MINI FISH PROFILE - half banded kuhli loach

vegetables or fruit such as potatoes, apples, or carrots on top of the bran. This will also help make the worms healthier for your reptiles via gut loading. Mealworms can be gut loaded by dusting them with calcium or vitamin supplements before feeding out and this is recommended at least once a week. Variety is essential in any animals diet so other insects, such as crickets, locusts, soldier fly larvae or waxworms should be added to your reptiles diet even if your reptile prefers eating mealworms. If you worry your reptile isn’t getting enough nutrients, it may be a good idea to consult with your reptile vet and get his/her opinion.

Mark Paterson

References: Mealworm - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mealworm

Above right - young bearded dragon eating mealworms Photo: Mark Paterson Right - pages describing the Yellow Meal-Worm from the chapter on Insects Affecting Dry Vegitable Foods by F. H. Chittenden, The Principal Household Insects of the United States, Bulletin No.4 1896, New series. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Division of Entomology. Scan: Biodiversity Heritage Library

FISH MINI PROFILE

Half banded khuli loach

The half banded kuhli loach (Pangio semicincta) is an attractive long (to 10 cm) slender loach from Peninsula

Malaysia where it is found in shallow, slow flowing, waterways such as forest streams. They are often misidentified as other similar looking Pangio species. Kuhli loaches are best kept in groups in dimly lit, well-established tanks with plenty of cover (bog wood, plants and, ideally, leaf litter) and a sandy substrate, as they like to burrow. They should be offered a varied diet including good quality flake and small sinking pellets but also live and frozen food such as Daphnia, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp and bloodworms

Photo Robert Beke