Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I feed mostly roaches to my leopard geckos and bearded dragons, but breed superowrms. I was just wondering, is it okay to feed my baby and adult leopard geckos the small and large superworms? I have heard that peple feed them mealworms because superworms will bite them. But the thing is that I don't want to have to buy the mealworms every month if I already breed my own superworms. Thanks in advance for any input you may have.
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Darien Drollinger

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I've fed my adult superworms before as treats (she normally eats crickets), and she seemed to enjoy them. It's no problem, but much like feeding live rodents to a snake, you need to supervise in order to be sure your geckos are not injured. I'd be leery of feeding them to juveniles though, because the one major thing about superworms is that the geckos need to be at maximum jaw strength to properly kill them, and I wonder if a juvenile would be able to do that - you certainly don't want them swallowing a still-alive superworm that might try to fight back from inside their throat/stomach.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
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I've never fed my juvie the superworms since fully grown they are too big. I feed the smaller mealworms and crickets to my juvies because they are the right size. The main thing I'd be worried about is the superworms causing impaction in smaller leo becaus they are so big, but if you breed them yourself maybe you can find ones that are small enough that your juvies can easily eat them.

As was said before, I would not recommend feeding superworms to juvis, however strong adults are fine. I don't think I have heard of leos living on supers near exclusively, I would have to check the nutritionals on them, if they are close and your leos get plenty of supplements I don't see why not. I've gutloaded them on the same formula as my crickets (Yummies! Brand) with no problems, but I'm sure your a better expert on feed and gutloading of supers.

I feed superworms as a treat, they are "the snack that fights back." The gecko must completely kill the worm before swallowing because the worm can and will continue to bite on the way down. I have seen some pretty disturbing accounts of mouth and throat injuries and infections as a result. This is the main reason for the requirements of a very healthy adult. That being said, as a healthy adult, I know my girl sure enjoys them!
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
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Well, Ron Tremper does feed his leos exclusively on superworms, and they do fine.

Actually i think he only feeds mealworms. I think his opinion is that they are fine to feed but not all geckos eat em.

When i bred supers i fed ten or so babies the smaller worms i had and found that only 7 of the babies ate them. the ones that ate superworms were full grown in 4 months but the others ate crickets instead. If yours eat them then i would do it, just watch size. I think it is most peoples experience that not all leopard geckos eat superworms so if they do it will make your life easy but i feed only crickets now because nutritional value is unmatched and all my geckos chow down on them

I feed my adult leo only molted superworms. I always have at least a thousand at any given time for my bearded dragon. At night, I dig through the rubbermaids and find a few that are molted (white & soft) and drop them in the tank.

He LOVES them and since I started feeding them will not touch crickets. I have only had him about a month, but he's gained around 12 grams in the short time I have has him. He's got a nice, plump tail and is quite active.

I hate crickets with a passion - they stink, they're gross, loud and carry diseases (coccidia is a PITA!)

As soon as I get around to it, I'm going to order some Phoenix worms - I bed he'd love some of those. I raised my beardie on those (and the occasional silkie) so if you can pick some of those up, they may be a good idea as well...just another option.
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0.0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Ed