Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi folks. i gave my young leo a few wax worms for the first time the other day. He appreciated them, but left me with a runny yellowish mess in an unusual part of his tank. I assumed that this is just the nature of excreted wax worms. But yesterday, I gave him another wax worm and noticed a mess under his warm hide, which he usually keeps clean. Is there something that I'm missing? Could this be indicative of bad worms or just a diet change? Should I be concerned? thanks and good day

It could suggest a problem digesting. Either the heat is too low, the waxworms aren't good, or you have a parasite problem. You shouldn't have the waxworms as the only food during a meal. Only feed one or two, along with less of their normal food. The fecals should look the same as with a normal meal with no waxworms.

temps are about 90. There were a few blackened wax worms in the container. Should I throw em out? He seems to enjoy eating them, but has certainly not digested them properly. Should I be concerned?

The black waxworms are dead or dying...don't feed them to your gecko. You can keep the white ones.
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Official Leopard Gecko Freak
My husband can barely keep me from bring home every one I see!

1:1 Leopard Geckos - Gilean and Aurora
2:0 Cats - Troi and Mitsu (shhhhh...don't tell them they're neutered!)
1:0 Husband - He's more work then all the others combined! Just about eats me out of house and home...but I love him anyway!

how often do you feed wax worms to your gecko(s)?

At most, I'll feed one per week. Sometimes I'll skip a week and then feed 2 at once, but never more then that. They'll usually get from 2 - 4 per month. Kinda sucks when you have only 2 geckos and 50 waxworms...lol. Half of them go bad before I can use them.

i agree. i wish they sold em in smaller amounts. My juvenile could use a little "fattening up" but I dont want him/her to become dependent on wax worms, as i hear they can be addictive to leo's.