Mealworms

[Wezzer]

Yesterday i bought a small box of mealworms for Speckles for her protein today. I was wondering what i should do with the mealworms i havent given her. Would i be best putting them in a soil bin for them to live in there? I know this isn't the food section, but i figured i might get a quicker response from a keeper who has an omnivore tort if i put it in this section. She has eaten one, but i had to kill it because it was freaking her out. I have given her a live one to see if she will kill and eat it.

 

[Yvonne G]

Well, the smaller meal worms need to be refrigerated, but the big ones can stay on the counter. The medium that they come to you in is fine to leave them in. Its usually bran and that's what they eat. If you want, you can also put in a little slice of apple.

 

[Torty Mom]

If you don't keep them in the fridge to slow the life cycle down they will turn into beetles. I feed them to my ornate boxie, but he will eat around 10 a day, so a container does not last that long.

Rusty just munches them down. Maybe Sspreckles will munch them down next time, now that she knows it's a food. It's gross to watch, I don't usually look, turns my stomach. Yes, I am not afraid to admit that I am a sissy la la!!

 

[Wezzer]

Lol, i gave her another and she killed and ate it. I think with the first one she just didnt know what to do with it.

 

[LindaF]

LOL This thread reminded me of the day my little RF had his first earthworm. He was surprised his food was moving, and tried to hold it down while nibbling on it. Now he chows them down like an old pro.

 

[Wezzer]

LOL This thread reminded me of the day my little RF had his first earthworm. He was surprised his food was moving, and tried to hold it down while nibbling on it. Now he chows them down like an old pro.

Lol, i was surprised that i actually found it fascinating to watch her with the live one i gave her. She grabbed it and as she grabbed it, it moved and she dropped it because it scared her. She got it in the end though lol. It seemed obvious to me that she had never seen one before in her life, but once she had tried it there was no stopping her

 

[kimber_lee_314]

LOL This thread reminded me of the day my little RF had his first earthworm. He was surprised his food was moving, and tried to hold it down while nibbling on it. Now he chows them down like an old pro.

Mine never seem to go after live food - they're too slow - or maybe too lazy since they prefer to be hand fed!

 

[tortoises101]

Be aware that mealworms have a hard chitin (outer shell) and aren't as easily digestable for torts as other worms such as butterworms. Also, the calhos ratio of mealworms is pretty low too.

Sorry if this ruined the fun, I just want your tort to have the best.

 

[terryo]

I've never fed my Cherry Head's meal worms, but if I have an underweight box turtle that I want to hibernate, I'll feed some wax worms, which are loaded with fat, two weeks prior to when I stop feeding to fatten them up. For my Cherry Head, I only fed low fat dried cat food up until she went out for the whole Summer...then I started to feed live food. It's clean, filled with vitamins and has plenty of nutrition. Once my oldest went outside for the Summer, I stopped giving the cat food. The little one still gets the cat food. Just what works for me.