Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im thinking about introducing superworms to my juvi-subadult leo. However im afraid taht they are too big for it to handle. And i also heard that super bites are quite painful.

However they look really filling and are said to be nutritious.

Would any of you recommend feeding supers as staples? Any good/bad experiences?

Id give mine supers as a treat every now and again. It's been a few years since I've had them but if I recall correctly, supers are super high in Chitin and fat and aren't a good staple.

I dont think they are higher in chitin. If i remember correctly they have less chitin proportionately than their mealworm counterparts

http://www.nyworms.com/superworms.htm
^ source

even if i agree w/ you on the fact that they have more fat than mealies. It is just a 5% difference per worm. does taht really matter?

im just worried about them biting my pet

I personaly dont like useing superworms. My experiences with them are:

First you cant keep them in a mealworm dish they just escape and are too big. You would need a huge dish and at that point its too big for the leo. I would suggest useing tongs or a big hemostat and feed them with those. At least for me I could not contain them.

Most of my leos wont touch them. A couple of them will eat them but most ate them once and then wont eat them anymore.

I dont think they will hurt your leo if he eats them. If they are crawling around the tank and your leo is sleeping who knows. I would personaly say use tongs because its too hard to try to contain them in a feeding dish like mealworms.

really? your leos wont touch them after a first encounter? wow..

i always heard that they were moderately-addicting in that theyre supposed to be very very tasty

if i take my leo out of its container to feed it im sure i can over come the "worm dish problem" corrent?

Maybe you're thinking of wax worms? Those are said to be addictive...and a high fat content.

My gex are finicky with superworms. Some like them, some dont.

I feed my leos superworms as a staple. I keep 250 worms in a 5 gallons or 2 1/2 gallon tank (I forget what it is) with bran bedding and I put in fresh apple slices every other day. I always had to tong feed my leos because they can't get the worms out of the bowls I have and they can't get the mealworms off of the ground. So using superworms cut about 30 minutes off of feeding time because I only give my two leos 4-6 worms every other night as opposed to 12-15 mealworms.