martyfrost
Member
just a age old question are super worms bad for a chameleon
super worms
- Thread starter martyfrost
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Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
Think of them as candy, they aren’t something you want them to live off of but they have their place.
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
Good for growth spurts and keeping weight on. Not so good for gutloading (can only be 10% gutload by weight, vs over 33% for dubia). I mainly use them for "training" or when one one of the chams start looking a little thin. On the bright side they seem to live forever, i still have a few from the batch i bought this time last year.
Back when I first raised and bred chameleons (20 years) all I ever had was crickets and supers. My veildes lived 2 - 2.5 years. For the day that wasn't bad. I bought a box of 500 crickets which came in on Wednesday. They would last me a week and a half so I fed supers for half a week waiting for crickets. If I ran out of supers, I hand fed scrambled eggs with a cricket leg sticking out of it. I don't recommend it, just did what I had to do.
point is, supers have got to be decent for my chams to survived a year.
point is, supers have got to be decent for my chams to survived a year.
I agree they are better than nothing and a useful training tool. I'm trying to breed them right now. As cheap as they are it's probably not worth the effort but I had an empty three drawer bin and partitioned container so why not. I try not to use them for more than 20% of my chameleon's diet. My guys are smaller so the full grown supers are too big. I trade them away for other feeders.
LennyandLilly
New Member
I was told that there high in fat, and should only be given occasionally as a treat
andrearamirezo91
Avid Member
Sure you're not talking about wax worms? I might be completely wrong, I don't have a ton of experience. I've just never heard of super worms being super fatty. I might be wrong, just trying to clarify
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
Well we have found out more and more that fat is actually pretty good for us humans. I have been using them a little more recently, usually mixed in with roaches. Eating fat doesn't create fat, it's just a longer burning energy source densely packed with calories. I would probably compare supers to peanut butter or something similar. Definitely has it's place in the diet, but can add a lot of calories quick.
I'd say the main drawbacks is their gut doesn't hold much and chams tend to hunger strike for only superworms if fed often. They could probably easily be overdone with gravid females that you want to eat a little less too.
I'd say the main drawbacks is their gut doesn't hold much and chams tend to hunger strike for only superworms if fed often. They could probably easily be overdone with gravid females that you want to eat a little less too.
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
@JacksJill I just started a superworm breeding bin as well. I have them pupating all in one bin. And people say they won't pupate around other supers
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
Sure you're not talking about wax worms? I might be completely wrong, I don't have a ton of experience. I've just never heard of super worms being super fatty. I might be wrong, just trying to clarify
High in fat is relative. They have 2x the fat as a cricket/dubia, but its still like going from 10% by weight to 20%. Its like going from 2% milk to whole milk, and expecting major changes.
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
Yeah mine pupated within the first few days. I was going to make a post about it, but it's only been a couple weeks and I want to get beetles, eggs, and babies first. I got a fairly large plastic bin. Filled with coco fiber, moss, leaves, and a large piece of cork bark. Then put an egg flat on top. They all crawl into the egg flats and pupate. They also drill through the cork. A lot of what I read said to have dry substrate, but the cocofiber is moist from getting the bricks to expand... they seem to love the moist spots of the substrate. Lastly, idk why, but I have noticed they get larger than usual in this kind of set up and look overall more healthy than when I just kept them in oats.
Probably the moisture keeping them plump.
insectovore
Established Member
I use them because they store well and I breed about half buy about half. You can grow them in nonmedicated chicken feed and give them carrots, sweet potatoes, even a small amount of greens to increase their nutritional content. If you fed crickets or dubia bran they would be horrible feeders, same with supers. I wouldn't use them exclusively by any means, and for me personally I like make sure I am feeding more roaches and crickets than worms, but they are part of my rotation.
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
@insectovore can't entirely agree with that. Fed bran or fed kale, roaches will still have a higher protein content. Bran is a terrible gutload in general though you're right, but a superworm and roach are going to have a different nutritional profile no matter what you feed them. It makes sense for gutload to help a lot, but something like a superworm isn't going to store much anyway. I still like all my feeders to be eating a variety of nutritious foods a few weeks before being fed off.
LennyandLilly
New Member
Oh please if this is different, someone let me know! I read that and my little guy loves them. I only give him one or two a week because of it.Sure you're not talking about wax worms? I might be completely wrong, I don't have a ton of experience. I've just never heard of super worms being super fatty. I might be wrong, just trying to clarify
Bush baby
Avid Member
They are only as good as you gutload them.
They make up my 4 main feeders. Gut loaded crickets makes up about 60% of my chams diet, 20% are Snails, 10% are Superworms and the other 10% are misc. i.e butterworms, waxworks, etc...
I feed my cham superworms 3 times a week that have been gutlaoded with dark green leafy veggies; but the main reason I use them is to deliver his calcium WITHOUT D3 supplementation. Of all his feeders, I find that the calcium stays on the superworms the best, and since my cham immediately goes for them when i put them in the enclosure, it guarantees he gets his calcium before the calcium rubs off....
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