Earthworms from my Organic Garden?

[katlovesaandw]

Ok, when we are working out in the yard....if we find an earthworm, my kids rush to feed it to the chickens as a treat!

Can we feed earthworms to our chameleons? My garden is all organic, no pesticides used on it at all so the worms should be organic as well.

I know these are not all the time feed but would it be ok on occasion?

 

[jamncristian]

earthworms are very likely to have parasites so i would not recommend it

 

[Syn]

This is what I found using the search button.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/earthworms-grubs-ok-6978/?highlight=earthworm
https://www.chameleonforums.com/does-anyone-feed-earthworms-323/?highlight=earthworm
https://www.chameleonforums.com/found-earth-worms-5212/?highlight=earthworm
https://www.chameleonforums.com/earthworms-grubs-ok-6978/?highlight=earth+worm

 

[katlovesaandw]

Thanks! I guess that answers that!

I know she likes wax worms, but they are junkfood.
I am raising mealworms, partly for the lifecycle viewing with the daycare kids and my own, plus for my pacman frog and now Karma. I will get some fresh ones from the store this weekend of mealworms and see how she does. Mine are just starting to pupae and probably tough.

 

[jamncristian]

mealworms are not reccomended for chams because their high chitin levels. Try breeding superworms, they are like meal worms except bigger

 

[Syn]

If you do feed meal worms, try to feed them when they are freshly molted to lessen the chances of impaction from their chitin (shell).
Other wise, as suggested above, use super worms.

 

[katlovesaandw]

Do superworms have the same life cycle as mealworms then? Do you raise them the same way...?

I gotta get a bigger house!LOL
I do daycare and have 3 little boys. Plus I homeschool my own 2 boys.
We have a earthworm tank where we watch food turn into soil via the earthworms.
We have Hugo, the pacman frog..he is my baby.
We have the mealworms so we can watch their lifecycle AND use them for Hugo at some point....plus the chickens eat them.
We have a huge ant farm.

Plus now we have Karma..... AND a cricket keeper full of crickets!LOL
Wonder if hubby would notice if I snuck another tank in here for superworms?! Probably not, esp. since they are for HIS chameleon!LOL

Plus we have 1 chihuahua and 2 cats all in a house less than 800 sq. ft.

And I keep reading the posts where Chams are addicting! That is what I am afraid of!LOL I can see us getting another one......

We were told chickens were addicting too and didnt believe it! We started last April with 3 and we now have 9 and are looking for 3 more to complete our collection!

 

[Syn]

Here's a link to superworm breeding.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/breeding-superworms-31149/

You could always get a Horned Toad (Phrynosoma) and feed ants to them!

 

[jamncristian]

haha that seems very crowded..... superworms probably take a while longer to mature but are just as easy if not easier to breed than mealworms and are definately more nutritous. many people breed blaptica dubai roaches too as an alternative to crickets because they are quite, dont smell, and are a self sustaining colony as long as you provide food and water you will have an unlimited supply of feeder roaches. and these are not the kind of roach that infest peoples houses or carry bacteria

p.s. you might want to look in on breeding phoenix worms too, they are VERY healthy for a cham, chicken, or frog
http://blacksoldierflyblog.com/

 

[katlovesaandw]

I found some raising superworm sites! They seem about the same as mealworms! Thanks Syn for your post with a site as well!
I am going to order some and try it! Or will get some at the Reptile place. They list carrying them on their site. Probably would be cheaper to get them that way..... Hubby will either get over it or won't notice!
As for roaches..... no way! We lived in Florida and then in New Mexico and had horrid roach problems in both places! We still shudder!
I even tried getting hissing cockroaches for my boys and daycare. ALL females that we got as babies. They grew and then one day..... there were little tiny roaches in there.... How did that happen with all females! EWWW
They were big enough to escape so I found a new home for the roaches as I was having visions of them crawling all over my house.... it would be NM all over again! Shuddering as I think about it! And I know the feeder ones are NOT the same but it is... ykwim?!LOL