Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering after seeing some of those articles if a baby/juvenile dragon could eat zoo med canned mini mealworms as a staple without getting impacted since they are cooked and have softened exo skeletons.

opinions?

thanks

I don't know the product, but my response is NO. First, in my experiance it is not the hardness of the chitin that causes impaction, it is the fact that it does not digest (not quickly enough anyway) and it balls, clumps, and cloogs up the pipes. In the impaction removals I have been allowed to watch they never pull something hard out. Its always a mushy clump of indigestable materials.

But the realy question is, with the outragous calcium robbing phosporus levels and the high fat why would you want mealies in the diet at all...I mean if there weren't so many better alternatives...but there are a lot of insects that are just nutritionally superior with impaction issues totally disregarded.

Just my OPINION!
Kakadu Dragons

-----

Ya but in reptiles magazine showed those beardeds same age and their size difference one was huge....and on here someone said they used them and their bearded grew really fast.So I dunno besides if they are dusted with a supplement they should be fine calcium wise.

Again the thing in reptile magizine IS a PAID advertisement. The owner of minimealworms.com IS NOT trustworthy. He has NOT put ANY research into his product. He does NOT know the nutritional content and has not even had these insects analyzed by a lab. He does not understand reptile nutrition. He is FULL of false claims and praise for his worms BUT NOTHING BACKING IT UP. His products should be considered dangerous until he starts backing his claims with ANY and I means ANY type of research.

Does anyone actually believe that minimealworms accounted for the size difference of those dragons? And to put that up as the only PROOF that the insects are a good choice is extremely ignorant.

If you want to see the forum where this guy tried to defend his TOTAL lack of research just e-mail me. Its very scary.
Kakadu Dragons

-----

Ctually, Jen... I've been using them and had NO problems..... My little female had a feeding response to them that is AWESOME!!! she would eat crix and silkies just not as much as she shoiuld be eating! When I dump these in her cage she goes nuts!!! I've been watching her poop and though there are some "exoskeletons" visible (just like crix eaten) I've had no problems with her not pooping she has normal bm's.... and the way she has began to grow.... YES I do believe that those pics and the claims are true. Course this is my experience with only one hatchling........ Disclaimer.... your results may be different........

Robert Wood
-----
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,
adored by little statesmen, philosophers and divines.
Ralph Emerson

Hi All,
This is just my opinion, and I haven't had dragons too terribly long, but the eating response is terrific with these mini's. I did notice normal poops, no problems with impaction. I had a small baby that took off on these things. They dust okay and are easy to keep. Why would a dragon take off in size if they weren't nutritionally okay?

There is way to much information not included in the ad in Reptile Magazine or even their website for mini-mealworms. For instance, just how much food the smaller dragon was fed. I could feed a single bearded dragon one cricket a day and the other unlimited crickets and get the same result.

Silkworms also allow for good growth

Since you're cool with Zoo Med's "Can o" products I would try there mini crickets instead of the mealworms. Just watch the amount you give them. I think it's great product becuase of the moisture content, having them them cooked in the can most likely kill most bad organisms, and best of all...already dead crickets.

I would also dust them with whatever supplement you use before feeding them to your dragon(s).
-----
0.0.2 Bearded Dragons(Ziggy and Stardust)
0.1.0 Royal/Ball Python(Not named yet)

Boy oh Boy,
Have you smelled the Can O products? I gag terribly when smelling them and can't enjoy the mealtime with beardies smelling the remnants of the odor.

What? Have you smelled LIVE CRICKETS, CANNED DOG FOOD, RODENT FEEDERS? Why do you care how your animal's food smells? I doubt it bothers your animals. LOL!

I mean come on, we're talking about lizards who poop then walk through it. LOL!
-----
0.0.2 Bearded Dragons(Ziggy and Stardust)
0.1.0 Royal/Ball Python(Not named yet)