Superworms as a staple

Hello all, just wanting to get some opinions before I reach my final decision.

I currently use superworms as a staple treat for my dragon. She usually gets collard greens and yellow squash topped with a quarter sized ball of grub pie every day around lunch time. For supper she gets about 15-20 Dubias and than about 5supers. Every week I also try to make a special trip to the pet store to get her between 3-5hornworms just to provide extra variety and moisture. I recently started a Dubia colony that is really taking off, I have quite a few babies

Due to the winter months rolling in she's slowed down with her eating quite a lot. She now eats her grub pie, a few bites of salad, maybe 5 medium sized Dubias, and of course she still goes crazy for her superworms lol (I don't think anything would cause her to turn those down). Since she is starting to eat less, I'm wondering what you guys think about just feeding supers until my Dubia colony is ready to feed from? Of course I will still feed grub pie and salad every day along with a hand full of hornworms every week to keep somewhat of a variety. I'm thinking maybe 8-10 gutloaded supers a day for supper to take the place of the Dubias?

If it helps anyone to form their opinion, she is 8months old, 18" long and 480grams. I know supers are higher in fat and that is the main reason why I would like to hear from others. I would never want to put her health at risk so please all opinions are welcome

She's probably close to full size so if her appetite is decreasing I'd focus on salads/veges more than anything. I'd keep supers as an occasional treat but even start reducing bug meals to once a day and then every other day until she's digging into her salads well and is eating dubias only a couple of times per week with some other feeders mixed in now and then.

Maybe superworms are ok as an occasional treat if your beardie does a good job chewing them up, especially since they are really easy to maintain and you can keep them alive for several months with a minimum of hassle.

However...

Our beardie used to love them and they were a good way to give him his vitamins -- I'd spray them with calcium spray and then roll them in vitamin powder (the worms hated it though). I'd usually give him two or three of them for dessert after he'd had his crickets and roaches. But one day last summer he wolfed one down as he usually does, and I heard this weird little squeaking noise and saw him kick at his ear with his back foot, and I thought, "Uh-oh, what just happened here?" So I picked him up and looked in his ear with a penlight, and darned if I didn't get an unmistakable sighting of a live superworm crawling around in my bearded dragon's head behind his eardrum. OMG :shock: :shock:

One of Murphy's laws says that these sorts of things NEVER happen when it's convenient. My husband was due at work in a couple of hours and our reptile vet was booked up with surgeries that day, but her office staff said she would squeeze us in when she could and take a look at him, so my husband dropped me and the bearded dragon off at the vet just before work (I don't drive) and we spent the whole afternoon there until he was able to pick us up after the end of his shift. Puff put up a big fuss during the exam (he hates having his mouth forced open), and she couldn't find the worm, but she told me that if it made it into his stomach the acid would kill it. Otherwise, she told me to keep an eye out for bumps and lumps for a while, just in case it went somewhere else. Fortunately, he has seemed fine ever since, but we're NOT doing this again. No more superworms for this one.

I've got to wonder if anything like this has ever happened to anyone else?

Thank you cooper. Yes she's a very mature 8month old we believe she's close to being finished growing (her sheds are no where near as frequent as they once were). She has definitely let me know that she's ready for only 1 bug meal a day now. I've been trying to encourage her to continue with 2 but it's just not happening. Which is fine, if she's ready for that. We were using the grub pie as a salad topper and as a way to sort of trick her into still eating 2 protein meals a day. I will take your advice and keep offering the Dubia only once a day and supers as treats here and there. She's a picky little salad eater so hopefully this will encourage her to eat much more of it.

SHBailey, that is horrible. I would have been extremely frightened at that sight. I have never witnessed or really heard of anything like this before. Was the vet able to explain how or why this occurred? One did bite my girl right under her eye once. Out of the countless number of supers I have fed critters this was the first and only time Ive seen one actually bite a reptile. She held her eye shut afterwords for a few seconds but there was no noticeable damage. Now I make sure to feed them head first so that she chomps down on the head immediately.

It probably got past his teeth and then got in there through the eustachian tube, which connects the back of the throat with the middle ear. And yes, I pretty much freaked out.

Some people say that if you're going to feed superworms to your bearded dragon, you should crush their heads first, but I'm too tenderhearted to do that, although I should probably think about why I'm ok with giving them to my beardie and watching him do essentially the same thing. But I don't think he'd be interested in them if they weren't moving anyway.

Fatty food items like supers are not very healthy for them. A small portion in the diet is fine, but not as a staple. Lots of reptiles have gotten fatty livers because of overfeeding of supers.

MsCarter":1nahgneg said:

Thank you cooper. Yes she's a very mature 8month old we believe she's close to being finished growing (her sheds are no where near as frequent as they once were). She has definitely let me know that she's ready for only 1 bug meal a day now. I've been trying to encourage her to continue with 2 but it's just not happening. Which is fine, if she's ready for that. We were using the grub pie as a salad topper and as a way to sort of trick her into still eating 2 protein meals a day. I will take your advice and keep offering the Dubia only once a day and supers as treats here and there. She's a picky little salad eater so hopefully this will encourage her to eat much more of it.

SHBailey, that is horrible. I would have been extremely frightened at that sight. I have never witnessed or really heard of anything like this before. Was the vet able to explain how or why this occurred? One did bite my girl right under her eye once. Out of the countless number of supers I have fed critters this was the first and only time Ive seen one actually bite a reptile. She held her eye shut afterwords for a few seconds but there was no noticeable damage. Now I make sure to feed them head first so that she chomps down on the head immediately.

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at 8 months old, she's neither mature or big enough to get given superworms. I only just started giving superworms to Peppa and Toothless in the last month or so (they are now 1 year old) , only a occasional treats , 2 or 3 each , 2 - 3 times as week with their crickets and greens , and considerably bigger than they were at 8 months old.
Rex , Peppa and Toothless get live insects once per day. I suggest 2 live insect meals per day for your 8 month old and for another couple of months.
If you want to give worms - buy some medium and large silkworms , these are very good feeders , suitable to use as live feeder staple and your beardie will love them and thrive on them.
Ie Peppa was 336g at 8 months old , and at 12months old was 466g.

I appreciate everyone's advice. I have to disagree with the statement that she is not big enough for supers. She is 8months but 18" long and 480 grams she's my big baby lol. She handles them very well. I really wish she would eat two insect meals a day but she has let me know that she no longer wants to eat twice a day :/ I've tried and tried but she turns her nose up at the first meal offered. she now wants a bowl of salad for breakfast and about 15 roaches and a couples supers for supper than she basks until bed time. I really do appreciate the comments though, just because I disagree please don't think I'm not flattered that you would take the time to respond

I appreciate everyone's advice and will continue to feed Dubias as a staple insect and only use supers as treats along with a few hornworms. I will be sure to order some silks as soon as I can find a vendor that has them in stock. That's the only feeder I have yet to let her try. Since the post I have been following coopers advice and I must say she seems to be doing great. Still gaining a few grams a week, pooping regularly, eating more salad, and very active.

Rankins":bcczwe8d said:

Fatty food items like supers are not very healthy for them. A small portion in the diet is fine, but not as a staple. Lots of reptiles have gotten fatty livers because of overfeeding of supers.

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This is what worried me the most and why I was so hesitant to make them a staple. I will continue to only feed as treats to prevent any health issues. She's my baby and we can't have that lol

SHBailey, I would have definitely freak out too. I was thinking the same thing, the worm must have worked its way in through the pipe that connects the areas. Glad your baby is okay! I'm the exact same way, I can give my girl insects and watch her devour them but I can't harm the insect myself lol. I'll let her continue to be the bug killer while I just watch it happen haha

You're very lucky that your beardie actually prefers salad for breakfast instead of bugs. Sounds like you've got her off to a good healthy start

SHBailey":1nj8chgp said:

You're very lucky that your beardie actually prefers salad for breakfast instead of bugs. Sounds like you've got her off to a good healthy start

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It has been quite a struggle lol. She just recently started eating them and refusing her first insect meal. But I'll take what I can get lol. As long as she is still healthy and not loosing weight I'm perfectly happy with her choosing salad over insects once a day. She definitely has a mind of her own