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kicker17
09-06-2005, 06:39 PM
im feeding my tegu crickets as a insect staple but i was wondering if mealworms could replace them as my tegus insect staple i want to breed mealworms cuz they sound easy whenver i order crickets most of them die and im sick of that also can you feed the black beetles that the mealworms turn into to my tegu thx alot

Johelian
09-07-2005, 07:38 PM
Im a little confused...a staple should be rodents (preferably adult if your tegu is big enough). However, that being said, you need to supplement with many other foods just as frequently, including insects, fruits, turkey etc. Insects shouldnt be a staple food for anything other than a baby too small to take mice.

Mealworms are harder to digest than crickets, and so shouldnt be fed in large numbers to baby tegus because of risk of impaction. Juvenile and adult tegus can eat them more abundantly.

Yes, its ok to feed the beetle, though my tegu seems afraid of them. Im not really surprised - they are hideous :) Crickets are apparently very very easy to breed however, so you may want to look into that. I never have (theyre all too cheap to buy for me to bother).

kicker17
09-07-2005, 10:57 PM
yea i feed my tegu mice and also beef inscets aren't the only thing i feed them i just talking about if i could feed mealworms to my juevile as the main sorce of insect say 2-3 times a week beacuse whenever i order cricets more then half die and im sick of that and i wanted to try something diff