an controversial question about red mealworms

[ddandori]

Hi, I am kinda new member^^

And I write here a thread because I need your help.

In my hometown (in Asia) one pet shop is selling a red mealworm.

The owner said it is aa genetically red mealworm imported from japan

and it is much more nutritious than normal meal worms. Then oneday he

changed his word again and said he is actually feeding mealworm some special

foods that make them to become red.

But then I kinda found out actually these red mealworms are fed with

artificial color former and used to feed gold fish or other tropical fishes so

that they can have shinier color. So actually this red mealworm does help

making some red color T's to look more red but I can not guarantee if it is

healthy or not.

Does anyone know what the red mealworm's truth should be???

because when I bought this, after some weeks the red mealworm lost its

red color...

I really want to know the truth of it. Because I don't want many other

people buying this expensive worm to feed ther T, and in the truth they were

very unhealthy for the T's...mm Please give me a help. We all want to feed

our lovely anaimal with only good food!

 

[RoachGirlRen]

If the mealworms are simply being fed something that makes them take on a red coloration, which is what it sounds like if they lose their color after being fed a different diet for a couple of weeks, I would not spend the extra money on them; sounds like a cheap gimmick. Chances are, if the feeder loses its color when not being fed the dye, the animal being fed them would as well as soon as you stopped feeding - and that's if it has much of an effect at all on a tarantula's coloration.

Also, while I'm not sure of the potential health effects of colorants on a tarantula, I do know that some red dyes (assuming that an artifical colorant is being used) have been implicated, both experimentally and anectdotally, in a number of health conditions in other species. One of the more recently documented concerns was pre-cancerous genetic mutations.

So, IMO, it isn't worth the price to spend extra on a product that is of questionable effect on coloration and could have potential health implications depending on how the color change is being achieved. Stick to gutloaded roaches, crickets, etc. and your tarantulas should stay plenty healthy.

ETA: Some googling would seem to confirm that "red mealworms" are just mealworms fed on a diet loaded with red food coloring. So, they shouldn't have any exceptional nutritional qualities and are merely normal 'ol mealworms fed artificial coloration so they can be sold for more $$

 

[ddandori]

hey, I really appreciate for you reply. Thanks. And I have never heard any red mealworm in USA or Germany. It is very suspecious those exists only in Japan and Korea. I think it is just a cheap gimmick as you said..but I can't find a true evidence that I can make the shop stop selling the unhealthy fake food..

 

[skippy]

they feed coloring to maggots and mealworms for fish bait. i don't think there's any nutritional aspect to it- just colors to entice the fish:}

 

[Bill S]

I knew somone who changed the colors of Loxosceles spiders by feeding them different foods. Pink Bollworm resulted in a reddish spider. I don't remember what was used to turn the spiders green. In that case, the colors were natural and most likely non-harmful. But some coloring agents can be harmful. (Carotene for producing red/orange colors - in overdoses can be bad.) As for the red mealworms - I'd avoid them unless I knew what the real source of the color was.

 

[ph0bia]

Might be worth finding out the chemical constituents of the colouring. Could in fact be harmful for Ts (though it may not be harmful to fish, think of the drug they induce goldfish with when transporting. The fish are fine, but Ts that have been fed these fish die from poisoning).

 

[Anansis]

Might be worth finding out the chemical constituents of the colouring. Could in fact be harmful for Ts (though it may not be harmful to fish, think of the drug they induce goldfish with when transporting. The fish are fine, but Ts that have been fed these fish die from poisoning).

Do you feed fish to your T's very often?

 

[Sathane]

I've heard that the Beige Arctic Diving Tarantula eat fish often and will sometime catch even larger prey, like polar bears and seals.

Actually, that was a lie. I have heard of many people who feed the occasional fish to their Ts though.

 

[Anansis]

I don't know anyone that would feed a fish to his T's. Why bother with all the mess?

 

[Bill S]

I don't know anyone that would feed a fish to his T's. Why bother with all the mess?

Wouldn't be my choice either - but I've had fish ponds before and if you had an animal that would eat fish, that could be a cheap, abundant source of food.

 

[BCscorp]

Yes the red meal worms are a trick. I wouldnt feed it to my T's if I could give unadulterated food.
Does the h. gigas eat fish cause they are used to being around water?
maybe its referenced here
(http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=138353&highlight=h.+gigas)

 

[nichjohnsson]

There is a Red pigment used for giving red color to some tipes os food that comes from a bug!!!

 

[presurcukr]

I don't know anyone that would feed a fish to his T's. Why bother with all the mess?

H.gigas is an semi aquatic sp. and eats fish as part of the diet in the wild

 

[Pacmaster]

They are feeding the mealworms a product similar(if not itself) to naturose.

It is a food additive that is supposed to make reds redder and oranges oranger and yellows yellower.
Its what gives farm-raised salmon and trout the pink meat . . .
It is used mainly in the tropical fish food industry, but has spilled onto the herp scene as a gimmick to make us believe itll turn our pets different colors.
It works well on fish and insects, but I never noticed a difference in herps/amphibians(tho some would invariably argue this to the last).

Never tried it with a tarantula, but I dont think its worth all the trouble, IMO.