Giant or Midget Leos?

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Originally Posted by DonMeyer

THanks guys....but David they are both the same age....

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But they're not full grown....how old are they exactly? Do you even know how big Leos get? Wait a couple of years before you decide whether your geckos are abnormally sized, ok? ;)

I sincerely hope you're not trying to breed them now.....please tell me you aren't!

Well, you can certainly prevent that by crushing the jaws before feeding. The point is that the larvae are fattier and don't present any better nutritional value than crickets, and in some cases are harder to digest because of the exoskeletons. I actually have both crickets and mealworms on hand for my geckos, but I gutload the crix for days before feeding them off and keep the mealies in grain. I don't know of an actual case of any larvae burrowing through intestine or body of a herp but many larvae are burrowing specialists, so if they're not adequately crunched or hit with digestive acids, I guess it is possible.

Its not possible. Its simply not. Crushing the jaws of a feeder insect is pointless.....unless you're feeding your lizard Stag Beetles, LOL. Crickets are made up of mostly useless chitin.....very little is actually of any nutritional value. I have raised many a lizard on a purely worm-oriented diet. None of my lizards ever had their insides eaten out nor were they unhealthy in any way shape or form. Ron Tremper, one of the nation's largest breeders of Leopard Geckos feeds his animals ONLY mealworms and other worms as treats.

I would like some hard pressed FACTS laid out before we go all willy nilly and start blurping urban legends as factual information.

What I presented as factual information was the nutritional analyses, David. The burrowing is beside the point. The point is nutritional value.

The burrowing isn't beside the point.

I did not say "larvae will burrow out", but that crickets won't. You want to tell me that's NOT a fact?

What were you tryng to convey with that "warning"? You were implying that there was a danger of that if you fed mealworms. If you really think about it, its just plain silly. Spreading false information does no good for anyone.

David, I merely referenced implications that it was possible found in other sources. Just because I haven't heard of something happening certainly doesn't mean it's not possible, and I know for a fact that cresties are lacking in jaw strength and don't crush their food particularly well. Therefore, because I don't know for a fact that it's not possible, I referenced the implication in case. Your saying it's not possible doesn't prove it to me, particularly since some larvae are perfectly capable of eating through wood, a much harder substance than gut. I DO know that crickets will not do it, so I included that information. If you have proof that it's not possible for a larvae to burrow through, by all means post it and I will retract my reference to other information suggesting that it is possible.

battle of the mods. how um, great.

Jeez......the fact that we're arguing over this disturbs me greatly. There should be no argument....it should be a mute point. *sigh*

Could you *please* tell me how a mealworm is going to eat though ANYthing if its DEAD? Unless they're zombie worms it AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN.

I fed my Cresteds mealworms quite frequently when they were adults.....and guess what? They lived!!! Have you ever been bitten by your geckos? Cuz I have....and a mealworm doesn't stand a chance in HELL of surviving that.