Mealworms 100g

The rule keepers use is that a feeder should be no wider than the space between the animal's eyes. Width, not length, is what decides whether a feeder is safe.

Mealworms come at standard feeder size and suit juvenile through adult geckos, skinks, dragons and turtles. They are not a hatchling feeder – the hard outer shell makes them harder work than their size suggests for a very small animal.

A 100 g tub is aimed at collections rather than single pets. If you keep one gecko, the 50 g tub will usually be finished before this one would be.

Judge it by how much of the diet mealworms make up. Because they are fatty and calcium-poor, they should be one feeder among several – so even in a larger collection, a 100 g tub is generally a month's supply rather than a fortnight's.

Mealworms are among the most calcium-poor feeders in common use. A veterinary study measured calcium in unsupplemented mealworms at 0.04 to 0.06 percent of dry matter, a calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of roughly 0.05 to 0.08 to 1 – thirteen to twenty times more phosphorus than calcium.

Insectivores need that ratio reversed, nearer 2:1 in favour of calcium. Fed undusted, mealworms lead directly to metabolic bone disease.

Buying in bulk makes this more important, not less. The larger the tub, the easier it is to let mealworms quietly become the default feeder.

Gut-load for 24 to 48 hours on a calcium-rich food, dust with calcium immediately before offering, and feed promptly.

With a tub this size, decant only what you need into a separate container to dust. Dusting the whole tub wastes supplement and fouls the bedding. Powder does not cling well to a smooth mealworm, so shake rather than sprinkle. Use calcium with D3 where there is no UVB, and plain calcium where good UVB is provided.

Refrigerate at around 8 to 10 degrees Celsius and mealworms go dormant, keeping for several weeks – which is what makes the larger tub practical.

Once a week, bring the tub to room temperature for a few hours with a slice of carrot or potato so the worms can feed and rehydrate, then return it to the cold. Remove any dead or blackened worms at the same time. Left warm, the tub will pupate into beetles within weeks.

Suitable for collections of juvenile and adult leopard geckos, bearded dragons, skinks, water dragons, turtles and insectivorous birds and fish.

Not suitable for hatchlings or very small animals, where the hard shell is a genuine impaction risk. Not suitable as a staple, and not the right buy for a single small pet, where the tub will pupate before it is used.

Feed only to animals warm enough to digest properly, and remove uneaten worms rather than letting them burrow into substrate where they will be missed.

Keep the tub sealed and refrigerated separately from human food, and wash hands after handling feeders.

• Exo Terra Calcium + D3 Powder – essential with a feeder this calcium-poor.
• Live Mealworms 50 g – the smaller tub, better suited to a single animal.
• Black Soldier Fly Larvae 100 g – a calcium-positive feeder to rotate against mealworms.

Live feeders are supplied for in-store collection or local delivery, with our live arrival guarantee.

How long will a 100 g tub of mealworms last?

Refrigerated at around 8 to 10 degrees Celsius, mealworms stay dormant and usable for several weeks. Kept at room temperature they will feed, grow and pupate into beetles within a few weeks instead.

Should I buy the 50 g or the 100 g tub?

The 50 g tub suits a single animal or occasional feeding. The 100 g tub suits multiple animals or regular rotation, and only makes sense if you can refrigerate it.

Do I dust the whole tub or just what I feed?

Only what you are feeding. Decant a portion into a separate container, shake it with calcium powder and offer immediately; dusting the whole tub wastes supplement and spoils the bedding.

Can mealworms be a staple feeder?

No. Mealworms are high in fat, heavy in chitin and very calcium-poor, so they belong in a varied insect diet rather than as the main feeder.