Superworms

[Diezel]

I wanna know if superworms would be a good add to my chams diet. He gets about 5 crickets a day and a mealworm here and there... Superworms are pretty big but Diezel is about 13 inches head to tip of tail. And i have heard stories of chams being injured and dieing from superworms. So i would like to know if diezel is too small for superworms and if they are even safe?

 

[FaunaBgirl]

I've been feeding my cham superworms as a steady diet since he's bored with crickets. No problem so far. Where did you hear about superworms (zophobas) biting and killing chams? I thought mealworms were worse?
I'm feeding silkworms now.
How old is Diezel now?

 

[Diezel]

i didnt hear crawling onto and biting but ive heard after eating they will chew the insides... i find it hard to believe with the good chomp they give their prey before ingesting

 

[Brad Ramsey]

The zophoba worm chewing through the the chameleon's
stomach after being eaten is one of my favorite
urban legends.
Zophobas are a great addition to the diet
and can be ordered smaller than what you see offered
at the pet store from a number of sources.
Easy to keep, easy to gut-load and chams love them.

-Brad

 

[Dave Weldon]

...but ive heard after eating they will chew the insides...

Howdy,

Damaging a chameleon's internals is said to be just an internet myth. I've used them for years with no problems. A couple things to remember: High in fat and a poor Ca-Ph ratio. I kinda think its worth dusting each one with a bit of Ca/No D3 product to help with the poor ratio. If they don't get eaten and find their way to plant soil, they will bury themselves and pop-out as a beetle in a while. My critters don't seem to have any interest in the beetles.

 

[Jordan]

Well as Dave said alot of chameleons will not eat beetles I think it is worth a try to find out though. Some will eat the mealworm beetles and not the superworm beetles. Mine eat both. I do not mind the mealworm beetles to much. The superworm ones are kind of big and can bite. I really just scoop these guys up in a cup. I really just for some reason do not want to touch them.

 

[Diezel]

how do i et meal worm beetles because i have alot of mealworms and would like to try and get some.. do i just place a few in soil? andhow long does it take?

 

[Tygerr]

Read this article:
http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2003/oct2003/mealworms/mealworms.html

 

[Canopy Chameleons]

I feed a staple of Super's (with other worms of course) to the Veileds. They love em! I tried to feed them to the Jackson's, and the worm flipped up and got caught up in his horns. I had to help him with it, lol. So now he doesn't get supers. That's the only problem I've had with supers, and it wasn't even really a problem.

 

[Laragail]

if the rumors were true...

wouldn't it put a whole new meaning in the name "super"worm?

 

[Diezel]

Laragail hahah i like the way you put that... im going to get a few to see how he likes them and if he does then ill be happy to get him another food source

 

[lele]

My critters don't seem to have any interest in the beetles.

both super and meal worm beetles secrete a defensive (offensive, depending which end of the food chain you're on!) odor like many beetles (and other insects) do. The first time I offered a beetle to Cyrus he literally spit it out at me after one bite. Darwin (beardie) will eat them sometimes. The mealworm beetle's smell is not as strong but no one seems to like them. From my side-blotched to Darwin (he's just a finicky eater anyway).

 

[lele]

Rearing superworms

Supers are very easy raise and if you have a varied size of herps it is very handy! Right now I have some newly hatched eggs which are very tiny and thin but as they get a little length and girth they are great for my blotchies - and they love them.

If interested in rearing here is a site. This person raises thousands, I just collected about 7 or 8 beetles as they showed up in the cage and put them together - nature did the rest

http://www.iaherp.org/superworms/