Superworm gutloading

[Virgil1972]

I was wondering what everybody feeds their superworms for gutloading? I gave mine some carrots and they ate it pretty fast.

 

[carol5208]

I put mine in Quaker oats, then I lay kale, carrots, apples on top. I alternate the greens with collard greens or mustard green and sprinkle it with Bug Burger which is a commercial gutload. They EAT everything!

 

[Virgil1972]

I put mine in Quaker oats, then I lay kale, carrots, apples on top. I alternate the greens with collard greens or mustard green and sprinkle it with Bug Burger which is a commercial gutload. They EAT everything!

Ok thank you.

 

[bobcochran]

Fruits and vegetables are their only source of liquid, so yes they do eat a lot of them, which is great because it makes them super easy and fast to gut load them!

 

[Bush baby]

Turnip greens, collard greens, apples, oranges and carrots….

 

[Virgil1972]

Thank you all.

 

[kinyonga]

I had them reproducing in my turtle/tortoise cages...so they ate what I fed the turtles/tortoises ate...greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, kale, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc and a bit of fruit such as apple, pear, melon, berries. They continued reproduction for years so it must have been okay.

 

[Virgil1972]

I had them reproducing in my turtle/tortoise cages...so they ate what I fed the turtles/tortoises ate...greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, kale, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc and a bit of fruit such as apple, pear, melon, berries. They continued reproduction for years so it must have been okay.

How big is a superworm right before they turn into a beetle? Mine are getting pretty fat. Can you feed the beetles to a cham or are they to hard to digest?

 

[kinyonga]

I don't know how big. I provided a moist piece of rotten wood and they would pupate under there.
I never fed the beetles to the chameleons since they were raised in the turtle/tortoise cage and carried the germs from that cage.

 

[bobcochran]

Usually you have to separate the worms to get them to pupate. You can get Dixie cups or something so that only one worm per container and they will pupate.
Put them in the cup without any food, but mist them so they don't dehydrate, it takes a couple of weeks, then they will pupate, a few more weeks to turn into an adult beetle. If you want to feed the beetles to your cham you should feed them off before they turn dark or black, which only gives you a day or two.

 

[JaxyGirl]

How big is a superworm right before they turn into a beetle? Mine are getting pretty fat. Can you feed the beetles to a cham or are they to hard to digest?

I decided to breed some supers also. They get pretty big when they are ready to pupate up an inch and a half or so. They won't pupate when other worms are around them. I put my worms into a plastic storage box with individual compartments and they pupated and turned into beetles in about a month.
Then you can either feed the beetles off (my chams and beardie love them)
or you can put the beetles together in some bran and breed them which I also did and now have tiny super worms. I feed the beetles the same veggies I feed my crickets and they really love strawberries

 

[Peej]

I never give them carrots - I always feed them leafy greens like collard greens or turnip greens or mustard greens ... Things like that - not potato or carrot ... And nothing too wet because the substrate needs to stay dry ... Also sometimes I'll take the calcium fortified cricket drink and throw a little bit into a dish with the superworms and let them eat the gel for like 15 minutes before I feed them if I have the extra time - they will get some extra Calcium that way ... You need the calcium to offset the phosphorus so make sure you dust them too