The tougue is quicker than the hand ....Advise please.

[broderp]

I was low on crickets this morning (my overnight shipment is due at any time) and so I was looking thru my supplies and found some super worms. I was trying to size one up and get a small one for him, so I had a few in my hand. I did something stupid, I held them up to him to see which one I would consider giving him based on size and as I did this the little turd locked on and grabbed one from my hand.

I was petrified as it was a fairly large one. I didn't want to pull it out of his mouth because I was afraid I would hurt him. He sat there for a few minutes and ate the entire thing.

I am real concerned the size of the worm he grabbed will hurt him as he digests it in some way, or is the main concern over since he was able to get it all down? Should I do anything to help him digest this big meal? He did after eating the worm go over and eat a few crickets as well. He's a little piggy and I'm OK with that, but this huge meal is very concerning to me.

Here is the worm, it's not quite 1/2 way in his mouth. Sherman is about 5 months old.

 

[nightanole]

Eh you are good, one crunch and its the end of the world for the super.
No they do not bore a hole through the stomach.
No they do not cause impactation from the shell.

In fact the super has the least amount of chitin vs any other feeder. If he ate the same amount of bug weight in crickets, he would have 4-5x more chitin to pass.

 

[Big Gulp]

You're fine. That size isn't gonna cause any issues.

 

[broderp]

Eh you are good, one crunch and its the end of the world for the super.
No they do not bore a hole through the stomach.
No they do not cause impactation from the shell.
In fact the super has the least amount of chitin vs any other feeder. If he ate the same amount of bug weight in crickets, he would have 4-5x more chitin to pass.

You're fine. That size isn't gonna cause any issues.

This is great news. I know they say that food should be no larger than the width of the head, I suppose if I look at the super worm as a tube, it's much narrower. I wasn't so concerned the worm would be alive. Sherman mashed it up real good getting it down..

Thanks for the input on the chitin. This was my primary concern and damaging his insides, I just couldn't think of the word for it when I posted.

Should I be OK to feed this size as treats every now and then? They are hard to find locally any smaller.

 

[nightanole]

This is great news. I know they say that food should be no larger than the width of the head, I suppose if I look at the super worm as a tube, it's much narrower. I wasn't so concerned the worm would be alive. Sherman mashed it up real good getting it down..

Thanks for the input on the chitin. This was my primary concern and damaging his insides, I just couldn't think of the word for it when I posted.

Should I be OK to feed this size as treats every now and then? They are hard to find locally any smaller.

You are fine. however i never heard of a play that doesnt sell regular meal worms or king mealworms (half way between meal and super). Plus your little darling will start doubling in weight every peel, so it may even be monthly.

 

[JacksJill]

It's more the width than the length you have to worry about as they can turn the feeders in their mouth as they chomp on them to get them down.

 

[Angelwolf]

Ya. They are mostly goo inside, so as long as he doesn't spot it out, I wouldn't worry about it. Their throats can expand a lot, when swallowing food. No worries!

 

[Andee]

I just fed a huge silkworm to my jackson who is about the same size as Sherman, and the silkworm was thicker than that. Since it was soft bodied I was less worried about any choking issues. And she ate it just fine, just took a bit longer. The only reason I feed her smaller supers is because she has a softer jaw and I just need to be really really careful in case she doesn't kill it right away and it bites her mouth. But otherwise my chameleons get larger supers. My leos are the only ones who I use smaller ones with because of the way they eat.

 

[Greywyuulf]

yep big eyes big stomach lol

 

[Big Gulp]

This is great news. I know they say that food should be no larger than the width of the head, I suppose if I look at the super worm as a tube, it's much narrower. I wasn't so concerned the worm would be alive. Sherman mashed it up real good getting it down..

Thanks for the input on the chitin. This was my primary concern and damaging his insides, I just couldn't think of the word for it when I posted.

Should I be OK to feed this size as treats every now and then? They are hard to find locally any smaller.

Yeah, you're good with that size. Like someone else said, your cham will be getting bigger by the week.

Also, superworms do have less chitin than mealworms, making them easier to digest.

You just don't wanna make superworms a staple diet. I use banded crickets (much better than the regular crickets you get from Petco, etc) and dubia roaches as the main staple, and throw in flies, superworms, horned worms and phoenix worms from time to time.

 

[broderp]

You are fine. however i never heard of a play that doesnt sell regular meal worms or king mealworms (half way between meal and super). Plus your little darling will start doubling in weight every peel, so it may even be monthly.

Most big box stores sell them, but not tiny ones. I guess it doesn't matter as the size he ate is acceptable. I've started buying my crickets on line thru Josh's Frogs. I'll check to see what he has.
I would LOVE it if Sherman grew to be a big boy. That's the plan anyways! I want a large fat Cham.

It's more the width than the length you have to worry about as they can turn the feeders in their mouth as they chomp on them to get them down.

This is what I didn't now. Thanks!

Ya. They are mostly goo inside, so as long as he doesn't spot it out, I wouldn't worry about it. Their throats can expand a lot, when swallowing food. No worries!

yep big eyes big stomach lol

You think? He ate that and went straight to his crickets right after to eat more. I didn't think his stomach was big enough to fit that super worm.

Yeah, you're good with that size. Like someone else said, your cham will be getting bigger by the week.

Also, superworms do have less chitin than mealworms, making them easier to digest.

You just don't wanna make superworms a staple diet. I use banded crickets (much better than the regular crickets you get from Petco, etc) and dubia roaches as the main staple, and throw in flies, superworms, horned worms and phoenix worms from time to time.

Got it, thanks. I just need to be smart and not over feed him these and maybe have him lose his taste for crickets. It will be hard since I really want him to be grow, but I do want him healthy first.

As I said above, I have been buying crickets from Joshes Frogs. I get my second shipment of 250 tomorrow. They use banded crickets. I sought them out after my breeder recommended them.(banded crickets not Joshe/s frogs.) Its good to know they are recommended by others. I'm considering trying roaches. Call me odd, I'm OK holding crickets, worms, spiders, snakes etc. but I'm struggling with the idea of holding and feeding roaches.

 

[timw1]

Great pic of the little guy!