Mealworms are the larvae of the Tenebrio Molitar Beetle. Their diet is vegetarian which means they are safe to feed to animals and birds without passing on potentially fatal diseases which may be present in offal-fed larvae such as maggots. They are a clean odourless and relatively inexpensive livefood, rich in protein and easy to store. Mealworms are popular as livefood for many species of aviary and garden birds.
Mealworms are an extremely popular livefood for cage birds and wild birds. They consist of 50.4% crude protein and because of their pure cereal/vegetable diet they are an extremely safe livefood to use. Mealworms are suitable for Soft bills, insectivorous birds and Finches above Siskin size. The movement of Mealworms has the effect of bringing Lizards to the feeder and stimulates feeding. As fishing bait, Mealworms can be used to catch course fish and are particularly popular for fishing Trout. Mealworms may also be fed to small carnivorous mammals.
Simply place however many Mealworms your pet needs each day into a small, shallow container in the cage/vivarium. One small-medium sized bird such as a Pekin Robin should consume around 6 worms daily, larger birds such as Blackbirds consume double this amount. One hatchling or young Gecko would eat between 4-8 Mealworms daily and one adult gecko would eat 4-10 Mealworms daily.