Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok I'm in a bind. From what I have research and learned so far is that Mealworms has more shell then meat and Superworms has more meat then shell.

Well my boyfriend is feeding Giant Mealworms?! WHAT IS THAT?! Isn't it just a mealworm?

Plus he told me that Superworms eats my beardies inside out!

These beardies are between 1 & 1/2 to 2 years old. Adults basically. I'm tired of crickets and I want to switch them up a little. Hornworms are getting expensive and so are silkworms.

Pinkie mice, Butter worms and wax worms are mainly for treats right?

So what I'm asking is... Giant mealworms or Superworms would be better?
Also do the superworms really eat the beardies' inside? I don't wanna cut each worm's head off!!! Too much work lol.

Plus when I did look up info about the superworms eating the inside. I got so many conflicting answers.

Thank you in advance for answering and reading.

Ok I figured it out. Giant mealworms are mealworms that were raise by being hormonally treated to delay pupation said Wikipedia lol.

So that answers that BUT

Does that mean it has more meat then the superworm?

I will first address eating your beardies stomach out.
I have fed my dragons pinky, even a fuzzy mouse, they have ALOT of BONES, those bones require alot of break them down.
So I did this experiment, I dropped a superworm into a glass of coke, (very acidic) and the worm died within second.

I put a dead mouse in a can of coke, barely any results over night.

Dragons stomach acid must be pretty strong.
how long is that super gonna live inside your dragon(if your dragon is stupid and swallows it whole) not very long.
I have been 'bitten' by a super worm, its a pinch nothing more.

Feed your dragons SUPERWORMs

Would you rather eat a nice grainfed chicken breast, or a steroided kfc chicken breast?

now, would you rather have your dragon eat, a nice grainfed superworm, or a steroidal 'KFC' mealworm?

I would go with the natural all the way.

A good test, stick a few of your worms into the fridge, if in the morning they are all dead, then congrats you have just killed superworm, they are alive still? then you are the proud owner of super steroidal mealworms.

just my opinions

I have all 3 of my dragons on them as a staple.

I feed all my dragons (23) superworms regularly. It's a myth that they can eat a dragon from the inside.

Agreed Bdlvr, they cannot harm a dragon from the inside. Their mandibles can give a little pinch but no worries. I wouldn't recommend super's as a staple though....there are better choices out there.

Stomach acids are more than sufficient to kill superworms. The only time I can see a superworm surviving in the stomach is if the dragon was really sick or something is neutralizing stomach acid to the point your dragon can't digest food. Thus if the superworm doesn't just drown in the the fluid it could eat its way out of the bearded dragon's stomach. But, to be honest at this point the dragon is so sick the probably wouldn't have even eaten the superworm on its own. Thus highly unlikely a superworm could survive long enough inside a dragon's belly to eat its way out.

Only time I have seen a picture of a bearded dragon with what looks like superworms coming out of it, it was very emaciated and dead looking (probably for longer than a few days) and it did have a superworm half inside a hole chewed out of it. However superworms do eat dead flesh...there was no way to confirm that dragon died from the worms itself, or if the worms were just taking advantage of a free meal.

I have fed bearded dragons superworms for years without any trouble and they are pretty good at killing the worms with their teeth so they are already dead before getting to the stomach. So no need to cut off the superworm heads. Just feed slowly if your dragon is the sort to gobble up live prey fast. Since your dragons are full adults, with a complete salad they can do well with superworms only though I still recommend giving some crickets (gutloaded 24 hours before feeding), silkworms, hornworms, butterworms or roaches for variety as well. Butterworms are a great feeder worm as well, very high in calcium and dragons seem to love them.

Incidentally superworms are Zophobas morio and most mail order places will tell you that is the kind of beetle larvae they sell. Kingworms tends to be the name given to steroid pumped mealworms but I have heard the term used for superworms too.
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PHLdyPayne