Mealworms are a common delicacy for most pet reptiles like the bearded dragon and several types of geckos and lizards. Given that leopard geckos are insectivorous, there are a variety of insects you can feed the lizard, but not all are suitable. As a new leopard gecko owner, you might wonder;
Are mealworm beetles safe for leopard geckos?
The direct answer is yes; leopard geckos can eat mealworm beetles. Even so, it would be best to make several considerations before feeding mealworm beetles to your leopard gecko because mealworm beetles are big and have chitin. Vital considerations include the size, health status, and age of the gecko.
Below, we explore more about feeding your leopard geckos with mealworm beetles.
Advantages Of Mealworm Beetles For Leopard Geckos
Now that we know a bit about mealworm beetles, you are probably wondering, are mealworm beetles nutritious for leopard geckos?
Source of Nutrients
The good news is that mealworm beetles offer a good source of nutrition for leopard geckos. The primary source of food for these beetles is dead and decaying plants and animals, which means they can absorb lots of nutrients.
As a result, they are rich in proteins, and A and B vitamins, including niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, and riboflavin.
Vitamin A is crucial for mealworm beetles since, as mentioned above, they like staying in the dark. In addition, the vitamin promotes night vision, enabling them to roam around at night in search of food. Your leopard gecko gets to benefit from the vitamins too.
Suitable Source of Calcium
In addition, mealworm beetles are a good source of calcium which helps your geckos develop and maintain strong bones. Calcium also aids muscle function and promotes metabolism making it a vital mineral for leopard geckos.
Besides the above nutritional benefits, mealworm beetles are good feeder insects for leopard geckos since they can’t fly. As such, leopard geckos can easily catch them using their sticky tongue.
Disadvantages of Feeding Mealworm Beetles to Leopard Geckos
Even though mealworm beetles have nutritional benefits for leopard geckos, they also have a few disadvantages, which makes them not a suitable staple choice for these reptiles.
Tough Chitin
The main drawback of feeding mealworm beetles to leopard geckos is that they are hard to chew. Their chitin is more rigid in the mealworm beetles than in the mealworms.
Besides being hard to chew, the chitin is also challenging for the lizard to digest, which can cause indigestion or blockage of the animal’s digestive system.
Big Claws and Jaws
In addition to the rigid exoskeleton, mealworm beetles have big claws and jaws, which can easily hurt small geckos.
If a gecko bites their tail, the beetle can quickly turn around and hurt the gecko’s eyes. You certainly don’t want to risk your leopard gecko’s life.
Foul Smell
Another reason beetles are not suitable for leopard geckos as a staple is that they have an awful-smelling secretion from their abdomen, which leopard geckos hate.
Large In Size
Unlike mealworms, mealworm beetles are big, which can be pretty intimidating for small leopard geckos making them less likely to hunt the beetles. Even if a tiny gecko can capture and subdue the beetle, the hard chitin makes it hard for young leopard geckos to chew.
3 Factors To Consider When Feeding Mealworm Beetles to Leopard Geckos
Size
If you still wish to feed these beetles to your leopard geckos, you need to slice them into small pieces. You should also feed them at less frequent intervals to avoid impaction. This will allow your gecko enough time to digest what has already been consumed.
Whenever possible, look for younger beetles, as the mature ones can cause serious harm to your gecko when feeding.
Leopard Gecko’s Age
Small leopard geckos are more likely to be intimidated by mealworm beetles. Therefore, to avoid stressing the young lizard, choose mealworm beetles smaller than the lizard.
Health Status
Due to the chitin, mealworm beetles can potentially cause indigestion even in a healthy leopard gecko. Furthermore, the digestion and absorption of food by a sick leopard gecko are likely not very effective, and eating hard-to-digest foods can only worsen the situation. It is best to avoid mealworm beetles with sickly leopard geckos.
How To Breed Mealworm Beetles?
As evidenced above, you can give your leopard geckos mealworm beetles occasionally.
The insects are easy to find in the wild, but in most cases, wild beetles might not have the needed nutrients for leopard geckos. In addition, they might have toxins and chemicals.
The best way to get nutritious, chemical-free beetles is by rearing them yourself. You also get to save money, and the process is relatively easy.
First, you need to get a good pet shop for mealworms. There are usually two primary mealworm sources; you can choose the hormonal or the organic ones.
Although hormonal mealworms mature faster and are cheaper than organic ones, they are less nutritious.
Organic ones will be better if you want to get the best out of your mealworms. After getting your mealworms, you next need is to get them in a warm and dry place as a habitat.
The more comfortable the worms are, the healthier they will grow, and the lesser time they will take to mature.
After your mealworms are comfortably settled, the next thing is to gut-load them with all the healthy nutrients you want. Gut loading means that you give your mealworms lots and lots of healthy food packed with nutrients vital to leopard geckos.
The larval stage is the most important stage of a darkling beetle since, at the pupal stage, they don’t feed.
Some of the best sources of nutrients for gut-loading are spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, and oats. You need to cut them into tiny pieces to make it easier for the mealworms to feed.
Another crucial detail you need to check is the humidity levels of the breeder. Low humidity may cause your mealworms to dehydrate, while high humidity may delay the pupal stage.
7 Safer Alternatives To Mealworm Beetles
While mealworm beetles have nutritional benefits, they also have drawbacks that make them not an ideal day-to-day insect for leopard geckos. Here are better insects you can alternate with mealworm beetles in the lizard’s diet.
1. Mealworms
Mealworms are better than mealworm beetles because they are smaller and not as tough as the beetles. As with mealworm beetles, mealworms are also cheap and readily available. In addition, they are easy to feed and have a long lifespan.
2. Crickets
Crickets are a popular feeder insect among lizard owners. They have good nutrition levels and are easy to get. Unlike mealworm beetles, crickets have less chitin, thus easy to digest.
Even so, you should not put them inside the leopard gecko’s enclosure. Instead, use a separate feeding tank because they can hide in the tank.
3. Black Solider Fly Larvae
Black soldier fly larvae are a reliable source of calcium for leopard geckos. The mineral is pretty necessary for the lizard’s growth and development needs.
Besides being a reliable source of calcium, black soldier larvae are also tiny compared to mealworm beetles, thus easy for even baby leopard dragons to eat.
Even so, their small size makes some leopard geckos uninterested in them. They also have a short lifespan.
4. Dubia Roaches
Yet another highly nutritious bug for leopard geckos we have Dubia roaches. In fact, they have better nutritional content than crickets and super worms. These insects are also easy to breed, store and feed to the lizard since they cannot climb even surfaces.
5. Silkworms
Silkworms are some of the best nutritious feeder insects for leopard geckos. They are rich in calcium and proteins and are also known to contain a substance that offers pain relief to the leopard gecko besides aiding calcium absorption.
In addition, silkworms are an excellent choice because they are slow and docile, thus easy to feed the lizard with as they don’t jump around, as is the case with crickets.
The downside to choosing silkworms for leopard geckos is that they have a short life span and are relatively expensive.
6. Hornworms
Hornworms are a reliable source of calcium, proteins, and other nutrients vital to leopard geckos. Besides, they are rich in moisture which helps keep the reptile well hydrated, but they can cause diarrhea if consumed in large amounts.
They are also easy to maintain but grow big very fast, which can be challenging for baby leopard geckos.
7. Butterworms
Yet another protein and calcium-rich excellent choice of a feeder insect to leopard geckos, we have butterworms which are sometimes confused with waxworms.
However, even though both are maggots, butterworms have a lower fat content compared to waxworms, making them a good choice for leopard geckos to avoid obesity that arises from high fat intake.
Butterworms can, however, be difficult to find and have a short lifespan. If you can find them, you will love that they are easy to keep since they don’t need to be fed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Mealworm Beetles Bite?
Yes, mealworm beetles do bite and have fully-developed strong jaws. Such enables them to bite and chew prey. However, even though they can also bite humans, the bite is not painful or harmful. As for healthy leopard geckos, the lizard will defend itself if the beetle tries to bite it.
Can Leopard Geckos Eat Mealworms?
Yes, leopard geckos can eat mealworms, which are a better choice than mealworm beetles. It is because mealworms are smaller and softer while having the same nutritional benefits as mealworm beetles.
Can Baby Leopard Geckos Eat Beetles?
Yes, baby leopard geckos can eat several beetles, including mealworm beetles. Even so, these young lizards will find it hard to chew the beetles, which are often hard. In addition, their digestive system might not be able to handle such materials leading to impaction.
It is, therefore, best to avoid them or provide the beetles less frequently if your leopard gecko is a baby or juvenile.