Are mealworms dangerous?

[EatYellowSnow]

Hello,

I have a young male panther chameleon, about 4 months of age. Since I read here about the diverse diet options I should be offering him, I wanted to buy some worms for him and the only available ones directly in my area are mealworms. I only wanted to give him one occassionally of course, but the shop clerk warned me that its a very bad idea since they usually live on for quite a long time once eaten and they could cause some injury to the chameleons stomach and literally bite through it Is that the case, really? If not, how often can I be serving them anyway, like one worm a week?

Thanks for helping me out, I dont want to do a stupid mistake

 

[fluxlizard]

No, that is an urban myth widely retold over and over.

Wonder how long a mealworm will last in your chameleon? put a drop of water on it's head and then imagine inside stomach acid...

 

[EatYellowSnow]

Thank you very much. How often do you think I should be "serving" them though? Thanks!

 

[Tay And A]

Personally I will not feed mealworms. They carry something in their shells that Superworms do not carry. If u feed too many mealworms you Cham can also get impaction.

 

[Olimpia]

No, mealworms will not cause impaction in a healthy animal either. They're just not all that nutritious, mealworms have less meat-to-shell ratio than superworms do, for example. Reptiles get impacted for one of two reasons, pretty much: 1. they ingested a non-food item that is either too large or a dangerous texture (ei, wood chips, fake silk leaves, rocks...) and 2. they are unhealthy/dehydrated. Any item, food or otherwise, is much more likely to become stuck in the GI tract is there isn't enough lubrication to move it along or the animal is too sick, and may even have issues contracting the muscles of his intestines (such as in severe calcium deficiencies.)

All of that said, when I offer superworms I offer 2-3 a couple times a week. They are one out of about 5 feeder species that I tend to have on constant rotation, so when I buy 200 they last me a nice long time, especially with only 3 chameleons.

 

[Progrmor]

No, mealworms will not cause impaction in a healthy animal either. They're just not all that nutritious, mealworms have less meat-to-shell ratio than superworms do, for example. Reptiles get impacted for one of two reasons, pretty much: 1. they ingested a non-food item that is either too large or a dangerous texture (ei, wood chips, fake silk leaves, rocks...) and 2. they are unhealthy/dehydrated. Any item, food or otherwise, is much more likely to become stuck in the GI tract is there isn't enough lubrication to move it along or the animal is too sick, and may even have issues contracting the muscles of his intestines (such as in severe calcium deficiencies.)

All of that said, when I offer superworms I offer 2-3 a couple times a week. They are one out of about 5 feeder species that I tend to have on constant rotation, so when I buy 200 they last me a nice long time, especially with only 3 chameleons.

But if I got a baby (3 month old) the only feeders that are in appropiate size for her are the mealworms and the fruit flies & also the mealworm beetles. IS it ok to feed her mealworms like 4 days a week in combination with some beetles?

 

[Olimpia]

Yes, you could give her a small few here and there. There are several worms I think are way better but if it's the only thing you have access to then that's better than nothing.

 

[Psychobunny]

Yep, it's just a myth

I would like to know it's origin though!
Does anyone know how this got started?

Leave it to the pet stores to spread it around and keep it alive

 

[Olimpia]

Who knows where exactly it started. Everyone always seems to "know" some friend of a friend or some guy who's really knowledgeable who found a reptile dead with superworms/mealworms crawling out of its gut. But the most likely scenario is that the animal was dead to begin with and some loose superworms decided to make a meal of it.

If anyone has read Mary Roach's newest book, Gulp, it covers the superworm myth during chapter 6 (Dinner's Revenge), I believe. They showed go over a few experiments with superworms and show that it's all nonsense.

 

[sandrachameleon]

agree - mealworms are not dangerous. When gutloaded (though they are not the best prey for gutloading) they can form as much as 20% of the chameleons total monthly diet. But there are better choices, like silkworms, butterworms and even superworms. Although these may not be readily available at your local pet shop, you can get them online. You can also try to convince a pet shop (whichever one sells the most reptiles) to try to start bringing in more feeder options. I have had success getting most of the local stores to at least carry butterworms (since they can store them a fair while).

where to buy online:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/171-where-buy-feeders-online.html
and check out the site sponsors and the classifieds on this forum

 

[nick barta]

Hello,

I have a young male panther chameleon, about 4 months of age. Since I read here about the diverse diet options I should be offering him, I wanted to buy some worms for him and the only available ones directly in my area are mealworms. I only wanted to give him one occassionally of course, but the shop clerk warned me that its a very bad idea since they usually live on for quite a long time once eaten and they could cause some injury to the chameleons stomach and literally bite through it Is that the case, really? If not, how often can I be serving them anyway, like one worm a week?

Thanks for helping me out, I dont want to do a stupid mistake

We have suppliers of Super Worms that sell smalls too (Great Lakes Hornworms).

Are you in the US?

Nick

 

[Deevo]

My kinyongia really likes mealworms. I try not to feed them constantly as I offer crickets/dubias as a staple but he for sure eats at least two every other day and he is healthy as a cucumber. I haven't witnessed him eat a superworm yet but I imagine he has. I bought a tub of them like 2 months ago and they are still all squirming around.