Mealworms as part of a diet.. how much, how often?

[Teach Izzy]

As a newbie I want to be sure that Izzy gets a balanced diet. I currently have been feeding her crickets with a d3 calcium dusting. I bought some dried mealworms to have just in case she ate all the crickets and couldn't get to the store. But she wont touch them! Smart girl LOVES to hunt. So I returned them and got the live mealworms. Yesterday and today she ate crickets (4 small) and mealworms (4 small).
I have read some of the forums and it seems like mealworms aren't good for them....
What is the general thought??

Thanks :idea:

 

[GeckoManiac91]

As a newbie I want to be sure that Izzy gets a balanced diet. I currently have been feeding her crickets with a d3 calcium dusting. I bought some dried mealworms to have just in case she ate all the crickets and couldn't get to the store. But she wont touch them! Smart girl LOVES to hunt. So I returned them and got the live mealworms. Yesterday and today she ate crickets (4 small) and mealworms (4 small).
I have read some of the forums and it seems like mealworms aren't good for them....
What is the general thought??

Thanks :idea:

It varies greatly with opinion. Some say yes, some say no. Do some research and find out what you think Many threads on the whole feeders debate.

Personally I don't think mealworms should be a staple diet because of there higher fat, tougher Exo-Skeleton and harder time to gut load. I think one thing everyone can agree on is variety is very important. Hornworms, Phoenix worms, silk worms and butterworms are all good choices. Mealworms provide good variety too and there easy and simply which is why many people use them.

Personally I use mealworms about once every two weeks

 

[Saskia]

You can find many info online about this subject, and you can build up you own opinion, I agree that variety is very important, I do use mealworms, along with acheta crickets, grillodes crickets, grasshoppers, dubia roaches, earth roaches, wax worms, superworms and locusts.... I tend to use more roaches about 50 % of my geckos' diets, and the other half is quite even between the rest, except for the wax worms which I use just a couple times a year, some people are super against mealworms, some geckos like them a lot, some geckos do not like them at all, my personal advice is to try and provide many types of insects and find out what your leo likes and dislikes

 

[Mardy]

This is one of the controversial subjects where not everybody agree on. So like suggested above, google it up, read opinions on it everywhere. Gecko communities also differ from one forum to another. You're the owner so you get to decide what's best for your pet.

The good thing is that everybody at least can agree on variety is the best, so strive to feed a variety to your leopard gecko if you can. As long as you gut-load your feeders, dust them well with multivitamin supplements, and feed a variety, you'll be fine.