too many waxworms?

[mleary]

I wanted to get some waxworms for my leo, as sort of a treat for him. So far he has only gotten crickets and mealworms and I wanted to give him something new and see how he responds to it.

The problem is that the petstore I go to only sells them in groups of 15. I only have one gecko so 15 seems like way too many for me.

My question is, how many waxworms should I feed him in a single serving?
And what is the maximum number of waxworms he should get in a single week to avoid him becoming "addicted" to them?

Another question, what is the best way to keep them? Should I gutload them? About how long will they survive, because I dont really want too many of them to die before he gets a chance to eat them.

Thanks in advance

 

[Allee Toler]

Keep them in the fridge. They should last a lonngg time. When they turn black, then they're bad.

I had a container in the fridge for two months (I forgot about them. They got pushed to the back) and there were still about 10 that were good. Out of 20 that is.

I give 1 or 2 a week. =] But I don't give any anymore. She's got fatty liver disease and shouldn't have them. Poor GiGi. She sure does love them... Lol. Gutloading isn't needed at all. They're a treat.

 

[hyposhawn]

Yeah that's it. Poor Gigi.

 

[macksnowgecko]

I would say maybe 1 or 2 a week but there are many other foods that are good all the time like Roaches and SuperWorms.

 

[mleary]

Ok I just bought some waxworms for the first time. They just came in a bag. If I am going to keep them in the fridge, should I put them in a cup with something like sawdust? Or can they just sit in a cup with nothing in it and be fine?

 

[Allee Toler]

When they're put in the fridge they sleep. Just like mealworms. I don't put anything in with them. Mine come in a cup. So maybe put them in a cup.

 

[hyposhawn]

So do mine.

 

[Palor]

I buy waxworms and let them turn into moths, my smaller geckos and anoles just love the moths.

 

[cat_named_noodles]

I would recommend putting them in a small container with wheat bran mixed with honey (barely sticky is good) and grated beeswax for at least 24 hours (at room temperature) in order to gutload them (they are natural pests of beehives, and eat honey and beeswax). I recommend gutloading all feeders, even waxworms. I used to keep and breed them, but now I just pick some up occasionally. BTW, if you are going to keep them in the fridge, keep them in the door, as refrigerators are actually too cold, they get sick and eventually die. I keep mine at room temperature on the kitchen counter, and if fed within a week or two to my 4 leos, none of them turn into pupae, and they live MUCH longer and never get sick (with the right substrate). Not only the black ones (dead and moldy) are bad, but the thin, lethargic, "squishy" ones aren't very good either (they're sick/dying-but your leo will eat it if it moves). Plump, active waxworms are the best, and kept at room temperature they stay healthy.

 

[lickyoureyeballs]

I don't keep my wax worms in the fridge. Neither have the pet stores I have worked for.
Go with what cat_named_noodles said for feeding, etc.

 

[cat_named_noodles]

You can feed baby/juvies 3 or so small waxworms a week (One my hubby fed my 17 gram juvie Athena 5 waxworms once. She was fine, but threw one up. And she's not addicted to them. I think if you fed nothing but waxworms, or if your leo's diet was based on waxworms, it could get addicted and refuse to eat anything else. If you had an underweight gecko, 3-4 per week would probably be ok too. But 1-2 max a week for a healthy, full grown leo. I give my juvenile gals 3-4 a week, but Sprocket only gets 2 because she's 27 grams. Then Neko (the tiny 4.5 gram hatchling) only eats them once and a while (she won't touch them if she thinks they're too big-but she devours ANY cricket that comes close). My girls have a varied diet of mealworms, crickets, roaches and waxworms (soon I will be getting some silk worms too). I'm surprised my husband hasn't thrown a fit with all the bugs in the house (this time of year we usually raise monarch and swallowtail butterflies to release, and in the summer it's native praying mantids, and soon an ant farm "for the baby"). lol

 

[hyposhawn]

That's what I was gonna say. They could get addicted.