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MEALWORM SHORTAGE!!!

Golden Gate Geckos

Golden Gate Geckos

Mean Old Gecko Lady
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Boy, we are in deep doo-doo! We are in a national crisis with the mealworm shortage... time to look at alternative feeding solutions. Can any of you bug suppliers help us gecko breeders out??? Incentives? Price deals?
 
Marcia, I grew a substantial number of mealworms on tubs of bran for a while, it takes a few months to get an operation going but with a small amount of initial expense and effort, you could have a mealworm ranch yourself.
 
When you have to raise enough mealworms to feed hundreds of leopard geckos, you spend just as much time dealing with the bugs as you do leos. It becomes counterproductive and it gets really old. I know because I did it for a few years. I think I'm just gonna switch back to crickets for awhile, they are more nutritious anyway. I just can't stand cleaning the cricket bin out every day *gag*/
 
it takes a few months to get an operation going but with a small amount of initial expense and effort, you could have a mealworm ranch yourself.
Click to expand...
Kelli is right. I go through over 14,000 feeders a week, and just don't have the space or time to raise my own feeders to be able to supply the number of geckos I have to feed... :(
 
I tried feeding my geckos roaches but the problem was only about half of them would eat them. Same thing with silkworms. Nearly all of my adults love superworms though, so they will mostly be getting those. The younguns will have to be fed crickets for awhile. Not that they will mind, every gecko I have ever owned goes nuts for a cricket.
 
KelliH said:
I tried feeding my geckos roaches but the problem was only about half of them would eat them. Same thing with silkworms. Nearly all of my adults love superworms though, so they will mostly be getting those. The younguns will have to be fed crickets for awhile. Not that they will mind, every gecko I have ever owned goes nuts for a cricket.
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That's what I'm going to be doing too, Kelli. I just ordered 4,000 supers, and I still have a few mealies for the babies (until I run out) and I still have crickets. Icky crickets............. Man, this shortage sucks. :no01:

And I tried to do the roach thing, but they creeped me out WAY to badly. :ack2:
 
LOL they creep me out also, especially when they flap their wings... ughhh... makes me nauseous!
 
So why is there a mealworm shortage?
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Apparently, the bedding/feed used to cultivate the mealworms was either tainted with insecticide, or toxic mold which caused massive die-offs and eggs not to hatch. I guess the majority of mealworm growers use the same material and/or the same supplier. It is a nationwide shortage, and I was told it will likely continue throughout the entire season.

This is REALLY a catastrophic problem for many of us gecko breeders, as mealworms are the staple food we use. Going back to crickets will double my food costs, and triple the time it takes to feed my geckos. Not to mention, when I used to feed primarily crickets in the past, I had more problems with bacterial infections in my geckos.

Why not switch to roaches?
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Buying bulk roaches is VERY expensive, and it would make sense for keepers with smaller gecko colonies to cultivate their own roach colonies. However, I would need to produce 10-14K roaches per week to feed all my geckos, which in essence would make me a roach breeder as well!

For example, here are is a price quote from a roach supplier:

200 = $18.00 (.09 cents ea.)
300 = $24.00 (.08 cents ea.)
400 = $28.00 (.07 cents ea.)
500 = $30.00 (.06 cents ea.)
600 = $30.00 (.05 cents ea.)
700 = $31.50 (.045 cents ea.)
800 = $34.00 (.0425 cents ea.)
900 = $36.00 (.04 cents ea.)
1000= $35.00 (.035 cents ea.)


With mealworms, I can get 10,000 for $35.00!!!
 
So the option seem to be paying twice what you usually pay for feeders by buying crickets, or growing your own roaches/mealworms.

Can geckos eat non live food in a pinch, like the bearded dragon food they sell dry?

Can a gecko consortium of owners get together and find someone who will gear up and raise roaches/mealworms for them exclusively?

What about individual breeders hiring someone local who has time to raise for them? The economy is not doing well, and a person who has additional income like a retired person on a pension who does odd jobs for extra money might welcome a job like this, raising bugs, where they could do it at home except for weekly deliveries to you.
 
While it's true you can get 10,000 mealies for $35, you should take into consideration that it takes 1 lobster roach to equal maybe 10 mealies (or more). Which means the value as a feeder per weight really is not that different, if you're feeding adult animals. It wouldn't be as nice if you were feeding babies, though.

Lobsters make great feeders, but yes, they do get loose and will take over a home if you're not careful. Dryness keeps them at bay, but just insures they join you in the shower. *shudder*

Anyhow, I don't think you'd find the cost too astronomical for your adults. If it comes down to it in a pinch, lobsters are appalling to work with, but the geckos have no problems with eating them (at least mine didn't). They're cleaner, but a bit creepier, than crickets. And they fly, but only a loud flutter in a downward direction, they're bad at it.

Check the size of the roaches--an adult leo with strong jaws takes great enjoyment in crunching up a big bug nearly the size of its head, and they can be cost effective on that scale. There may be a less problematic species than the lobsters.

Are the zophobas doing as badly as the mealies? Smaller zophobas could work, too, if they somehow escaped the same problems that befell the mealies.
 
Donna, the problem is that we breeders need the feeders NOW. We don't have the time to start from scratch raising our own feeder supply, even if we could. I have grown accustomed to having 'standing orders' with my suppliers that just ship me 10 - 12,000 large and 2,000 small mealworms per week and having my GGG business Mastercard charged... for well over 10 years! I know this sounds like I am 'spoiled', but I am.

I have babies hatching daily, and they need small mealies. I have juvies that need medium-sized mealworms. The adults are easier to deal with because some will eat large mealworms, giants, or superworms. Some will eat roaches.. others not. Some will eat silkworms, others not. They ALL will eat mealworms!

I have NOTHING to feed my babies! I am having to order 2 week old crickets at $.01 each and pull the back legs off of them so my hatchlings/babies can eat! This means 12-16 hour days, 7 days a week... which I will do, but I may even need to hire part-time help in order to care for my geckos the way they need to be cared for!

So this season will be a financial loss for Golden Gate Geckos due to the increased cost of alternative feeders, and having to hire someone to clean and water while I pull off cricket legs. This doesn't even account for the extra 2-6 hours a day in labor time for me.

It SUCKS being a gecko breeder right now.
 
Alright, I can try to see if my local pet store dealer can get mealies in from somewhere local, If he can 100% positively get them in, i can give you guys the phone number and you can place orders through him.

I dunno... this might be a long shot, but i suppose its worth a shot for me to see what i can find. Ill give em a call tomorrow, see what the orders are that he can get, and let you all know. If there isnt a WHOLE lot of you, maybe, just maybe he can help fufill at least a small portion of the demand.

Has anyone tried bait shops and such places? Mealies make great bait, and i know im ordering them for the station for fishing. Not sure if they are safe that way... but, if they are, its worth a shot.

Im sure the shortage is everywhere, but ill look. *crosses fingers for self*
 
We have lots of bait shops around where I live. A container of 35 large mealworms costs $3.49, which comes to $.09/each. I need a minimum of 8,000 mealworms, which would cost me $797.71 per week to feed my geckos.
 
I talked to the store, they have meal worms now, they can get the large ones, but not in enough numbers to sustain even one of your guys's collections :(

I just got some large ones in as bait for the garage... from one of our "everything" suppliers.

Im sorry this is taking such a toll on everyone!! Its too bad that this had to happen... hopefully though, things will recover soon! It was worth it to take a stab at calling though, even finding one supplier would have made me feel a little better.
 
Golden Gate Geckos said:
200 = $18.00 (.09 cents ea.)
300 = $24.00 (.08 cents ea.)
400 = $28.00 (.07 cents ea.)
500 = $30.00 (.06 cents ea.)
600 = $30.00 (.05 cents ea.)
700 = $31.50 (.045 cents ea.)
800 = $34.00 (.0425 cents ea.)
900 = $36.00 (.04 cents ea.)
1000= $35.00 (.035 cents ea.)
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that's a lot higher then what was paid elsewhere. Let me find out where they got their roaches from and I'll let you know. It's an option at least. As WingedWolf said, it takes more mealworms to equal one roach, so that does need to be taken into consideration.

Golden Gate Geckos said:
With mealworms, I can get 10,000 for $35.00!!!
Click to expand...

Yes, I understand that...But the point is your not getting those 10,000 for $35. It stinks, but the geckos have to eat so you do have to search for an alternative solution.
 
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