Nutritional Value of Mealworms

Bruce

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Messages
37
Hi guys,

I've recently purchased a batch of Mealworms and found them to be much cleaner and easier to maintain compared to crickets. Most of my T's seem to like them. I was thinking of switching my smaller T's and slings to mealworms.

Has anyone tried raising T's on a diet mostly of mealworms? How does it compare to crixs in terms of nutrition? I would still give them crix and other things in rotation but was wondering if their staple diet consisted mostly of mealworms. would that be a problem?

Many thanks,
Bruce
 

RaZeDaHeLL666

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 20, 2004
Messages
760
I dont know, but I know one thing for sure!! They are ALL PROTIEN!! I always noticed like 2 mealworms will make your t FAT compared to 3 or 4 crickets!
 

GoTerps

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 18, 2003
Messages
2,115
PHP:
They are ALL PROTIEN
Actually it's closer to all fat.
 

Washout

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 18, 2004
Messages
624
Lots of people raise slings on mostly mealworms. And many people raise geckos or other insect eating lizards on exclusivly mealworms.

Edit: Apparently mealworms are a great source of protein. If you google for nutritional info on them you get back that they provide somewhere between 30% to 50% of their calories from protein, and the rest from fat.
 
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Mike H.

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 25, 2004
Messages
1,984
A varied diet is usually best IMO... :drool: I try to feed a little of everything...meal worms, silk worms, crix, pinkies and anoles and when they have them super worms...I am also thinking of starting a roach colony....


Regards, Mike :worship:
 

Immortal_sin

Arachnotemptress
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 17, 2002
Messages
3,952
I don't see that it's any worse than a diet of all crickets.
We don't really know what tarantulas NEED in their diets, but it seems mealworms provide good nutrition as well.
I feed mealworms, superworms, and lobster roaches, with waxworms and crickets occasionally thrown in.
 

Joanie

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 4, 2002
Messages
205
I feed mostly mealworms to my smaller tarantulas, with crickets and waxworms rotated into their diets once or twice a month. It's easier and cheaper for me to get mealworms, and I haven't noticed any problems with the tarantulas. My larger t's get crickets more often and occasionally mice, since they don't seem as interested in eating something as small as a mealworm!
I think a varied diet probably is the safest way to go, though, so I wouldn't switch totally over to just one prey species.
Joanie
 

jw73

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 7, 2004
Messages
488
I feed my spiders mealworms and all like them but P.regalis.
 

JohnxII

Avicoholic
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Feb 21, 2004
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shogun804

Arachnogeneral
Old Timer
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Oct 5, 2004
Messages
1,387
i feed crickets thats all i have access to right now...they seem to like them.
 

Bark

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 26, 2004
Messages
266
For the little slings I use chopped up meal worms rather than pinheads (which aren't easy to get here for some reason). Once the T is big enough to take on a small cricket, I stop feeding meal worms. If you do feed meal worms, you pretty much have to kill them first to prevent burrowing. Some T's are smart enough to dig them up, but most don't/won't. Meal worms do last a heck of a lot longer though.
 
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