Feeding - Mealies

[SnowSnake]

Hello!

I am tired of paying 10$ per 2 weeks for crikets so I decided to feed my leo only mealies and as treats pinkies and wax worms.

But I need to know how many mealies they eat. I dont like to feed everyday so can I feed them every other day or every 3 days??

thank you!!
SnowSnake

[snakemann87]

hey, i dont own any leopards but i dont know that the word "only" is acceptable when it comes to feeding. All lizards if im correct need variety variety variety. If I were you, I wouldnt get too accustomed to pinkies. Check for some herp shows, or buy online. At my shows, they have 1000 crickets for $5.

[SnowSnake]

I dont plan to feed my leos pinkies very often, only about once a month or so until my female gets gravid, then shell have some more often. I will still buy crikets once in a while but I dont want to keep them all the time, so when I pass near a petstore where they sell some I stop and buy 20 (one feeding).


Can I give a leo super worms? I think I have read that some people give their leos super worms, but they look so big for a leo!

How many mealies do leos eat per feeding?

Can I feed a leo mealies every 2 or 3 days like crix?

thx!
SnowSnake

[peregrinefalcon]

Hey Snowsnake,
When I was raising my leos I tried both mealworms and crickets as staples. I found that the leos grew quicker and fatter on the mealworms then the crickets. I also tried superworms and they are even better then mealworms! Plus the leos get exercise from chasing the supers, they are pretty quick. I now feed my leo mealworms, superworms and pinkies/fuzzies. I think the fat in mice is over exaggerated and they are very healthy for them. If you have lots of leos (or one that eats alot!) then I recommend you breed your own mealworms! Its very easy though it can take awhile to get them started. Anyway, you should let your leo eat as many insects as he wants, every night if he is younger then 9 months or if he is older then every 2-3 days. And just checking, you gut-load your insects right? This is also important for the health of your leo.
Hope this helps you out!
Adam

[SnowSnake]

Do you give your leos as many supers as they want even if they are huge?wont the chitin of the supers harm the leos stomachs?

I have a female who is about 8 months old and a male who is about 5 months old.

How much food should I give them and do you think that super worms are appropriate for leos of that age?

And I would appreciate a number for how many mealies they can eat per night because my male would eat 100 if he could!

bye,
SnowSnake

[peregrinefalcon]

Healthy leos can easily kill an adult superworm, usually they chew them quite good. As long as your leos are healthy then they can easily digest the chitin, if leos can digest mouse bones then they can digest insect chitin When one of my big females was gravid I gave her 20+ mealworms a night to eat, so yea let gravid (or soon to be gravid) females chow down. They should be able to handle superworms, and if they can't then they probably won't even go after them. I think 10-15 mealies a night plus a few supers is a healthy amount for growing leos. Now I have a question for you, are these two leos housed together? If so I would seperate them right away, you don't want underage leos breeding, it is very bad on the females.
Adam

[SnowSnake]

They are not together now. When should I put them together?

[peregrinefalcon]

I would wait 3 or 4 months when the female is nice and fat and a year old. The male doesn't really have to be any age or weight, as long as he is healthy. Good luck!

[SnowSnake]

Is feeding mealies and supers to leos a big mistake? because a friend of mine thinks thats its a very bad idea.
What do you think about that?

[Edwin]

I keep a small dish full of mealies and for my leo at all times so he can snack when he is hungry, and he gets crickets, silkworms or waxworms once a week, to give some variety to his diet.

[SnowSnake]

My leos dont go to there calcium dish to lick some. So im affraid that they will not get enough calcium and vits.

[peregrinefalcon]

Why does he think its a big mistake? Has he had problems? I've fed my leos supers a mealies for over a year and they are perfectly healthy. I'd like to hear why he/she thinks that.
Adam

[SnowSnake]

he says that my leos will get a chitin impaction, and that they will have a bad calcium phosphorus ratio.

[peregrinefalcon]

Well, just use common sense. If a leo can digest bones, which are *harder* then chitin, then they can digest chitin. And if you gut-load your insects with a big variety of foods then the leos will get enough of every vitamin/mineral. Hope this helps!

[SnowSnake]

ok thx! The girl at the pet-store told me that i had to crush the super worms head. Is this necessairy? how do i do it?