phoenix worms

are these really as good as they say they are?

They are good for a treat or staple, but they get expensive if you use them as a staple diet. I use them for a treat once and a while.
Take a look at this sticky: http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t303-nutritional-values-and-feeder-insects
Its got a lot of information on what is good for a staple diet and what is good for a treat. Also has a great nutritional chart at the bottom!

Phoenix worms are a good staple diet but as with any good feeding program variety is key. cycling between phoenix worms and say super worms would be better nutritional balance. Phoenix worms ARE high in calcium at 34%, no additional suppliment is needed BUT D3 (and a good multi vit) becomes all that more important as calcium can't be absorbed with out D3 and that could lead to psudo-gout or other problems.

Phoenix worms are almost half the fat of super worms, as well as softer bodied... but 3% lower in protein. Not a real biggie in my book as leos are low key animals and protein is usually mostly devoted to energy needs. waxworms, commonly considered a treat...are over 20% fat, but only 16% protein. I wouldn't label phoenix worms as a treat. Silk worms would also be one of those feeders that don't require additional calcium supplimentation and would be a good staple feeder, are a little higher than I think is needed in protein at 64% (very lean lots of muscle mass, like poutry or rabbit meat), and 10% fat which I think for the high protein count that it is perportional and not a concern or considered "elevated" , superworms are 16% fat.

Both phoenix and silk worms can get rather pricy but are comparable to supers in size so you don't feed a lot, they can be raised but I think it's kind of difficult if I remember the article correctly... don't quote me there...