Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 2 leos and a box turtle that eat mealworms among other things. I've heard recently of some people getting a nasty allergy to mealworm residue.

For any of you that have a handful of herps like me, have you experienced this? Or is this more for those who deal with 100s of animals and thousands of mealworms.

Although people will have different tolerances to allergens, it is possible to become allergic to mealworm dust - their waste in the bedding - if exposed to more than "the critical limit". The critical limit is pretty high, meaning breathing dust from perhaps hundreds or thousands of mealworms per day. It can be prevented by wearing a surgical mask and surgical gloves when working with large quantities of mealworms.

Other feeder insects also produce allergens, but mealworms appear to do it faster. And once allergic to mealworms, hypersensitivity to household dust mites can then result.