeckos.com....look in the breeders section...his geckos are fed solely mealworms...and occasional pinkies for females...other than that...solely mealworms...

hope this helped...i personally use mealworms and have never had a problem with them....great feeders...IMO
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"you won't know success if you haven't failed..."-eric chen
1.1.1 Hi-Yellow Leopard Geckoes
0.0.2 Blizzards
0.1.0 Western (Plains) Hognose Snake
0.1 Boxer Dog

I feed strickly mealies to my adult male leo.. he's fine. Passes them fine.. never had a problem. Depending on what substrate you have your leo on would also depend on if you'd want to feed crix. I have my adult male on a substrate I don't want him to eat.. so I feed mealies in a dish.. that way he doesn't inhale the substate while eating.

My other two geckos eat crix with occasional mealies..

Also mealies are much easier to keep alive and handle.
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~Kayla
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1.0.1 Astrid *adult*, Quin *juvi unsexed*
0.1 Pictus Gecko *Raine*
1.1 Hollond Lop Bunnies *Panda, Oreo*

If you want your leo to have a variety in its diet thats a good thing. I feed my geckos a variety of things, but I always make sure that all my feeders are gut-load with the best that I can give them.

Mealworms are easier to deal with and also breed. They dont stink like crickets and mealworms are much cleaner than crickets. Mealworms wont crap in your leos enclosure like crickets will. Mealworms dont carry parasites like some crickets can.

You can also feed your leos super worms. They are a little tricky to breed, but once you have your colony going, they just keep reproducing. If I have any super worms pretty small like the size of mealies I'll feed them to my younger leos (juvies) My adults will eat the big worms.
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Shayna
www.LeoLoversLizardLounge.com