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Think about this........

I think it's safe to say that year after year after year, the debate of "which is better" and long periods of trial and error, has brought me to only one conclusion. "WHAT EVER IS EASIEST FOR YOU" Yes variety is always a great option cause hey I wouldn't want pork and beans every night. But as you mention Breeders such as Ron Tremper, who breed huge numbers of leos, whom have been breeding for some 20 years with no ill effects on a diet of just mealies has to say something. As long as your gutloading as well as using a multi vitamin supplement and calcium your geckos should thrive just fine :no_evil01 :beer:
 
Mike, I can say without a doubt that your animals would look MUCH better if they were fed on more than just mealworms. :) If you want to stick with what's good enough, go for it. But it never hurts to aim for what's better instead of settling for what's good enough. What makes mealworms a better feeder for people isn't that they're more nutritious for the animals they're feeding. It's the convenience of keeping mealworms. That has to say something too.
 
Iv tried both iam talking from experince not from what iv read. All my babies i start on crickets but when i get them going on super worms they seem 2 grow faster and be healthy.but after reading every thing you had 2 say i think iam going 2 add some more crickets 2 there diet cause i like 2 see them hunt and i think they enjoy them thanks.
Mike Harris
 
MONITORMIKE1 said:
All of my geckos are fed on a diet of super worms and they are all growing good and are healthy as can be. I do offer crickets about once a month or so but i find the super worms 2 work the best.
Mike Harris
Click to expand...

Same here, my leos have been fed a staple diet of superworms with no ill effects for years and years now (almost 13 years in fact). Superworms are very active and my leos seem to enjoy chasing them. None of them are overweight or underweight. They are all between 60-70 grams. I have one male who refuses everything but crickets, and he looks and acts the same as my leos who are eating superworms as a staple. I honestly can see no difference. I do vary their diets with roaches, mealies, hornworms, and pinkies, but for the most part it is all about the supers. A few of my females won't even touch crickets and that is fine with me . . my last straw was when I stepped on one in my room with bare feet and felt its guts oozing between my toes . . *shuddering*
 
My leos are mostly feed on mealworms to about 90%They look fine.Also crixs eat each other.When a cricket dies it might have an illness and pass it on to a cricket who then eats it and it might get the illness which then might pass on too your leo???



-john
 
sorry Xelda that you are hard headed and are too cheap to purchase mealworms ... but wat your saying is ridiculous.....maybe someday you will get your geckos to breeding size ...because myne are 8-9 months old ...feeding on superworms , and are breeding and giving me good eggs at 65 grams , yours are most likely about 8 months and 35 grams ....
thanx , Josh
 
Sounds like you're a bit hard headed yourself there josh...especially since mealies are a LOT cheaper than cricket... I don't necessarily agree with Xelda...but there is no need to be nasty about a difference in opinoins...
 
joshsherps said:
sorry Xelda that you are hard headed and are too cheap to purchase mealworms ... but wat your saying is ridiculous.....maybe someday you will get your geckos to breeding size ...because myne are 8-9 months old ...feeding on superworms , and are breeding and giving me good eggs at 65 grams , yours are most likely about 8 months and 35 grams ....
thanx , Josh
Click to expand...
What the heck? :argue:

I've read this thread over and over trying to understand why you just attacked Xelda for presenting a valid thought...CHEAP for not buying mealies at $14/thousand? Come on! Roaches cost many times as much.

It sounds like you are having success with mealies, and many top breeders agree with you. But I find your tirade about the weights of your leos and airing your assumptions about the weights of hers offensive. Are you upset because her opinion differs from yours? Most opinions have merit for different reasons; I've learned so much by putting aside my own opinion and listening to others with an open mind.

I have roaches (2 kinds) and super worms AND mealies. None of my herps has so much as seen a cricket because in my opinion they can be somewhat dangerous (they can kick and wound tender mouths) but if somebody else has success with them, great. It's just an opinion. I love feeding the roaches partly because of the fitness factor (watching my new little leo chase 'em is fun) and I also love feeding mealies because I know they are a proven goodie and I am aware I am too inexperienced to strike out on my own by not feeding mealiles. That also is just an opinion.

I fully expect you to attack me as well, but showing tolerance for another's opinion can be a wonderful thing. It's alright to *respectfully* disagree...
 
I tried an all bacon-cheeseburger diet for them but they were not going for it.....

Personally I feed mine a variety of roaches, silks and crix. With the occasional waxie. I believe a variety is only a good thing because each insect is going to offer varying levels of different nutrients. No one feeder is going to be able to offer all of the nutrients in high enough levels to provide the best possible diet. So I firmly believe variety is best.

The key to feeding any insect though is providing an excellent diet for the feeder. Not just "gut loading" that last meal, but offering a good diet for the life of the feeder and proper supplementation.
 
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shrap said:
I tried an all bacon-cheeseburger diet for them but they were not going for it.....
Click to expand...

LMAO! :rofl: Some much-needed humor!

I was really enjoying this thread for the different, personal, unjudgmental, and scientific opinions that were being shared...I think personal preferences and opinions are necessary, but I don't think subjective attacks are. Try to think about life in "gray areas"...not black or white, virtuous right vs. entirely wrong. Lets get this back to a "non-kingsnake" level of discussion! I KNOW we're all better than that - come on guys.

Marcia - wonderful, informed information, as always. Thank You! Much appreciated :)

And while I actually feed and breed mealworms of my own, I very much respect Xelda's opinions. I will personally always feed a greater ratio of mealies to crickets - probably 3:1 but I believe in variety and agree with the idea that non-huntable prey is not ideal for my own leo's activity levels and quality of life. But if Ron Tremper wants to feed mealies alone and you choose to feed your leos solely on mealies, solely on crickets, solely on roaches or supers...as long as they're properly fed/'gutloaded' and dusted, that is just fine with me...but that's just me.

Lets reopen this thread for discussion with tactfully argued subjective disagreements but without personal attacks...?
 
Silly addition but hey...

I know I'd be way healthier both short-term and long-term if I stuck to a high-fiber, low-cholesterol, organic, preservative-free diet. BUT while I always buy organic, I also make eggs for breakfast many mornings, I drink so much milk that its just bad...not enough fiber...mostly carb-diet and I hit up fast-food drive-throughs every few weeks when I'm short on time. Still, I get a lot of exercise, take a few supplements, have a great metabolism, I'm just under 5'6", 110lbs -most of which are muscle, I have low-cholesterol and almost TOO much energy(!!)

What I'm trying to say is that we need to look at all factors here...any prey is worthless without supplementation, gutloading, and environmental factors...these are what make the difference.
 
your right. i feed em w/e as long as its gut loaded. meaalies, super mealies, cricks, wax worms and those oh so wonderful pinkies. i ahvent tried silkies yet
 
Linz has a great point I am a health freak and a hardcore weight lifter im 6'0 189 lbs i could use my knowledge of this and plug it into my leos health(i wonder if they have weights for leos????)

-John
 
joshsherps said:
sorry Xelda that you are hard headed and are too cheap to purchase mealworms ... but wat your saying is ridiculous.....maybe someday you will get your geckos to breeding size ...because myne are 8-9 months old ...feeding on superworms , and are breeding and giving me good eggs at 65 grams , yours are most likely about 8 months and 35 grams ....
thanx , Josh
Click to expand...
I haven't had any problems getting any of my babies to hit 60 grams at 5 months of age, thank you very much. I also used to breed mealworms. I raised several colonies to the point where I didn't have to buy any more mealworms for years. I decided to drop that and go back to buying crickets, which actually costs me some money unlike the mealworms. Now how does that make me cheap?

I'm personally offended by how much you assume. I breed over 20 species of cockroaches and have a few successful leopard gecko breeding seasons under my belt. I can actually speak from at least a little experience here, whereas you've only been keeping leos for 8-9 months? My experience tells me this: Feeding my leos crickets, roaches, and occasionally supers and silkworms makes them look a lot better than they ever did back when I was feeding them mealworms. Trust me, I gutloaded my mealworms on the finest of food: spirulina, mixed 10-grain cereal, flax seed, sesame seed, quinoa, chinese green vegetables, the CGD diet, fruits, veggies, etc. And my leos (over 30 of them) STILL never looked as good as they do now.
 
Sorry to beat a dead horse here, but you really plucked some things out of thin air there Josh. It's one thing to disagree, and a whole other thing to make assumptions about the quality of another person's geckos that you've never seen.

Olivia doesn't go by "bugchick" for no reason. She seriously knows her bugs, and I respect her opinions.

I feed about 90% mealworms at the moment. Does that make me bad? Or my geckos unhealthy? No, it doesn't. My geckos are healthy, but I think it can get even better. I'm feeding such a high percentage of mealworms at the moment because I'm waiting for my roach colony to stabilize. Once that happens, the amount of mealworms I'm feeding will go down a good deal.

Nobody here is plucking facts out of thin air. If you do the research, there is a LOT of info about the value of feeders. I don't think mealworms are the best feeders, but they are far from the worst.

If you can live with feeding yucky crickets, good for you. If you like only mealworms, great! Have roaches living with you, and you like it - fantastic. On and on .... So long as you are gutloading your insects, dusting before feeding, and doing the best for your geckos that you can, then it's all good in my books.
 
Since we're on the topic of "which is better" .... I've read that supers have less chiton than mealies, but I was wondering if that's just because they're usually fed at a larger size? Does anyone know if there is an actual difference in the amount of chiton between the species (meaning a 1" super would have less chiton than a 1" mealie), or whether it's just a function of a smaller surface-to-volume ratio if you feed full-grown 2" supers?
I was also wondering about the nutritional value of silkies -- since they can't be "gutloaded" in the normal way, would feeding silkies as a staple diet lead to deficiencies in whatever nutrients don't happen to be in mulberry leaves? Does the "chow" contain any extra vitamins/minerals, and/or has anyone tried adding supplements to the chow as a way of indirectly gutloading the silkies?
 
someone got offended from the whole topic , there was no reason to blow up like that - that was harsh , I think that if u feed them a variety it is much better , but thats my opinion , just dont blow up on me - lol - it almost puts a discrase to my name Josh , just kidding , but maybe an apology to her would be nice .
Thanks Josh Greenmyer
-JG(geckos-
 
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