Can Leopard Geckos Eat Wax Worms?

Yes. Leopard geckos can eat wax worms (with a few caveats). Wax worms have a high fat content, are lower in protein and calcium, and may be addictive to your leopard gecko. 

Under normal circumstances you should only offer wax worms to your leopard gecko as occasional treats. They work especially well as rewards for successful handling sessions.

Let’s take a closer look at the wax worm life cycle, its nutritional value, and the benefits and risks of offering it to your leopard gecko.

What Are Wax Worms?

Wax worms are the larval form of honeycomb moths, also called “wax moths.” They are often used as a food source for insectivorous reptiles and mammals, and also make an excellent fishing bait.

The Wax Worm Life Cycle

As with mealworms, superworms, and other larval feeders, wax worms have a four-stage life cycle:

1. Egg
2. Larvae
3. Pupae
4. Moth

Under optimal conditions, it can take around 40 days for the wax worm to turn into an adult honeycomb moth. However, each stage of the wax worm’s life cycle is dependent on environmental factors such as temperature and availability of food.

Cooler temperatures can actually prolong the larval stage.

What Do Wax Worms Eat?

In the wild, wax worms are a “nest parasite” that live inside beehives. They feed on beeswax, pollen, honey, and even the shed skin of bees. Although they don’t attack bees directly, beekeepers consider wax worms a pest because they eat the wax that bees use to build their honeycomb.

Since wax worms have become a popular feeder and treat for many types of reptiles, they are now easy to obtain from your local pet store. In captivity, they don’t really need to be fed much, especially when kept at cooler temperatures of 55º to 60ºF. 

If you choose to feed your wax worm colony, offer a combination of cereal grains and honey. 

Can Your Leopard Gecko Eat Wax Worms?

Not only can your leopard gecko eat wax worms, it will probably love doing so!

Wax worms are roughly the leopard gecko equivalent of giving pizza to a teenager. As you’ll see in the chart below, they are quite high in fat. This fat causes your leo’s brain to reward it with a dopamine hit every time it eats a wax worm. But wax worms themselves have little nutritional value.

Because of their high fat content, wax worms can be quite addictive to your leo. In fact, one of the most common problems experienced leopard gecko keepers hear about from less experienced keepers is that their leo refuses to eat anything but wax worms.

That’s why many in the leopard gecko community refer to wax worms as “leopard gecko crack.” For this reason…

Wax Worms Make Great Leopard Gecko Treats

Wax worms make great leopard gecko treats. You should only offer them on occasion and never as a staple feeder.

For your staple feeders you’ll want to offer your leopard gecko a rotation of Dubia roaches, crickets, and mealworms. Be sure to gut-load your feeders 24 hours prior to feeding, and then dust them with your preferred calcium/vitamin D3 supplement immediately before feeding.

If you want to treat your leo to the occasional wax worm, you should offer two to five wax worms no more than once per week. Even that may be pushing the limits. It’s best if you offer them only as a very occasional treat, or as a reward for a successful handling session.

Wax Worms vs Mealworms and Dubia Roaches: Which Is Better?

When considering your leopard gecko’s nutritional needs, it’s always important to keep in mind the fat and protein content of the insects you feed it. Leopard geckos, especially babies and juveniles, need higher protein insects to help them maintain their energy levels.

Although leos also need some fat in their insects to help with energy levels and also to store in their tails, too much fat puts your leo at risk for obesity.

Finally, the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is also an important factor in your leo’s diet. Leopard geckos need high levels of calcium to prevent Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD), and they need a proper amount of phosphorus to help their bodies process calcium. A 2:1 calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is ideal.

With that in mind, take a look at this chart that compares wax worms vs. mealworms and Dubia roaches.

You’ll notice that wax worms are very low in protein when compared with staple feeders like mealworms and Dubia roaches. They’re also extremely high in fat and have an inverse calcium-to-phosphorus ratio.

Like hornworms, wax worms are really like the candy of the leopard gecko world, offering no real nutritional value.

However, there are two occasions in which it can be beneficial to feed your leopard gecko wax worms.

When To Feed Your Leopard Gecko Wax Worms

Wax worms are a great option for sick leopard geckos and leos who have recently lost their tail.

For sick leopard geckos, wax worms serve well to get them interested in eating again and to get their weight back up to healthy levels. As with your normal staple feeders, it’s important to dust the wax worms prior to every feeding. Also be aware that you should be offering wax worms in addition to their staple feeders, not in place of them.

Wax worms are also an excellent help for leopard geckos who are regrowing their tail. It takes a lot of energy to grow a second tail, so you need to increase your leo’s diet in order to supplement the increase in energy. Offering more wax worms can provide some extra calories to boost your leo’s energy production.

Pro Tip: Avoid supplementing your leopard gecko’s diet with wax worms for too long, and never do so without the approval and close collaboration of your veterinarian. Cut back on the wax worms as soon as your leo has regained its strength and your vet approves.

How to Correct Your Leopard Gecko’s Wax Worm Addiction

Correcting wax worm addiction is a challenging process, and is harder on the leo keeper than it is on the leo itself. 

Leopard geckos can go for long periods of time without eating. So when it’s not getting the wax worms it craves, your leo may refuse to eat altogether.

The only way to correct a leopard gecko’s addiction to wax worms is by never offering wax worms. That’s it!  This process can take weeks or months, and the best thing you can do is continue offering normal staple feeders like Dubia roaches.

Here are some tricks for enticing your leopard gecko to eat staple insects again:

• Try offering a hornworm just to get your leo interested in something other than wax worms.
• Once your leo has tried the hornworm, offer it Dubia roaches.
• Leave a bowl of gut-loaded Dubia roaches in the enclosure – be sure to change them out daily.
• When all else fails, use the “lipstick method” – cut open a staple feeder insect and smear the guts onto the leo’s mouth. Its tongue reflex will kick in and it will lick the “lipstick” off its mouth.
• If none of the above works, talk to your exotic animals vet.

Remember, it takes a great deal of time and effort to entice a wax-worm-addicted leo back into eating normal food. In most cases your leo will not starve itself to death and will eventually start eating again on its own.

Pro Tip: Always resist the urge to offer wax worms if your leopard gecko isn’t eating. This will just reinforce the addiction and start you once more from square one.

How to Store Wax Worms

Like mealworms and superworms, storing wax worms is very simple:

• Keep wax worms in the container they came in.
• Maintain low humidity.
• Store in your fridge door to prolong the larvae stage.
• Keep a secure lid on the container to keep moths contained if they pupate.
• Monitor the container daily.
• Remove silk from worms attempting to build cocoons.

Remove your wax worms from the fridge and allow them to warm to room temperature before feeding them to your leopard gecko.

Takeaway: Leopard geckos love to eat wax worms, but wax worms themselves have almost no nutritional value and may be highly addictive for your leo. If you choose to offer your leopard gecko wax worms, only do so as an occasional treat or a reward for successful training.

If you’re looking for a reliable source of high-quality staple feeders, then look no further than Dragon’s Diet’s Dubia roaches. Our Dubia roaches are humanely raised and fed a well-balanced diet of highly nutritious foods like barley, alfalfa meal, beet pulp, crushed apple, and more. We even gut-load them prior to shipping them to you, making them the perfect feeder for your leo.