I've been feeding my baby crested gecko a mealworm about twice a week. I haven't seen any problems whatsoever with the digestion/overall health of him. I gave up on the crickets cuz they are just too hard to keep alive for a long period of time (unlike mealworms). My crested gecko likes the mealworms a little too much, so its definitely a treat when he gets a worm over the gecko diets.
I am actually a very new crested gecko owner. My crestie (Maybelline or Mayble for short) is my first reptile and I got her from my work (a pet store.) Cresties just sit there for up to a year if not bought and I bonded with her and couldn’t let that happen to her. Anyway, I was gonna swear off feeding her mealworms because of hearing the exoskeleton is hard to digest, but now I’m probably gonna do it maybe once or twice a month. I just hate feeding her JUST crickets and fruit mix. She refuses to eat Dubais and I wanna give her more variety of proteins and such. Hopefully she’ll actually eat some and not turn her nose up at them like she did the dubias. She’s such a diva with food
I always find it weird when people warn against feeding certain bugs due to their chitin. Especially since a recent discussion had a person completely against dubia roaches because they heard they would cause impaction, yet they were feeding their geckos superworms. Honestly the only bug I think any reptile would have a hard time digesting would be anything from the Zopherinae family.
Mealworms were an important feeder for me when I was breeding leopard geckos. My only problem with them is that I developed a sensitivity to the frass which is hard to stay away f rom since it blows around. No more mealworms, but I can breathe now.
About to start raising mealworms at a decent scale, respiratory system protection is a real concern. Between the frass, actual meal substrates and molting, the inhalation nightmare is a real concern.
@@percyblok6014 I've also developed sensitivity to crickets and super worms, but it's only actual contact, especially with eyes. Wear a good mask (thanks COVID) and the problem should be significantly reduced.
We have only had crested geckos for a few months but have watched your other videos and also talked to veterinarians who specializes in reptiles and they have told me it’s fine to feed mealworms but Proper care and housing/temps need to be correct for that reptile. Thanks for the videos we have learned a lot from them!!! We feed them along with other feeder bugs!
I mostly feed my crested geckos crickes, but will also offer mealworms to them occasionally. However, rather than simply ploping the worms in a dish for the geckos to find, I actually (squeamish warning )cut the worms in half, and squeeze the guts out from each half, sort of like a go-gurt. Then, i allow the geckos to lap up the tasty innards, while discarding the hard exoskeleton on the substrate for the isopods to break down. This ensures that the geckos not only avoid eating the hard exoskeleton, but I have found that the geckos seem to enjoy the flavor of the chopped worm guts more than with a live worm.
Really. I know others that do that but, remember in nature, no one is there to do this for them. Did the points in the video help (nor perhaps not enough to persuade you to feed them whole)?
The points mentioned in the video are great, and while I am not against feeding live mealworms, or insects of any manner, I still prefer to use my method, since as I mentioned above, my geckos will more readily take prepared insects than live ones. I will mention that for crested geckos, fossorial mealworms do not make up a large part of their wild diet, since the geckos are mostly arboreal and eat flies, moths, catterpillars, beetles, crickets, katydids, grasshoppers, and other arboreal insects in the wild in New Caledonia. Still, they can be a tasty treat from time to time. Also, there are many different diets that work well for crested geckos, and while I have had some that would only eat mealworms, I have also kept geckos that refuse mealworms entirely. At the end of the day, the food provided for an animal should reflect the animal's personality and health requirements. I am not a huge breeder(yet) and can focus on providing prepared food for my 2 current geckos. I do want to emphasize that I am not disagreeing with your points, and I agree that mealworms are perfect safe for geckos as long as they are cared for correctly.
I would thank JC for constantly watching my content; acknowledge the things I agree with and mention that there are various ways of doing things and thank him for sharing how HE does things differently. Then forget he existed lol
I just got a crested gecko, and I'm not sure of the age just yet. I need to find a growth chart to compare. But I was super excited when he finally took a meal worm. I'm very happy. I don't know how many to give him at a time, so I will start with one, with his repashy mango mix, then work my way up and see what he's comfortable with. Or she. I don't know what the gender is just yet. He's still skittish but I'm hoping he'll learn to trust me.
Really good video...I feed my Leo’s Dubia Roaches, Mealworms, and I mix in a Wax Worm here and there for a treat if they were not eating for a while. Great channel, keep up the amazing work!
Wonderful positive response! Yes there are many reptiles that consume snails, such as but not limited to; frogs and toads, salamanders and skinks. Most likely many more that I haven't even heard of. Yes I feed mealworms among many other insects as I wish to give the widest range of diet that I can...after all even a pizza lover gets tired of it if it's all they eat. Also I just wanted to take the time to thank you. We met at the expo in Rothschild where two of my co-workers found their cresties from you. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all their questions and concerns. Everyone is doing well and the scale babies are settling in wonderfully. You did mention to me that from time to time you produce patternless, I would very much like more information on this... Thank you for all you do!!!
Love all the fish tanks behind you! Fish tank racks looking awesome! I dont really know how I would respond to those comments. I mean you have bred and raised so many species, talked to so many people, and had so much success. Thanks for the tips on comments!
I Breed Waxworms at home because the ones you buy are full of glycerin and high fructose corn syrup. The mix most if not all "Bait worm breeders" use is a Mix of wheat bran, glycerin and 90% or 98% corn syrup to 10% or 2% hunny. My mix is 16oz Earth's Best Organic oatme baby cereal, 6oz Stakich Bee Pollen Powder, 6oz Repashy Bug Burger, 8oz of organic beeswax i get from one of my beekeeper friends and 8-10oz of raw organic honey from walmart or my beekeeper friend. Really far as mixing goes I just dump all the dry ingredients in a mixmaster with a dough hook then melt the beeswax and heat up the honey and mix till it turns yellow brown. I don't feed just Waxworms though but i noticed my frogs,fish,geckows and spiders don't go as crazy for them as they do store bought ones, and treat them more like bsf larvae. Also Waxworms that are never put in a refrigerator are fast and spin silk.
Having an open mind is the key. If you close your mind and tell your self that your way is the only way, you will most likely never learn anything new and you will never be able to improve your care for your animals. I also strongly believe that there is no perfect way to keep a pet, there are many good ways. So again, having an open mind is the key. At least in my opinion. Great video Wally
My story on why I stopped feeding my toads Black Soldier Fly Larvae and now feeding them mealworms instead. (TLDR: BSF Larvae were not being digested at all) I love Black Soldier Flies. I think they are awesome... I've been feeding their larvae to toads and lizards and geckos... However, in my captive bred toads where I can monitor them, I started finding stinky dead black soldier fly larvae in their habitat, along with a whole lot of live larvae hiding under the water bowl. I held a toad, and then when i set him down, it seemed that a larvae just appeared, dead. I suspected he "passed" it, but wasn't sure. Well, a few days ago, I found toad poo that was 2 whole BSF larvae. I rinsed one off and it looked flawless. All the details of the larvae were perfect. The Larvae was in such perfect condition, that it was the best photo I have ever taken on a BSF larvae. What does this mean? It means that the toad was digesting 0% of the larvae! My friend told me, perhaps the older larvae can't be digested and to try only feeding younger larvae, but I am now afraid that the fly larvae may even be surviving their digestive tract and either being poo'd out alive, or regurgitated out later. For now, I am going to stick to mealworms. I have never witnessed this issue with mealworms. I fear that I may have been starving my poor toads, by feeding them BSF Larvae that they couldn't digest at all. . Because of this discovery, I am now questioning if I should stop raising black soldier flies completely and just raise mealworms and maybe try peanut beetles and/or flightless fruit flies.
I think then the question is why. Is it due to temps? Is it the nutritional value- maybe it had what it already needed in it's other food. A lot of factors may need to be looked at.
Black soliderfly larvae incorporate calcium into their chitin matrix. This changes the overall structure of the chitin. Enzymes are generally substrate specific; any chemical changes to the substrate (chitin) will cause enzymes (chitinase) to not “fit” properly and thus not work efficiently. To expand further, BSFL in general are terrible feeders precisely due to this reason. When researchers subjected leopard geckos to BSFL-only diets, they found only a 44% absorption rate of calcium. This means that while BSFL are touted as “high calcium”, much of that calcium is locked into the chitin matrix and pooped out. TLDR; BSFL chitin is different and is harder to break down.
Thanks for this video, I really needed this. I have a 2 gram baby that has not gained weight at all and I've had her for 2 months now. I was told she was a Juvie when I ordered her but when she arrived she was a tiny 2 gram baby. I gave her 3 mealworms last night and she loved them! I watched her and she was active and did really well last night. How many mealworms are too much, you stated I needed to be careful over feeding my baby.
It doesn't really happen to me when somebody disagrees with me on my videos but it happens every now and then on Facebook. And to be honest even if you show them post from somebody that has actually made real research they still just argue for the sake of arguing
mealworms were starting to eat my friend's crested gecko. we don't know if she died then started to get eaten. but the weird thing is, that my friend stopped feeding mealworms to her gecko about a month ago. we think they laid eggs in the dirt.
Update: I threw in some cotton balls and cotton discs from the dollar tree, and I am having tremendous success with hatch rate. The beetles LOVE to lay eggs in cotton. The mealworms LOVE to explore the cotton. How much cotton? A lot. Enough cotton that it makes it a struggle for the beetles to explore the cotton for eggs to eat. I'm not sure about pupae, but I assume that it also somehow makes it harder for them to find the pupae to eat on. Right now as I type this comment, a beetle is laying eggs in a new cotton ball. Over time, the cotton will turn tan color from the carrot particles and their waste. For people having problems with mealworms reproducing, I suggest giving cotton a try. For people having no issues with reproduction, it's up to you if you want to try cotton or not.
I have always fed mealworms and none of my animals have ever had any issues...I will continue to use mealworms as feeders...LOLOL Wally I love you comedy 😂 I think that your response was educational and I will take your advise as something that you speak on with experience
My cresties don’t seem to care for mealworms, but my Chahouas like them. My cresties prefer dubias. Yellow squash seems to work well for gut loading mealworms.
@@SupremeGecko personally I believe that the digestive system of a gecko that is predominantly opportunistic in nature of an Insectivorious nature with a base for nectar and fruits etc would be more than capable of digesting chitinous foods such as meal worms and beetles, as in the wild there will be alot more armoured prey than soft and squishy prey. That said if the keeper doesn't provide a standard of care I.E no thermal control no matter how 'insignificant' or 'unnecessary' it is then a block up and impaction could occur. But as with loose substrate in leopard geckos, if the care is taken and the research is done, it Cannot and will not (in 99% of cases) cause any issues or I'll effects. That said the wild insect load may be predominantly flying prey and if this is the case then a meal worm is an odd choice. What we have to remember is a varied diet is key and also nothing we feed these geckos is native to their ecosystems or even there continent so if a worm is the issue think about everything else. Living in the UK and Then eating nothing but Chinese food can effect a digestive system, and I believe such can be the case for reptiles. All feeders are foreign and need adjustment so over time a gecko may adjust to the additional digestive strain a chitinous food possesses. My idea would be to introduce any feeders you like but if it's new or if it's 'hard to digest' then treat is as an occasional treat and ease it into the diet so as to not shock the system. Similar to changing dog food, you ease it in not just a hard change.
Thank you, usually I struggle with summarising so its surprised me 😁 but I've done ALOT of personal research into reptiles that we can get into on our live in a couple of weeks!! 😁😁😁 I CAN'T WAIT
J C's credentials?...anywho. Class act as always Wally. Be kind with an open mind! There is a reason that a community listens to it's most experienced members. They have perfected what's good and have learned what's not so good.
Hey wally , question. A friend's 1 year old crested gecko will only eat mealworms and won't touch pangea , last week he ate 11 mealworms. Any way to get him to eat the cgd and if not would it be efficient enough feeding mealworms 2 or 3 days a week dusted with rapashy calcium plus? Thanks .
Hi Joseph. Thank you for the question. Remember, in the wild, there is no such thing as CGD. So all good if he only eats mealworms (dusted). BUT... you could try this. Dust the mealworms for a week in the CGD then stop feeding mealworms for a week, and give a feeding of CGD. Keep me posted.
@@SupremeGecko thanks for the reply will definitely give it a try , so saying It does not continue to eat the pangea how many times per week would you say to offer millworms if that is just his only diet You know it is usually once or twice a week when eating pandria but what about if it is just insects
@@SupremeGecko thanks your a big help , I'm trying to help my friend, her gecko is about a year and a few months old , only weights 15 grams so she's concerned, Someone else told her it might be a sign of parasites But I don't think so there is no bones showing and he eats the male worms with no problem Before today she was only offering meal or wax worms every couple of weeks So in my opinion I don't think he was eating the pangea and just did not have enough protein to grow What do you think about the parasite then he acts normal like any other gecko just does not eat pangea and seems to not be growing
I feed my baby geckos 2 mealworms every other day and they devour them and poop like normal, haven’t seen a problem but definitely will slow down feeding now
@@SupremeGecko one is smaller then the other and I give 2 to the small one and 3 to the big one every other day and I can definitely see a size difference once I changed to mealworms
I've had a crested, gargoyle and leopard gecko. They've all readily munched on mealworm, and even the beetles. I've never had a problem with any of them. If anything, the only thing I've had is them being too eager to eat them.
Great video Wally! I think the best way to handle it is thank them and move on. When I had a crested gecko I would feed her meal worms. I feed meal worms to my knight anole and bearded dragon. Along with some of my other animals. I've heard negative things about almost every feeder insect species. I think the main issue is feeding too many at once and/or improper care. I also think some people are quick to repeat information without researching it first. I feel it's to offer a variety in diet.
Thanks! Yes, good thing about the internet is that you can find anything about anything. Bad thing about the internet is that you can find anything about anything.
In my perception a more commonly supposed red flag with mealworms is that they may be a common host of parasites (especially some types of tapeworms, if I remember correctly). But I doubt that this would be an issue with specimens from a properly kept culture.
Are we able to feed our crested gecko mealworms weekly? I keep seeing online it should be once a month but Im trying to get my crested gecko to gain weight. We had the gecko for many weeks just eating repashy and we noticed it wasn’t really interested and wasn’t growing only 6g. Since changing to a crested gecko growth feed and meal worms it’s gained 4g in a month!
There are so many anecdotal beliefs on any of the feeder insects. Unless there is another issue these animals will be able to eat anything they would naturally. if someone is having an issue they may need to look at other things rather than blame the species of insect.
@@SupremeGecko yes I don't know for sure I just know I got her and they siad she was not a year old yet and that she brithday was in October they think but I had her like 1 or or 2 year I am not sure and I knew she can't be adult because she is still small she is big but not big she is smaller
wow great video Wally I would have just responded nicely something like thank you for your opinions or just Thank you ....I feed gut loaded meal worms .... I will not stop feeding mealworms unless like you said they come out with scientific proof its bad to feed meal works ...Wally keep up the amazing work my friend ....
Some reasonable tips for comment wrangling you are presenting here! Don't feed the trolls! (Especially not mealworms, I guess...) Personally, I like to assume good intentions behind negative comments. I hope the amount of RU-vid drama stays at this comparatively low level on your channel...
Show us your credentials in the form of a RU-vid catalog that predates my own time in the hobby. Invaluable along with everything you guys do,.but you know that.
@@goldenkiwicompote I don't use superiors as I feel they are a bit too large for my tiny animal. I would think the same requirement holds true with Supers too though.
Thanks I actually did a lot of research before I got my first crested gecko a few weeks ago but I looked on Google and it said give them meal worms ones a month I new that definitely wasn't right
I'm not a libral so I commend your willingness to say 🖕 too the boo whooers and would like to say I'm definitely new to crested geckos I have 2 Lilly whites and 2 quad stripped and looking to get 2 fires... my biggest question is how to get them to actively hunt as I have built a 120 gallon vivairium with bioactive substrate. My little buddies are still young and I'm fine fishing them out to so called bottle feed them but when can they hold their own so to speak and actively hunt?
First comment- I'm not political (from a public view) at all! But I am true to myself. So thank you. Second comment- I've put two other videos on Complete Baby Care and the other called "Your crested won't eat live food, I call BS" or something like that. These should take care of the food issue for you- BUT, if you still have questions, please ask!
Thank you for your integrity Wally. It is obvious you have a lot of experience and that you are kind enough to share it with others. You have taken the time to consult multiple other keepers with years of experience, which demonstrates that you are not preaching from a podium without evidence to back up your observations. Courteous, respectful disagreements and conversation equate to learning. Keyboard warriors with nasty comments are never appreciated! I appreciate all the hard work you put into your content.
Also I appreciate shanes comment. Hmmm. This video was pretty cool thanks for doing a deep dive on meal worms. I'm still not feeding them ..to geckos. I feed mine crickets anyways. Gut loaded. Lightly Dusted. A couple not too big not too small once a week. Meaning about the size of the space between its eyes. Along with a complete diet either repashy or pangea depending on preference. I am one of those ppl that use low percentage UVB bulbs..:0( Lord have mercy..what did that boy just say) Anyways appreciate the video with reviews from lots of breeders it seems. Why do I use UVB...because it assists in the conversion and metabolic process of calcium in many many kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species around the planet. It might not be " required" really but it is in nature..in their environment. Even moonlight carries low levels as it is literally just sunlight bouncing off the moon's surface that illuminates our nights.
I remember coming to you about feeding mealworms awhile back. Because of comments like his, I was afraid to try them. After you gave me the okay, I did try them with a picky eater of mine and within 2-3 months she'd doubled in weight thanks to mealworms. This was a gargoyle gecko that just did not want to eat crickets after months of offering them and was not gaining enough weight on pangea alone. I can not feed roaches and she needed something else besides just pangea, but mealworms certainly did the trick. Some of my juvenile cresteds also love them as a yummy treat now and I have had no issues with them what so ever.
I tried everything as well... only thing my garg would take too is mealworms. I almost stopped feeding those because of seeing that they could lead to serious impaction. Glad i saw this video and this comment!
I just do my best to be able to provide good individualistic attention to any animal I own and play things safe so if that gets me here for a reprimand. So be it. Let me rephrase..the best individualistic care I know how to any animal I own. Because also I appreciate the person who said waxworms were high in fat. Now I know some things about feeders I didn't know yesterday. Listen if this channel is about raising geckos efficiently in a commercial style I get it..if we are talking about how to raise geckos with as much enrichment in their lives as possible...i don't..and if that is what it's about..then I'm Audi 5000
Here I am..the man of the hour so it seem...so my thing is this...how are you going to ask me to provide scientific proof if you can't either? This is where the second comment originates from.." Hey Wally! Can I see your credentials"..so first off you have to admit that's a bit hypocritical ...the first was about feeding meal worms..its a debated topic right with many saying yes...many saying no..impaction risk...when I started to get upset it was the crickets as big as their head...wording is important.." As big as the space between their eyes" from what I understand is common practice...i chose to do things the safest way I know how and that's what I'll continue to do..for mine..and I see that you do have a following and many believe in you so it is what it is. Making me RU-vid famous. XD yay. Thanks Wally. Why not feed several medium sized crickets rather than one big big cricket it may not be able to swallow...that paired with feeding it meal worms..which some people do and some don't let me to believe you might be trying to give people crazy advice that might harm the animal and hurt the owner of the animal if something happened to it..so anyway I'm sure I could say more but I'm at work. Must go. Try not to let me rent so much space in your head you make RU-vid videos about it please..it was very early in the morning when I commented after a long night of work and the wording you used tripped me up. That's it. Trying to supercharge the growth of a baby gecko...you want to be a good owner ..just let it grow normally..feed it normally. Anything else is pretty selfish as a pet owner I would say. Just think of the gecko before yourself. You know? It felt very Tyson's chickenish...which means inject them with growth hormones don't let them walk around too much..ect..so I commented in a negative or aggressive way. I hope that makes sense. If it doesn't..i hope I don't see another link to a video with me in it so I have to come back and explain a second time I don't really have time to have internet disputes. You know? Thanks. If this is how you get it out..then I'll live with that. So long. And may your geckos fair well.
Where do you get off questioning Wally's cred? He clearly knows more than you. He's probably been working with herps longer than you've been alive. Everything you mention is just common practice, stuff that is intended for broad use. Wally's content is intended to help keepers have a more nuanced approach to caring for their animals. BTW, your grasp of the English language tells me you're clearly not as smart as you would like everyone to think you are. Learn to have a little grace and show some tact. You'll never make it far with an attitude like that. Nobody likes a know-it-all. If you want to be the center of attention, make your own videos.
