Reptile & Amphibian Forums

whats the difference between the two?

protein wise?

and how much should i feed my geck per day? ( hes a juvenile..)
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1 leopard gecko- corona
1 japanese chin pup- layla
1 kitty- libby
1 fishie- hoodlum

Mealworms can be used as a staple diet. Waxworms should NOT.

Mealworms - feed as many to your leo as you notice he/she eats everyday.

Waxworms - one to two worms a week is more than enough. These things are to leos like chocolate is to us. Not so much protein, but plenty of fat. They're often used to help "fatten up" leos. But I wouldn't give a juvi more than one a week. Keep the rest of them refrigerated.

~~Dusty Windom
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So Many Alleles, So Little Time...!
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~~The Gecko Barn~~

I'm not gonna start a debate, but I'd personally never use mealworms as *my* staple diet...but that's subjective and that's just me.

Wax worms are moth larvae. They are fattier and have less nutrients but can be good for putting weight on skinny leos. Caution should be used as our little gecko friends can get addicted to these lil' pieces of "fast food" as they're akin to feeding cheeseburgers to our reptile friends. Wax worms are softer, with no hard exterior, but move less than mealies (some of mine wont eat anything unless it's moving a lot)

Wax worms are also more difficult to keep alive than meal worms in my experience. I keep both in the fridge to keep them "sedated" and then pull them 24 hours before feeding to my leos and gutload them with catfood, veggies, and "Total Cricket Gutload Bites".

Mealworms *can* be used as a staple diet. Meal worms are Darkling Beetle worms that eventually turn into larvae and into beetles. As a result, mealworms have a hard chiton shell-like exterior. As they grow, they shed this exterior and regrow it again. Still, they are far um..."crunchier" than I personally would never do that. They're harder to gut load and dust with calcium/vitamin powder than crickets and some of my leos simply won't touch them because they don't move enough.

Its also better exercise for the leos to chase moving prey such as roaches and crickets. When your reptile is eating, the reptile gets whatever nutrients the prey has eaten. I do feed meal worms on and off, but they are more difficult to gut load by feeding them proper nutrients than crickets. Still, as MissWisdom pointed out, mealies are much more nutritious than wax worms!

PS: Crickets will eat both mealworms and waxworms if left in the tank....NASTY!!
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Too many Leos
1.0 feline "Spot"
0.1 canine "Tika"

I find my waxworms die if i keep them in the fridge. I keep mine in an open tupperware container on the shelf near my tank. If they are kept on things like rolled oats, they seem to survive fairly well, just don't buy too many at once as their "shelf" life is a little over a week or two.
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- Melanie

2.0.0 cats
0.0.3 crested geckos
1.2.2 leopard geckos
1.0.0 Bernese mountain dog
1.1.1 red ear sliders
0.0.1 emperor scorpion
0.0.1 chilean rose tarantula
1 south american cichlid tank
2 planted tanks with dwarf cichlids and platies

As I said, you can use mealies as a staple diet. But thank you for not trying to start a debate. I use them as staple diet because they're a lot cleaner, and I don't have crickets running all around my floor and boy. *Oy*

Also, keep in mind that crickets will not only eat the leftover mealies & waxworms if left in the tank. If they're left in the tank without food & water, they'll start going after the leo. They've been known to start trying to "chow down" on leos. I also don't bother with them because they're so hard to handle, and they have the abilities to carry sickness, if they were raised in a bad environment. One of my babies got sick that way.

So, yes, crickets can be wonderful, so can mealies, both have their downsides and both have their upsides *Yada Yada Yada* Just things to keep in mind. A lot of people use both mealies & crickets as a staple.

But, man, now, a Cheeseburger sounds REALLY good...!!! Where are those waxworms at???????

~~Dusty Windom
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So Many Alleles, So Little Time...!
@
~~The Gecko Barn~~

And can you grab me one of those cheeseburgers while you're at it, hee hee!
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Too many Leos
1.0 feline "Spot"
0.1 canine "Tika"

hehe McDs? Burger King? Dairy Queen? or the local Pet Store?
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So Many Alleles, So Little Time...!
@
~~The Gecko Barn~~