Mealworm Diet

[lackdawa]

I've read that mealworms are something that you should only give to your T every once and a while because they're not extremely nutritious and are mainly chitin which is something T's can't really process/digest. I've found mealworms to be WAY more manageable than crickets, which is what I've usually been giving my T's. I tried using mealworms for a couple of weeks with no problems but is it really healthy for T's to eat them and is it okay to give it to them frequently?

 

[moricollins]

You can feed your tarantulas solely on mealworms. Lots of people do.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I've read that mealworms are something that you should only give to your T every once and a while because they're not extremely nutritious and are mainly chitin which is something T's can't really process/digest.

This is one of those random hobby myths that's been knocking about for as long as I can remember, they're perfectly fine as a staple feeder, I've raised dozens of slings/juvies on nothing but mealworms and never had an issue with it. The boluses left over from mealworms/morios tend to be much smaller than other similarly sized prey items so I imagine the "mainly chitin" thing is nonsense as well.

 

[viper69]

they're not extremely nutritious

This is a blatant amount of damn crap. They are far more nutritious than crix. Crix are about the least nutritious feeder out there. I know because I used to own chameleons and I saw a chemistry profile of the various feeders.

I also ran an "experiment" with N incei from the same sac, compared my 5 slings (3 females, 2 males) with the breeders @cold blood. I used only crix, he used only mealworms. I'll let you figure out who's Ts grew faster and were larger at any given time before maturity.

 

[Smotzer]

I have never heard that, I use them all the time with zero issues.

 

[LadyVonChimp]

I feed both, but prefer mealworms

 

[abexoskeleton]

I only give mealworms nothing else to slings until they're juvenile, and change to super worms or dubias for sub-adults and adults because of the size.
Adult dwarf Ts are still with mealworms. No issues so far, they grow perfectly fine.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

I imagine the "mainly chitin" thing is nonsense as well.

Correct. It seems that crickets and mealworms have the same amount of chitin (though I learned from the first article below that earthworms contain substantially more, interestingly).

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[Gaherp]

I've never witnessed an issue in using mealworms as a staple for many animals in my collection including T's. I would put them higher up on the list of reliable feeders well above crickets. To top it off they can be easily maintained and cultured. Unlike crickets which seem to perish if I stare at them to long, lol.

 

[darkness975]

I feed meal worms, crickets, etc.

Recently I started feeding the mature beetles as well.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

I've got a B. hamorii who only eats mealworms. Won't touch a cricket. I've been feeding her on nothing but mealworms since April of 2019 and she is perfectly fine.

 

[Conor10]

I feed a mix of things, crickets are a norm, but Dubias and mealworms every once in a while, this is just what I do, you don’t have to do it, mealworms can be annoying from their burrowing.