• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Question for all.

J

Jodi L Aherns

New member
Joined
Apr 18, 2003
Messages
274
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
56
Location
Ramsey Mn
I have always feed all my leos only crickets,but i notice a lot of you feed mealworms so i switched a small group of females about 40 females in mid 2004 to mealworms only.Now in 2005 breeding season i have noticed that those females are ALL laying bad eggs all eggs are bad.Has this happen to others?
As of 1.15.2005 i stopped feeding mealworms and going back to crickets only.
My mealworms were feed the same things as my crickets always.
Just a question.THese females were all proven breeders.Any ideas i am lost?
 
I went through the same thing at the beginning of the 2004 season. 10,000 crickets a week were getting too costly! After about the 1st month the eggs got better. I was thinking it had something to do with them consuming less calcium.
I wish I had the answer but I am very interested in finding out what others think!
 
THese females have laid 2 sets of eggs this is going on 2 months now.We are talking about close to 100 eggs.
 
I seriously doubt the switch to just mealworms has anything to do with your bad eggs..... It is alittle bit more involved than that...... I do feel a varied diet is best for leos.... But many people have great luck with just feeding mealworms..... I have two females that only eat mealworms because the will not eat anything else and their eggs do just as well as the females with a varied diet..... There must be some other husbandry issue at hand here.....
 
These females are in there same cages nothing else has changed.All the other geckos are doing just fine with no bad eggs.The only change was they were switched to mealworms.
 
I run 1 male per 10 females,and only breed a male for 3 years then a new male goes in.And there is no 1st time males in with them.I thought of that but no.I have done this for years with only good results.
 
I wouldn' think it was meal worms

If it was then why would sop many big breeder use it as their main food sorce for leos?
 
Ahh, Jodi, that really sucks!

Since you've switched to crickets hopefully there will be a change soon, because it sure sounds to me like its the mealworms. But too many people/breeders feed mealworms for the problem to be mealworms in general. If the mealworms are causing the problem, then there's something wrong with those mealworms. I would have them analyzed. This is possible, I think? I know people who have had their cricket feed analyzed and found that they contained too high levels of (something bad, I can't remember the name of the chemical). Something to do with residual pesticides/herbicides. Sorry for being so vague, Anyways it was causing their herps not to breed well.
 
i really do not see any way for the mealworms to cause infertility, i have a couple females who were raised their entire life on mealworms and their first clutches were fertile, i see it as somthing a bit more complicated, maybe the male does not have a good fertility rate, so for the females

not enough calcium would cause possible egg binding, cant see how it would cause infertility

just my 2 cents..
 
not enough calcium would cause possible egg binding, cant see how it would cause infertility
Click to expand...

It would not cause infertility, but would cause the eggs not to be shelled properly, thus giving an egg the appearance of an infertile egg, which, basically it would be!

Jodi-

I think you and I have talked about this before. Crickets are the best when it comes to feeding leos. Back when I used to feed only crickets and the occasional pink mouse, I rarely had an infertile egg. It was a BIG deal if an egg was infertile. Crickets are more nutritious, period. Also when they are gutloaded they keep the "good stuff" for a lot longer than worms do.

I offer a variety to my adult leos. I use superworms as the main part of their diet but also offer crickets 3 or 4 times monthly. I always keep a dish of calcium WITHOUT d3 in the enclosure, and once a week I put a dish of Vionate or Herptivite and leave it over night. So far this year I have had great success.

Maybe dusting with calcium every other feeding and also keeping a dish of calcium in with them at all times would solve the problem? Then once the females get going again and laying good eggs you could just leave the dish in with them. Otherwise I would say switch back to crickets, if it aint broke there's no need to fix it :)
 
Kelli,Yes i am going back to crickets to all my geckos that has always been the best.It cost more but well worth it.With a few babys that hatch out in 2005 i will keep back and only feed them mealworms and when they are breeding size i will give them a try and seen what happens.
 
That was pretty much what my thoughts were Kelli, I made some changes after the 1st hundred or so eggs were down the tube and things got better. Out of the eggs that did make it I had problems with soft front legs that I have always contibuted to insufficient calcium at the time of laying... sound about right?
 
I am not sure if mealworms could cause infertile eggs, since I always use crickets. However, are you using giant or regular mealworms? If it is Giant mealworms maybe the hormone given to these worms to keep them from pupating could be the cause? I know that if your females never ate giant mealworms, and they have laid for more than a single season, then it could be possible for their own hormones to be thrown out of wack. I've known a few vegitarians before who have not eaten meat in years and then returned to eating meat once again. Upon eating meat again they usually get sick which could also be a result from hormones used in raising the animals. I do not know if this theory has any basis since it just came to mind as a possibility but let me know what you think.
 
I still do not see how mealworms can cause infertile eggs..... There is another hunsandry issue here and I think Kelli nailed it..... Maybe you have not supplimented them with enough calcium to make up for the loss..... Also, waxworm are a big source of calcium..... Alot of people would not agree but I feel waxworms should be given to your leos for more than just a "treat"..... They have great nutritional value but are a bit fatty...... Still, I feel giving your leos a couple of pinches of them a week will benifit your leo in alot of ways..... They are especialy good for breeding females..... Along with dusting the feeders with calcium and vitamins, I use a powder called ProZyme..... What the powder does is it helps your reptile absorb the maximum nutriance from their feeders..... All of my snakes and leos have been on it for years.....
 
This is a very interesting topic. The majority of my geckos are fed exclusively mealworms and my hatch rate last year was 78%. The low percentage was due to a lot first time breeders. I had one first time female though that laid 8 eggs and all but one was fertile. She was fed mainly roaches with a few superworms. When I was using crickets years ago I didn’t really notice a difference in fertility versus the mealworms now. One thing I do notice is that roaches put a lot more weight on the geckos and seem more nutritious than the common feeders.

The biggest issue with fertility seems to be nutrition and supplementation. If those are correct I don’t think it really matters what feeder you use. It’s just your personal preference and what your leos like.
 
Last edited:
What are you feeding your roaches? I never saw a difference in my geckos health when I had some of them on roaches. I was feeding mine Ectotherm Hisser Diet. Most of my geckos won't even acknowledge the roaches existance!
 
Back
Top