Superworms Vs. Mealworms, What`s myth and what`s truth?

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mellu

Juvie Member
Okay, so I`m going to Florida in August and my beardies are being taken care of by friends, Kira is going to a friend of mine who has a Gecko and a Snake, I figure she`s the one with the most reptile experience and my mind will be at ease. Anyhow, right now her Gecko is off supers, and she posted a facebook status about it, to which a girl posted this:

"what else do you feed her besides super worms? super worms are high in fat content and can end up being unhealthy for lizards if too many are given, and they are very filling besides that. another thing to watch out for in small reptiles, l...ike geckos, is their bowls can get impacted when they have eaten too much or an insect too big for them to digest properly. the good thing is they store nutrients in their tail so keep an eye on how fat the tail is to judge your feeding times and choices!
mealworms are really good for smaller reptiles because they are high in nutrients but crickets are also an option, remember! just buy some calcium powder to dust over the cricket so it gets extra nutrients into your little lizard :)."

Now, as soon as I saw this the "RAWR MEALWORMS ARE WORSE THAN SUPERS" section of my brain went into overdrive but before flat out telling this girl she`s wrong, I looked at the nutritional value on BeautifulDragons and whatta ya know, according to the numbers supers are higher in fat% and lower in protein. Wooo, what gives?

As someone who feeds supers as a staple but has a mealworm colony pretty much for the fun of it, am I doing wrong by my dragons? SHOULD I be feeding them meal worms? In reference to this nutritional information, tell me why mealworms are worse than supers.

Mealworm
CA:p: 1:25

Protein: 20.3%

Fat: 12.7%

Fibre: 1.7%

Water:62%
Low calcium, high phosphorus & fat, hard chitin shell

Superworm:
Superworms
CA:p:1:18

Protein: 17.4%

Fat: 17.9%

Fibre: 6.8%

Water: 60%
High phosphorus, dust or inject to increase calcium





*As a disclaimer, when we get back from Florida we will actually be starting a dubia colony. Supers will then be an occasional feeder and mealworms and butterworms will also. As it stand we pay $60 for 1000 supers once a month.
 

Gail

BD.org Addict
Remember that their are more nutrients then just fat/protein. I don't know the numbers but I always heard that supers have more nutrient then mealies. Both can cause impaction if fed to too small of a animal and I've seen many fat dragons on here that are fed exclusively on supers. That being said, right now I am using mainly supers because my dragon isn't eating well and that is all he wants, I've also fed mealies before and never had any issues. The dragon I raised on them was healthy and always pooed just fine.
I believe that both should be fed in moderation under most circumstances, there are many different and better options.
 

mellu

Juvie Member
Original Poster
I agree, my beardies have done a million times better on supers than mealies but I`m just curious about that facts as I know everyone feels very strongly that supers are better I just want to know why exactly! lol

Thanks for posting :D
 

Gail

BD.org Addict
One thing about supers is they have more meat to shell and their shell is thinner then a mealworms.
 
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