Jumbo Mealworms?

Do you guys feed your Adult Leos these? Jeff brought these weird big things home for the first time a couple days ago. I know the exoskeleton can be kind of hard but I prefer to feed after the Mealworm molts with Calcium on it. Whats the speak on this possible food item?

If they are superworms they are fine. Superworms are a totally different species of insect lava than mealie worms. (Superworms move forwads and backwards easily and are never refridgerated) A bit higher in fat than mealies and good for a treat. They don't molt too often so it is more difficult to find a fresh one with a soft exoskeleton.

If you are not breeding your geckos and have no plans to ever breed them in the future, then I'm sure the "Giant" mealie worms are fine. These are the same a mealie worms just bigger. They get them so big by treating them with a hormone in order to stop them from pupating so the mealies just keep growing as lava. The there is no documented harm that I know of. Most breeders agree they have not been on the market long enough to know if the hormone affects breeding or development of young in leopard geckos. So if you are planning on having little ones then I would stay away.

Another thing about the giants is that they are not much bigger than the large mealies (which are untreated)

I do use these as a large part of my feeding regimine for adults. Breedewrs and non-breeders alike. There was some debate on here awhile back about the hormones being a problem for leos. I don't believe a consensus was ever reached (surprise surprise lol). I have not noticed any ill effects on the babies or the breeders in 3 years. I have had a few babies hatch w/minor deformities, but it's at a rate of about 1 per year, and I have been able to correlate each occurence with temp spikes in the incu.

I've always stayed away from them due to the hormones they are given to keep from pupating. It just doesn't seem worth it to me when there are better things out there. Why risk it? is my opinion on the matter.

Lisa thanks for sharing your experience. Like Curtis I've also stayed away just in case but was hoping others did not so there would be some data. Maybe it's time for a poll:
If you breed your leos and use hormone treated giant mealies what ill effects if any have you noticed?


Does anyone know if this has been posted in the past before I start one?

Originally Posted by CurtisF

I've always stayed away from them due to the hormones they are given to keep from pupating. It just doesn't seem worth it to me when there are better things out there. Why risk it? is my opinion on the matter.

I agree.

If you want big worms, get superworms. Simple enough.

Ok, new question about the MealWorms. I guess I've learned theres Giant then theres Jumbo. The Giant ones look normal just like there full grown but the Jumbo ones are an abomination of God. They are like 2 to 3 inches big! So no Jumbos. What about the normal looking Giant ones? Are these ok?

Try looking up pictures of superworms (zoophobas) and see if that's what these "jumbo" worms really are. It wouldn't be the first time a pet store has mislabeled them as just a bigger size of mealworm....that would be my first guess.