worm?

[dectr6]

Some of the phoenix worms will pass right through intact. Whenever I feed them, I'll usually check poo the next day or two. I usually find only one or two not digested out of maybe a dozen eaten. Wish they were bigger, my cham loves them and won't touch silkies.
David

 

[dodolah]

Some of the phoenix worms will pass right through intact. Whenever I feed them, I'll usually check poo the next day or two. I usually find only one or two not digested out of maybe a dozen eaten. Wish they were bigger, my cham loves them and won't touch silkies.
David

you can prick them w/ needle be4 feeding.
that will ensure they will get digested by your cham's stomach acid

 

[OldChamKeeper]

I've used the superworms for years with no mysterious deaths however I have seen them chew out the top of a plastic container. They can put a bite on a Cham's lip but so can many other food items in the wild. As an old habit I flick the head of a superworm, killing it, and then would offer it to the animal.

How about hornworms? (aka tomato worms)

 

[dodolah]

O Darn!

my silky batch from online unfortunately contaminated with virus.
the virus infect 75% of the colony within 2 days stupid virus!
it was too late to save the batch.. so i have to throw all of them away. sigh

Plus, it's official, my cham hates phoenix worm.

anyway, the company offering a replacement of Goliath worm (bless their hearts ).
But, when it deals with this type of feeder, i am green just like the Goliath worm
Do they bite? They look mean.. so i am a bit worry.

Do I need to dust them?
thanks.

 

[chris]

usually the fully adult, huge (1.5" and up) supers have the hard exoskelton. younger supers (1.5" and less) usually seem to be a lot softer and moister. making sure the supers have lots of veggies to get hydrated on is important too. i like to pick out the newly molted white worms and give them to my females they love them. some actually wont eat regular supers only the newly molted ones.

 

[dectr6]

my silky batch from online unfortunately contaminated with virus.
the virus infect 75% of the colony within 2 days stupid virus!
it was too late to save the batch.. so i have to throw all of them away. sigh

Plus, it's official, my cham hates phoenix worm.

anyway, the company offering a replacement of Goliath worm (bless their hearts ).
But, when it deals with this type of feeder, i am green just like the Goliath worm
Do they bite? They look mean.. so i am a bit worry.

Do I need to dust them?
thanks.

Have never seen a hornworm bite a cham or me. Mine hauls ass across the cage to get these. They are by far his favorite. They sell a yellow feed for them that if you feed this instead of the green, the hornworms will turn turquoise or blue. I think the color has a lot to do with my chams loving them. Their crazy for anything green. Will eat all the green grasshoppers before the browns. Not sure on the dusting. I don't give them out that often so I don't dust them. Don't over order though. They get HUGE very fast.

 

[dodolah]

Have never seen a hornworm bite a cham or me. Mine hauls ass across the cage to get these. They are by far his favorite. They sell a yellow feed for them that if you feed this instead of the green, the hornworms will turn turquoise or blue. I think the color has a lot to do with my chams loving them. Their crazy for anything green. Will eat all the green grasshoppers before the browns. Not sure on the dusting. I don't give them out that often so I don't dust them. Don't over order though. They get HUGE very fast.

i thought the blue one is different kind.
the blue is tobacco horn worm and the green is tomato horn worm.
my cham ignores the blue one completely.

 

[dectr6]

No, same worm. One of the sites that sells them tells you this in the how to care for section and I did it myself. When the worms came in they were bright green and I had ordered the yellow feed they sell and they turned blue fairly quickly. Can't remember who sells the yellow feed now but I've only ordered from the well known suppliers for the last five years.

 

[Will Hayward]

I haven't read through the whole thread but a few comments:

Hornworms can bite. Proof: https://www.chameleonforums.com/neonates-need-1-week-1533/#post10565

Superworms are great feeders, no matter the size. Any HEALTHY chameleon will digest any adult superworm. If you are consistently seeing very undigested superworms then you have another problem going on.

Pin Prick Phoenix worms for proper digestion. Be aware they may have a limited lifespan afterwards. More discussion: https://www.chameleonforums.com/phoenix-worms-2660/#post18531

Vitamin D3 is one of the things that makes absorption of calcium possible. Calcium without Vitamin D3 is usually expelled by the body in some way (poop, nose diposits, etc) if there is excess amounts. Vitamin D3 is absorbed from either the UVB light, or from a Vitamin D3 supplement. If you dust too much with the D3 supplement the chameleons body might not be able to regulate how much it is absorbing, and thus absorb too much calcium, and lead to hypercalcima or gout or etc.

 

[dectr6]

Thanks will, Have never had a problem with Hornworms biting my chams or me so just thought they weren't a threat to chameleons.

 

[davider]

Zoophobas are great chewers and they have a lot of legendary tales that are told about them chewing through plastic containers, chewing out of the stomachs of reptiles, etc.

A funny story...

I work at CPK as a Take-Out Server and when I get to work I go in the restroom and put on my tie and unfortunately my apron.

I purchased 50 superworms a week ago and I never knew about how much of con artists they are lol.

So I get to work and as I am putting on my tie, something is wiggling next to my top button on my button up, who was it?

A superrrrrr! Imagine serving drinks and blurp...a worm! How funny is that?

Hope you enjoyed my story...
David