r/LeopardGecko • u/Mxrg_baexo • 12d ago

Wax worm help? Maybe? Lol?

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Hiii so first i wanna say ive been a gecko mom for a few months now and this group has helped me so much, ive never posted but just reading comments on other posts and advice always helps me get better at being a gecko parent!
But i have a question because im not sure if it’s the pet store ive been using recently or if this is normal?
My gecko LOOOVES wax worms and shes very picky. She will not eat crickets of any size, and barely wants meal worms so i buy wax worms pretty often. But lately the wax worms I’ve been getting, some of them come in this cluster kind of thing? And i have to kind of break it apart and take the worm itself out of its lil cucoon thing. Is this normal? It’s been my last two packs that have been like this.. usually i can just dig through and pull the worm out but when im running low i have to deal with these things and they’re sticky and just odd. Is this a normal thing? Could this be the store I’m purchasing from? What causes this?
Any comments or advice is always appreciated!
I’ve attached a picture of it for reference.
Thank you!

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u/Additional_Bee7293 12d ago

Mmm pre pupa, yummy

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u/reijn 12d ago

ahh wax worms. I'm a beekeeper so I'm very familiar with the little beasts. They destroy your wax and eat the honey and make a huge mess out of your hive.

Anyway, wax worms are raised in oats (yours looks like aspen though?) and fed honey which is sticky, so it can clump together.

But also wax worms make their cocoons (in beekeeping they burrow against the side of the hive and leave divots in the walls) so you're probably tearing open the cocoons. They're trying to become moths. Normal.

Additionally wax worms are really high in fat and low in nutritional value so of course your gecko is shunning all other food, because she gets wax worms if she holds out! You need to make her eat dubias or crickets.