Gut loading meal worms?

[luckykarma]

I learned how to gut load superworms here and I was thinking about my mealworms. I'm sure its the same recipe but I keep them in the refrigerator. I'm imaging they don't eat when chilled. Is it safe to keep them outside the fridge? Or what is the preferred method of gut loading them?

 

[Tygerr]

Firstly I must mention that there are a lot of experienced keepers here that won't use mealworms, because they can pose digestive problems to chams. The have a much higher chitin-to-meat ratio than a lot of other insects, which is what makes them hard to digest, and could even lead to impaction.
They also are relatively high in fat, so they are not good as staple feeders at all.
That said, my male cham really seems to love them, so I've always kept a batch going to feed off as an occassional treat. But I would only feed them to a healthy, adult cham whose digestive system should be able to cope well with them, and I try to feed off only recently molted worms.

I learned how to gut load superworms here and I was thinking about my mealworms. I'm sure its the same recipe but I keep them in the refrigerator. I'm imaging they don't eat when chilled.

Mealworms are usually kept in an edible substrate (like rolled oats), so that often forms part of the gutload. You can enrich the substrate by using a blend of various cereals and milk powder and other dry ingredients (like spirulina powder), but you should also be providing some leafy greens and fresh vegetables. They don't go through greens and veg as fast as crickets do, so make sure that you change the veg regularly before it goes off, and don't let it wet the substrate too much or else it will go mouldy.

Also, you're correct: the mealworms won't eat when they are refrigerated. So if you are going to keep them chilled, make sure to take them out of the fridge a few days before you feed them off so they can start eating that gutload.

Is it safe to keep them outside the fridge?

There's nothing unsafe about it, but when they are not refrigerated they will continue to eat and grow, and will eventually complete their life-cycle. That is, they'll pupate and turn into darkling beetles. You can then breed them and start the whole process over again. They will breed and lay eggs in the same container and substrate they normally live in, so the process can almost be perpetual.

 

[luckykarma]

Tiger. Thanks. I didn't realize there was such a problem with meal worms. That was the sole diet of my 6.5 year old Veil. Supplemented with kale and the powders.

I'll have to change what I think of feeders even though I've tried just about everything available they all really love the meal and superworms.

 

[wendysjungle]

Superworms are actually great for them. Even though they look a lot like mealworms, they are really zoophoba worms. Just make sure you are getting "superworms" and not "super meal worms"! Meal worms are not good for more than the occasional treat.

This site has a good list of staple and supplementary feeders:

http://raisingkittytheveiledchamele.../feeders-and-their-husbandry-how-much-to.html

 

[luckykarma]

I thought supers were giant meal worms. I'll make sure to change this whole diet around. Thanks!

 

[Tygerr]

Here's a nice pictorial description of the difference between mealworms, giant mealworms and superworms: The Chameleon's Dish: Superworms, Mealworms, and Giant Mealworms

 

[luckykarma]

Wow. You completely turned my brain around for what I thought were good feeders for the last 7 years. So meals worms are better than giant mealworms while supers are the best?

 

[JoshCrane1]

back on topic.

i feed both my crickets and my supers my "secret gutload"lol with about a dozen green ingredients.

you can search cricket gutload on this site and find it, i havent found any insects that didnt love it.

p.s. my supers eat just as much if not more of the gutload than the crickets

 

[luckykarma]

Great to know. Thanks.

 

[JoshCrane1]

heres the page with my gutload.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/collard-greens-killing-crickets-12657/index3.html

 

[Sassy]

Not that it really matters now that you have been explained to the differences......but I feed meal worms to some of my other reptiles and the way I gutload is to keep them at room temp, in a in a mixture of Oatmeal, gallon tank, bran and a little roach food - with a carrot on the top and it works like a charm

 

[luckykarma]

Cool thanks everyone! I'll definitely change the way I do this. I noticed when I put carrots in there they push them up to the top. Some have chew marks on them though

 

[TanCham]

Gut load

I don’t think I saw anything about egg shells for gut loading in any of these posts so I'd like to recommend it, just crush them up and add to your gut load mix, this is especially great for gravid female but over all its just a great source of natural calcium.