Dead Wax Worms

Satana · #1 11-16-2011, 01:08 AM

So I bought a 50 count of wax worms from the local pet store for my leo as a special treat. I fed it 2 and put it in the fridge door along with the extra mealworms that I wasn't gut loading. A week later I take out the wax worms for Zeros treat and they are all dead... I thought that maybe they take longer to warm up then mealies so I let them sit for a few minutes. Still nothing. I put 2 in the tank to see if they would warm up in there. There was still no movement but Zero gobbled them up anyway.

Do wax worms need different treatment then mealies or did I get a bad batch? They were all happy and alive when I got them and they we're in the same spot as the container of mealies and all the mealies survived.

So now I have a container of 46 dead wax worms... what a waste. Zero doesn't seem to have a problem eating them even tho they are dead.. Is that bad for it?

Thank you

**Riverside Reptiles** · #2 11-16-2011, 12:21 PM

Wax worms are hugely high in fat and have very few good qualities and really shouldn't be used as a feeder IMO. Even as a "treat". Geckos are not people and do not need "treats". Wax worms shouldn't be refrigerated. They do best in temps of 55-60 degrees f. I wouldn't feed dead wax worms...but then again, I wouldn't feed live ones either. It simply leads to issues with the geckos not wanting other foods, not to mention possible issues like fatty liver disease.

Satana · #3 11-16-2011, 02:07 PM

Oh wow, I thought it was ok to give them as treats. And on the container it says "REFRIGERATE" lol well I'll be throwing them away and not purchasing them again. Thank you for the info. I would hate to hurt my baby.

**Riverside Reptiles** · #4 11-16-2011, 02:35 PM

Gut loaded and dusted crickets and/or tropical roaches are your best, most nutritional feeders. Toss the worms outside. The local wild birds will likely love them.

Satana · #5 11-16-2011, 02:42 PM

Zero refuses to eat crickets, he is a mealworm kinda guy lol, I've tried to get him to eat crickets but no luck. I have a nice gut loading set up for my mealies. I was thinking about roaches but they scare me a little, and my roommate would kill me. I'm getting my own place after the winter so I'll face my fear then lol

**Riverside Reptiles** · #6 11-16-2011, 03:06 PM

Mealworms shouldn't make up more than about 15% of your geckos diet. If you look in the leopard gecko section of these forums, there's a stickied thread with information on this. A large part of the problem with "gut loading" mealworms is that their intestinal tract is so short, that they essentially tend to poop out most of the gut load before being eaten. This makes it almost impossible to actually gut load them. Roaches on the other hand have very long intestinal tracts and hold gut load for a much longer period of time (even more so than crickets). Lateralis roaches are a natural prey item for leopard geckos in the wild and their high activity level tends to stimulate the feeding response of the geckos. As for roaches being scary, it's all in the name. If you called them "Happy Sunshine Beetles", nobody would mind them a bit. Captive bred tropical roaches are in no way similar to the funky dirty wild common roaches that people despise so much. If you really can't deal with roaches, I strongly suggest working with your gecko to convert it to eating crickets. Trust me, a hungry gecko WILL eat crickets if you quit giving it mealworms and wax worms.

Satana · #7 11-16-2011, 03:18 PM

I've only given him a total of 4 wax worms ever, and I've read a lot about the crickets vs mealworms threads but there are lots of breeders out there that feed strictly on mealworms. My guy is growing huge and has a nice fat tail. I'm not worried about it. Maybe one day I'll switch over to roaches but as of now he is happy and very healthy.

**Riverside Reptiles** · #8 11-16-2011, 03:23 PM

Yes, there ARE lots of breeders feeding only mealworms. And the reason they do that is because it's cheap and easy...NOT because it's healthy or the right thing to do. You can raise your kids on Big Macs...but that doesn't make it right.

Satana · #9 11-16-2011, 03:28 PM

Very true, well once I move I will give the roaches a shot.

Satana · #10 11-16-2011, 03:36 PM

I do have a couple questions tho. I was looking at dubias roaches (not sure if I spelled that right) and they seem to be slower, which is good because my guy doesn't like chasing down his food, he likes to follow it a bit then go in for the kill but if they move too fast he loses interest. Since these roaches aren't available at my local pet stores and I'd order them off line, how long do they live for? I don't want to start a colony.