Mealie Worms as a staple insect

I am new to Beardies. I switched my leopard geckos over to mealie worms after reading quite a bit. I have found little information on using mealies as the staple insect for Beardies. My mealies are gutload with cricketfood.com's premium mealie bedding. They have been very nutritious for my geckos. I plan on feeding a variety of insects includes mealies, crix, wax worms, supers, silkies, ect.;as well as, a good salad mix: collard, dandelion greens, arugula, ect.

I wanted to know if anyone has any personal experience using well gutloaded mealies as their staple insect for a Bearded Dragon and what their results were.

Hi...I feed mealworms that are gutloaded as part of the BD diet but I don't feed them all the time. I read that the shells are hard for them to digest and can cause impactions in babies, juveniles and sub adults. I got my 5 yr old male from a breeder last year and he told me that he fed about 100 meal worms at a time to him, I don't give him that many but he's been really picky about eating lately so I have been giving him more than I normally do. I always have giant mealworms for my hedgehog. All of mine are adults now and show no problems with passing the undigested shell parts but I don't plan on feeding them to hatchlings. Good luck with your new dragon! Angie

Thanks for the info!

Hello,

Just a bit of information for you. While they may not have much trouble passing the chitsin as they are older dragons, that fat content can contribute to fatty liver disease if used as a sole feeder.
I highly recommend using something other than mealies for your bearded dragon. There are much better feeders to use. They are too fatty & do not have much protein, either. Try silkworms, crickets, roaches, goliath hornworms, & phoenix worms, as better choices.

Tracie

I have something to add to this.

How often should they be fed to a beardie, and how much should be fed at the time?

Hello,

Well, really, mealies shouldn't be fed to dragons, hardly ever. Look at them this way, they are chocolate for dragons. Waxies are the same way, but they are both fatty so should be used for treats, only.
This helps pave the way for a healthier liver when they are older. Bearded dragons do not metabolize fats very well, especially in large amounts. We all know that dragons in captivity do not get the exercise that the ones in the wild do.

Tracie

Originally Posted by Drache613

We all know that dragons in captivity do not get the exercise that the ones in the wild do.

Tracie

That's definetly true, but some beardies get a ton of excersize everyday.