mealworms or crickets for underweight gecko?

[berry]

foods for fattening up an underweight gecko?

im a little bit of a noob and i recently was reading about leos again and discovered mine is underweight. so i went out an got 4 dozen mealworms for the week. is this enough weekly and should i be using crickets instead to put the weight on? or superworms? he is on reptile carpet, has a 10 gal, 2 houses and a water dish. also a vitamen powder dish and heat lamp.

 

[berry]

theres a picture for reference

 

[IslaReina]

He does look a little skinny, but not too too bad. Is one of his houses a moist hide for shedding? Anyways, I think that mealworms are better for putting on the weight but a mixed diet of mealworms and crickets is the best. Make sure you gut load the insects first how long have you had him?

 

[berry]

ive had him a year and a half, and just did the same thing my brother did when he first got his. fed him every day when he was a baby then started weekly feedings after that, which obviously didnt work well. He does have a moist hide. the pic is a little light because of flash i think, he is darker then that, if thats why your asking. What do you recommend for gut loading? thanks for your help!

 

[IslaReina]

Nope he looks fine coloring wise you should be feeding him every other day, that should get his body weight up. Personally, I use the Orange cubes from flukers because it is food and water supplement so its all they need. It is supposed to be a cricket gut load but I use it for my mealworms too cuz I don't see why not

 

[berry]

Thanks you for your help, i will get a gutload next time i'm out. i used to just use carrots for my crickets and was thinking they might be too small to eat through a carrot. His colours have been getting brighter over the past few days of feeding him, im not sure what this means but i am assuming this is a good sign?

 

[IslaReina]

Yes I know that a lot of people use carrots, that works too. I've also heard of potatoes and oranges. And yea lol I'm assuming its a good sign

 

[Allee Toler]

Oranges shouldn't be used. It's too much acid for them. Just potatoes or carrots would be enough.

 

[IslaReina]

Lol i guess oranges are bad, im sorry. Thanks allee

 

[berry]

alright so thats even better because i can add carrots right away thanks guys

 

[Sinosauropteryx]

Mealworms for weight-gain.

I wouldn't use mealworms. Read that post Ethan stickied in this forum. An awful lot of the mass in a mealworm's body is exoskeleton and enough of that in the gecko's digestive tract could cause impaction. Crickets are better because of their larger gut-to-exoskeleton ratio, but if you really want your gecko to gain weight, use wax worms or butter worms. Or pinkies if you can get them. These things have very little nutrition, though, so be sure to switch to more nutritious insects afterward.

 

[berry]

ya i was reading those... i'll see what the store has when i go back but i do have the mealworms i bought for this week to get through. the store is close to my school so ill try to go back monday or tuesday.

 

[Allee Toler]

I wouldn't suggest waxworms. They're pure fat and highly addictive. Blehh.

Just like in humans, fast weight gain isn't healthy. Get him some crickets and feed him like normal. Let him gain weight slowly in a healthy way.

 

[IslaReina]

I'm not starting anything, but many breeders have used mealworms for decades without any problem. I think the best diet is a combo of the two because where i live, maintaining a constant supply of crickets is difficult.

 

[Allee Toler]

I'm not starting anything, but many breeders have used mealworms for decades without any problem. I think the best diet is a combo of the two because where i live, maintaining a constant supply of crickets is difficult.

I personally do use mealworms. Many breeders use them because they're easy to keep, easy to breed, easy to feed, and cheap. When you have 20+ geckos, like me for example. If I go to petco and pay 10 cents a cricket, 15 crickets per gecko, every other day, for one week? I'm looking at quite a lot of money. At this point I pay nothing for feeders. I have my own dubia colony, superworm colony, and mealworm colony. If I couldn't breed my own worms (room climate, for example. Arizona has a red mold that over runs a few of my friends' colonies), the most affordable route is mealies. Doesn't mean it's the healthiest route.

Like anything, having a variety will make your gecko happier and healthier. Mealworms are pretty fatty. That's the only thing I don't like about them. So are superworms. Having the roaches balances out the diet pretty well. A combination of mealworms and crickets I see as fine. Seeing some breeders post their photos of their geckos makes me cringe. Many many fat geckos.