mealworms

Question
QUESTION: Hi Diane, i have 2 leos as you know and they love eating mealworms. But, my store said there is a shortage on mealies and i don't know what to do. I tried crickets, but they are too fast for them to catch, and they never end up catching them. I tried holding them still, but the leos didn't seem interested. I am going to try waxworms, but i know it isn't healthy. They haven't eaten for a while because of the mealie shortage. What should i do, and do  you know what is causing this shortage? Thanks so much for your time and help. I really appreciate it.

ANSWER: Hi Chris,
Try superworms....they are even better for them.  There are on line places that carry various sizes of them
Also, breed your own mealworms...very easy to do...
Lots of info on breeding them on line..  I breed my own with out even trying.
I really suggest not going to waxies as the leos will get very spoiled and won't eat anything else, plus you are right...the waxies are not healthy for them as a main meal.
On the crickets, break their "knees" on their hind legs..that will prevent them from jumping and the leos will do better catching them.
Here is a link to various suppliers..maybe one will be able to ship you some mealies to start breeding them...or to feed to the leos.
http://www.ciar.org/feedercharts/insect.html
also, the link below has superworms in various sizes:
http://www.superwormfarm.com/index.cfm
Another choice is silkworms, although only one of my leos would eat them and they can be very temperamental to keep. Also, cockroaches, locust are good...remember..they need a variety of insects!!!

I've not heard anything other than the demand  being great for the mealies and people can't keep up with the demand.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again, i forgot to mention that i tried superworms , but the male seems to dislike the foul smell and ignores it, my female does however eat anything i give her, it is the male i am worried about. H e seems a bit lazy:( Do you know any other worms/ insects that are very slow moving and tempting for the male and easy to find at pet stores? I usually go to a specialty reptile store but i am pretty sure they don't sell cockroaches or locusts. I am not sure about silkworms, are they healthy as well, or are they like waxworms? Thanks again for your help.

Answer
Hi chris,
On the superworms, try feeding them veggies, greens, etc before offering to your male.  Of course ALL insects need to be gut loaded prior to feeding to the lizards.  It may help with the "smell" the supers may have. Make sure you are offering the true superworms or kingworms(Zophobas Morio) and not the hormone fed mealworms  which grow larger due to the hormones.
Silkworms are a good, healthy worm to feed...they are not like the wax worms.
You can ask some of the stores if they will order in some other insects for you if you do not want to order on line.
As I said, try breaking the hind legs on the crickets for your male...
Some people have fed their leos small earthworms...
also, phoenix worms can be fed, but again, most likely will only find on line or special order through a pet store.
The problem is, most people do not feed a proper diet to insect eating reptiles...meaning the variety they need... so the stores generally only carry mealworms and crickets..one reason for this is they are the cheap insects...which they can sell for a large profit..example:
Crickets can be purchased on line for $10 or less per 1000........ which is approx 83 dozen.... they sell crickets for $1 and up a dozen.. tidey little profit considering most places do nothing more than throw cut potato in with the crickets. The more crickets a purchase is, the lower the cost when ordering in bulk.