superworms too big for juvie leo (and other questions)

[moonbatherx]

Hello all.

I'm a newbie Leo parent so I apologize for all my questions and naivety

I adopted a juvenile Leo today. I grabbed some mealworms to feed him. (I'm wary about keeping crickets in my apartment).

it wasn't until I got home and the store was closed that I realized I had superworms and they are HUGE -- way bigger than I thought I grabbed and way bigger than I think my leo can handle. They're probably larger than an inch and my Leo is quite small. (They're bigger than his head!).

and then while reading to find out what I can do about this situation I delved even further into the "should you feed mealworms?" debate and now I really don't know what to do. I can't get to the store until tomorrow morning.

What can I do about the superworm situation? Will it be ok to not offer food tonight until I can get to the store in the morning? what is the best size for food for a juvie (I've read 1/4 inch)? can I cut the superworms smaller for the Leo and see if it'll eat something that's not alive? what is the consensus on feeding mealies and superworms in the first place (impaction, etc?)

any help appreciated!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

What can I do about the superworm situation? Will it be ok to not offer food tonight until I can get to the store in the morning? what is the best size for food for a juvie (I've read 1/4 inch)? can I cut the superworms smaller for the Leo and see if it'll eat something that's not alive? what is the consensus on feeding mealies and superworms in the first place (impaction, etc?)

Welcome to the club! :biggrin: Please post a picture of your leo.

Don't offer any food tonight. Wait until you get much smaller mealworms on Sunday.

Impaction depends upon proper heating.

• What are your warm end ground temps?
• What size is his enclosure?

A temperature gradient from warm to cool maintains your leo's health. Here's a temperature guide for all leopard geckos as measured with the probe of a digital thermometer (and controlled by a thermostat set at 91*F/32.8*C):

• 88-92 F (31.1-33.3 C) ground temperature right underneath a leo's warm dry hide
• no greater than 82ish F (27.8ish C) air temperature - 4 inches above ground on the warm end
• no greater than 75 F (23.9 C) air temperature - 4 inches above ground on the cool end

Leave the UTH on 24/7. At night turn off overhead lighting/heating (~12 hours on and ~12 hours off) unless ambient room temperatures drop lower than 67ish*F (19.4*C).

 

[moonbatherx]

thank you Elizabeth! I'm just waiting for the store to open so I can run right over.

his enclosure is only a 10 gallon right now. I was duped into getting a ZooMed kit from the local pet store (not the chain, surprisingly, but i digress) and once I got it unpacked and was looking at everything and reading up I realized how small a 10 gallon is and that i didn't want half the stuff in the kit (like the sand). so I started supplimenting. I'm going to try to get him a bigger enclosure asap.

and I'm pretty sure the air temp is getting too warm because it has an overhead heat lamp. It's about 85F right now. so I have another question for you, if you don't mind. I'm going to get an undertank heating pad today when I pick up his food. If I can't get a bigger enclosure for a lil while, what's the easiest way to create that temperature gradient on a 10 gallon? If I get a mini heating pad and put it on one end of the tank, would that create enough of a gradient do you suppose? I guess an easier question would be to ask how to create that temperature gradient using a heating pad in the first place? (since some are designed to fit the whole enclosure bottom). Would putting it at one end be enough?

Thanks soooo much for your help. I'm headed over to check out your care sheet link right now.

 

[FG12]

Congratulations on being a new Leopard Gecko parent. Super worms and giants are way too big for a juvenile and the worms do bite and can injure you baby gecko.
Just return them with your receipt and get the small mealworms. My Leo is 5 years old and I still feed the small mealworms, I let them get bigger at least 1/2" or 3/4" and only feed 12 a week divided and dusted once a week.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

thank you Elizabeth! I'm just waiting for the store to open so I can run right over.

his enclosure is only a 10 gallon right now. I was duped into getting a ZooMed kit from the local pet store (not the chain, surprisingly, but i digress) and once I got it unpacked and was looking at everything and reading up I realized how small a 10 gallon is and that i didn't want half the stuff in the kit (like the sand). so I started supplimenting. I'm going to try to get him a bigger enclosure asap.

and I'm pretty sure the air temp is getting too warm because it has an overhead heat lamp. It's about 85F right now. so I have another question for you, if you don't mind. I'm going to get an undertank heating pad today when I pick up his food. If I can't get a bigger enclosure for a lil while, what's the easiest way to create that temperature gradient on a 10 gallon? If I get a mini heating pad and put it on one end of the tank, would that create enough of a gradient do you suppose? I guess an easier question would be to ask how to create that temperature gradient using a heating pad in the first place? (since some are designed to fit the whole enclosure bottom). Would putting it at one end be enough?

Thanks soooo much for your help. I'm headed over to check out your care sheet link right now.

You're welcome.

Whether a heat pad "is enough" depends upon the size of the heat pad. For enclosures larger than 10 gallons I recommend heating 1/2 the length of the enclosure

For a 10 gallon place a 6 x 8 inch Zoo Med heat pad (not the mini 4 x 5 inch) on one end of the enclosure + a thermostat. I recommend either the Jump Start MTPRTC or Apollo thermostats. Both are available from Amazon for $20.

Have you a digital thermometer with a probe?

May I ask which supplements you have?

 

[acpart]

I am a less picky feeder than other people and have been successful. Any size mealworms should be fine for a gecko that's at least a few weeks old. There is a wealth of opinions about whether or not mealworms are a decent food source and in my opinion, while it's a good idea to vary feeders, I brought up all my hatchlings on mealworms (and switched to crickets and super worms when they got bigger) and they have been fine. I have fed super worms to hatchlings as small as 15 grams and that also has been no problem.

Aliza

 

[moonbatherx]

You're welcome.

Whether a heat pad "is enough" depends upon the size of the heat pad. For enclosures larger than 10 gallons I recommend heating 1/2 the length of the enclosure

For a 10 gallon place a 6 x 8 inch Zoo Med heat pad (not the mini 4 x 5 inch) on one end of the enclosure + a thermostat. I recommend either the Jump Start MTPRTC or Apollo thermostats. Both are available from Amazon for $20.

Have you a digital thermometer with a probe?

May I ask which supplements you have?

Hey! I forgot to reply, I'm sorry.
I got him some mealworms the next day and he's been chowing down on them since. I'm slowing getting the hang of this! lol.

I got the 6 x 8 heating mat and put it on one end, and I keep the overhead heating lamp on for 12 hours a day I purchased an Infrared Thermometer to check temperatures because I'm not sure the analog ones I keep on both ends of the tank are correct (they won't measure belly head anyway). The tank seems to keep a pretty good temperature gradient this way. The far left is about 70F and the far right is about 88F. There is one tiny area on the far right that gets up to about 95F, that's not too much, is it? It's not under his hides. Humidity is about 50%.

I put an order in for a thermostat on Amazon, it should be here Friday.

as for supplements, I'm only using ZooMed's Repti-Calcium with D3 so far. (I don't have a UVB lamp) I use the "shake and bake" method to coat the mealworms every other day. Are there any other supplements I should be giving him?