Question about meal worms... I just bought two batches of mealworms that I am not happy with. I am wondering what could be happening to them. I pick through them to find the fattest ones that move around so that I can make certain that they are alive to put in the gecko's dish. The next morning, half of them have turned black and I have to throw them out. What is going on? Has anyone seen this? Is my gecko squishing them while eating or are they just rotten?
when they turn black, they're dead. Are you gutloading and hydrating them in the container? If they're just kept in the same tub you bought them without providing food or water, they'll die pretty quickly. If they're well fed and hydrated, they shld live in your gecko's tank for a day without any problems.
What do you feed them? I keep them in the fridge and after 4 months of buying and keeping worms, this is the first batch that has done this. Does keeping them in the fridge make them go dormant? Do you still have to feed and water them while they are in the fridge? I thought the "stuff" that they came in was considered food. Thanks for the quick reply.
I don't know where you get your mealworms from, but the ones I get just come in what looks like sawdust. I take them out and put them in bedding/food that I buy from www.cricketfood.com along with a carrot wedge for hydration. I keep mine in the frig too. What I do is take them out about once a week and let them "thaw out" for a couple of hours and let them hydrate/eat too. I also take out a bunch which I know I'll use in the next couple of days and let them feed at room temps for atleast 24hrs before I give them to my leo. If you want to make your own gutload, you can use stuff like oatmeal, bran flakes, crushed dog food, fish flakes (although I've heard that there are dyes in the fish food that aren't good for reptiles - not confirmed though), chick feed plus fresh veggies for hydration.
Darn! I was messing that up! Thanks for the info. I have cricket gutload I have been using for crix. I will change them tonight. I am surprised that they lasted this long. Good thing I was using crickets also! He is certainly not malnourished! I am lucky.
