Superworm Impaction
- Thread starter mc9423
- Start date
Elizadolots
New Member
ewww....
Way to add to my terror of those things....
My understanding is that superworms are not an impaction risk. Mealworms are.
As they have a similar appearance, and some people market their big mealworms as "mealworms: super worms" it gets confusing.
I had someone at a pet store tell me about the "chewing it's way out of the animal" thing, but I have to tell you that many, many people here use superworms as basic feeders in the diets of their chameleons...I'm pretty sure if "and then it chewed its way out of his stomach" had happened to any of them, that would not be true.
Way to add to my terror of those things....
My understanding is that superworms are not an impaction risk. Mealworms are.
As they have a similar appearance, and some people market their big mealworms as "mealworms: super worms" it gets confusing.
I had someone at a pet store tell me about the "chewing it's way out of the animal" thing, but I have to tell you that many, many people here use superworms as basic feeders in the diets of their chameleons...I'm pretty sure if "and then it chewed its way out of his stomach" had happened to any of them, that would not be true.
Julirs
New Member
This is a wives-tale.
sandrachameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
Superworms are unlikely to cause impaction, so long as the chameleon is well hydrated. They should not form the major part of a chameleons diet though. A diet with a lot of mealworms is more likely to cause impaction issues. The Meat to chinton ratio is less meat and too much chinton with mealworms.
This is completely false. Superworms can not remain alive and chew their way out of stomachs. Neither can mealworms. Its just a silly story that wont go away.
jamncristian
Established Member
superworms are not recommended for chameleon staples because of them being somewhat high in fat
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
Superworms are absolutely recommended.
Extremely easy to gut load, very nutritious and less chitinous than crickets.
Variety is ideal, but superworms can be a big part of the diet.
-Brad
tkilgour
Member
Superworms are safe!!!! Aaenson, you truly saw this happen? What type of lizard did this happen to? I have fed off many superworms with no issue at all.
Superworms info. does seem inconsistant. Some say only as a snack, where others admit daily is fine. Some say they are extremely high in fat and cause impaction. As mentioned, I think much of the information about superworms is confused with mealworms. I agree that supers are gutloaded the same as crickets and my chameleons 150% love them. However, I do not feed them as a staple. I feed my chameleons supers as snacks. I find that if I give my chameleons supers more than 2 days a week, they will get addicted like a junkie. Then they will refuse every other feeder I offer. Since superworms are addicting and I prefer to offer a variety of feeders, I limit supers to 1 or 2 days a week.
Super worms are safe the majority of the time, I still use them for my lizards but yes I have seen the aftermath of giving a super worm to a lizard and it dying. I gave a armadillo lizard a super worm and then it just swallowed it without chewing and the next day it had a round hole to where its stomach was and it was dead, its very rare that this happens but it does happen sometimes. I am not saying do not use them they are great feeders.
Oh and thank you brad for calling me a liar...
-Jacob
Oh and thank you brad for calling me a liar...
-Jacob
tkilgour
Member
Hey interesting to know. I have always heard of this and quite frankly assumed it was just a myth considering no one has ever had it happen to them. Interesting to hear about someone who actually witnessed this. I have heard many people crush supersworms jaws with tweezers, this would probably eliminate this from ever happening.
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
You're welcome, and I still am (sorry). I do not believe you witnessed this or, at best, that you actually saw what you think you saw.-Brad
BocaJan
New Member
In my experience with using super worms is that if you get them wet when misting and they are in a feeding cup, they drown quickly. Chameleon stomach acid is pretty potent and even if a cham doesn't chew it (mine always chew at least a couple of times with juice squirting everywhere) the worm would be dead in short order.
Could I ask what you guys mostly use for gut loading with supers, and supplementing? Have seen tons of general info, nothing specific with supers though. Right now I use melon and they're in a bran substrate (no regular supplementing with them yet, however - only feeding them to my leopard gecko, getting the first cham on Wednesday from Kammerflage! )
Thanks for all the info so far!
)Thanks for all the info so far!
sandrachameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
I just can not accept this as truth. Perhaps you saw an already dead lizard with a superworms chewing its way IN not out. Superworms die within seconds of hitting water, much less stomach juices.
GoFast
New Member
justjumpit621
New Member
To answer the other part about leopard geckos, leopard geckos are much better at chewing their food than chameleons because their mouths are much smaller. This reduces the impaction risk. But again, superworms are much better than mealworms and feeding only mealworms to a gecko can definitely cause impaction, it just happened to a gecko that came in last week. I prefer crickets and dubias myself, but supers are good too i'm just a worry wart when it comes to impaction
Gotta stop worrying about it.To answer the other part about leopard geckos, leopard geckos are much better at chewing their food than chameleons because their mouths are much smaller. This reduces the impaction risk. But again, superworms are much better than mealworms and feeding only mealworms to a gecko can definitely cause impaction, it just happened to a gecko that came in last week. I prefer crickets and dubias myself, but supers are good too i'm just a worry wart when it comes to impaction
Ah, should've guessed that!
I'm actually working on a dubia colony myself - just added 120 mixed to a group I've had since February of 100, so hoping they'll be ready to feed from in a few more weeks.
tkilgour
Member
Do you always believe everything you read or hear?
LOL, yes sometimes I do
(not really) I was just curious what lizard he assumed this happened to and I didn't want to come out and say he was a liar.I have heard this myth for many years now and never once know any one that admitted it has happened to them. So I was just curious. Besides, if a super even falls into a nice size droplet of water it drownds immediately, so stomach acid would be instant death. I have heard people crush supers jaws though.
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