Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I stopped in at the local bait shop to pick up feeders for my Bearded Dragon and my Garter Snakes... and we got into a discussion of Super worms and mealworms, and what the differences might be.

My bait shop owner told me that super worms are produced by feeding them steroids. She said that if you take super worms and try to propagate them, the offspring will be small just like the mealworms.

So... does this mean that when I feed super worms to my Bearded Dragons, I am giving them traces of steroids from the stomachs or tissues of the super worms?
-----
KITKAT

0.0.1 Bearded Dragon
1.0 African House Snake
0.1 Albino Corn Snake
0.1 Red Sided Garter Snake
0.0.1 Oregon Red Spotted Garter Snake
0.1 Peromyscus leucopus (White-footed mouse)
2.5 Turkish Angora (show) cats

Antioch Turkish Angoras
PuRRS Rescue

Your bait store person has no idea what she is talking about. They are differnt species. Superworms are Zophobas Morio and Mealworms are Tenebrio Molitor.

Your baitshop buddy is confusing superworms with 'giant mealworms' which are mealworms on steriods. Superworms are a separate species altogether as the other poster indicated. Unfortunately, many people confuse giant mealworms (the ones on steriods) with superworms and the terms are used to describe both.

Not sure if the bait shop has superworms or the actual steriod grown 'giant mealworms', let them grow up into beetles. Superworm beetles are big, about an inch long and a dull black (reddish brown at first emergence, then darkens to black). Mealworm beetles are much smaller, about 1/4-1/2 inch long and more oval in body shape, if I recall correctly. Not sure if the steriod induced giant worms will look the same as normal mealworm beetles, or be bigger in size.

Superworm beetle:

www.bluebeastreptile.com/images/TYLER/InsectPics/FISWBEETLE1.jpg

mealworm beetle:

www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/images/mealwrm.jpg

-----
PHLdyPayne