Quick question about buying from Great Lakes Hornworms

[dlaunde]

Hey all,

I am about to by a 500ct of Giant Mealworms to use as supplemental feeding for my Panther and three Leopard Geckos (beats buying constantly from PetSmart). Great Lakes Hornworms is slightly cheaper after shipping but the site only sells them as "Mealworms", whereas Mulberry Farms (and most other places) sell both regular Mealworms and giant Mealworms.

Can anyone confirm if the Mealworms listed by GLH are in fact larger in size/giant or not? It's hard to tell in their photos.

Thanks!

 

[BJ Vynz]

Haven't bought from there, but I'm guessing no? Since giant mealworms are treated with stuff that makes them reach that size selling them without labeling them as giants would be wrong.

If I may ask, why go for giant mealworms instead of the more nutritious and advantageous superworms?

 

[dlaunde]

Haven't bought from there, but I'm guessing no? Since giant mealworms are treated with stuff that makes them reach that size selling them without labeling them as giants would wrong.

Gotcha.

I have no issues in switching to Superworms over Mealworms except that I am not sure if they are too big for my 1yr old Leopard Gecko (he's 55 grams...undersized due to his tail having been bitten off when he was at Petsmart hence why I adopted him). I am trying to make sure the foods I keep on hand benefit all to save on redundancy (i.e. not having to buy both super and meal worms).

What's the rule of thumb when judging if a worm is too big for a reptile?

 

[BJ Vynz]

Oh, okay. A common/"large" superworm is very big, much bigger than a giant mealworm.

If your leopard gecko were this large, I would go for it. If it is closer to this, I would avoid them. However, there are places that offer you the superworms in different sizes, so I would simply buy small ones

Notice this site has "micro" size option: link
I am not linking that as being a 'good' site, just as an example of one offering sizes.

 

[Andee]

Superworms aren't born huge. They are born the size of mealworm babies pretty much, just grow faster, so I honestly would buy younger ones and feed them off. Giant mealworms are horrible for your animals, just in general for what they are treated with to become said giants. I would rather go with mealworms over giant mealworms, no matter what. Even though I don't feed either.

 

[dlaunde]

Oh, okay. A common/"large" superworm is very big, much bigger than a giant mealworm.

If your leopard gecko were this large, I would go for it. If it is closer to this, I would avoid them. However, there are places that offer you the superworms in different sizes, so I would simply buy small ones

Notice this site has "micro" size option: link
I am not linking that as being a 'good' site, just as an example of one offering sizes.

My gecko is nearly identical in size to the first picture you posted so he should be OK.

As far as size of Super worms go for a chameleon, my Panther, Ares, is 55grams and about 9 months old. Would "normal"/large Super worms be OK for him?

 

[dlaunde]

Superworms aren't born huge. They are born the size of mealworm babies pretty much, just grow faster, so I honestly would buy younger ones and feed them off. Giant mealworms are horrible for your animals, just in general for what they are treated with to become said giants. I would rather go with mealworms over giant mealworms, no matter what. Even though I don't feed either.

See, I never knew Giants were treated. I feel bad for my Geckos now

So going forward Superworms are good to use as a viable staple I can substitute between roach and cricket feeding?

Once I get my own place I'll get into silkworms but that's not until summer.

Thanks!

 

[Andee]

I would get young superworms (not sure the exact phrasing of size) that is available.

 

[dlaunde]

Thanks!

 

[BJ Vynz]

So going forward Superworms are good to use as a viable staple I can substitute between roach and cricket feeding?
Thanks!

Superworms as 1/3rd may be a tad bit much (but may be okay), maybe 1/4th?

Either way good luck, I hope your geckos love them!

 

[dlaunde]

Superworms as 1/3rd may be a tad bit much (but may be okay), maybe 1/4th?

Either way good luck, I hope your geckos love them!

Oh they won't be 1/3 or even 1/4.

The roaches will be fed exclusively the first and third weeks.
The crickets will be fed the second week but I will be adding a roach or two each feeding.
The worms will be fed the fourth week but I will be adding a roach or two each feeding.

So it'll probably end up being a diet of 60% roach/20% cricket/20% worm for both the geckos and the panther.

When I said staple I meant more a feeder I can always have on hand (easy to keep). I will obviously throw in occasional treats like waxworms or a monthly order of a few silk worms until I can breed my own and use them as a majority feeder like the roaches.

 

[dlaunde]

But just to double clarify, in terms of benefits being provided the Superworms are superior even to regular Mealworms, right?

I've just always stayed away from them because I heard they can bite. And they are obviously pretty big. But if they are recommended over mealies, I'm fine with getting them for now on.

 

[Andee]

They can bite and have strong bites, but for chameleons it's not a problems, for geckos if you are feeding particularly large super worms I mutilate their jaws before them off

 

[dlaunde]

Thanks!

 

[kelly_girl199]

See, I never knew Giants were treated. I feel bad for my Geckos now

So going forward Superworms are good to use as a viable staple I can substitute between roach and cricket feeding?

Once I get my own place I'll get into silkworms but that's not until summer.

Thanks!

You could order millies AND superworms. They are both relitively inexpensive.

 

[dlaunde]

You could order millies AND superworms. They are both relitively inexpensive.

I may just do that to see how it works out. Trial and error to see what works and how well it works in terms of keeping them.

 

[D4saken1]

I avoid mealworms all together with all of my lizards. There are alternatives and mealworms are generally harder to digest due to their outsides versus say superworms.

I feel it's best to avoid them in general even though nothing may ever arise I have heard of others using them and say their beardies becoming impacted (which can be many factors).

That is just my preference but the fact that there are places who use things to make super mealworms I tend to try to avoid them as well for that reason.

 

[ridgebax1]

I also do not feed mealies or supers as they are of poor nutritional value and harder to digest.

 

[dlaunde]

I'm only using the Superworms one week a month just to provide a slight variety to their food.

Today was the first day feeding them and Ares loved them. The leopard geckos all are going crazy over them too. It's amazing that even being bred in captivity they retain basic evolutionary traits and always eat the heads first to prevent getting bit. Fun to watch.