What's wrong with Superworms?

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DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
Ok gotcha. ? Doesn't seem to be an issue with my boy but at his age and since its been his #1 source of protein for as long as I have record, he seems to handle them well. I want to pick up a few horns when I can get to the pet store, if they look fresh. Last time I checked most of all the feeders at the store were dead. Had to get small container of supers to hold him till his came in. Glad I don't have to depend on the store, they had lousy products.?
-Dee
 

Gormagon

Extreme Poster
DragonPete":70ejwqr7 said:
Ok gotcha. ? Doesn't seem to be an issue with my boy but at his age and since its been his #1 source of protein for as long as I have record, he seems to handle them well. I want to pick up a few horns when I can get to the pet store, if they look fresh. Last time I checked most of all the feeders at the store were dead. Had to get small container of supers to hold him till his came in. Glad I don't have to depend on the store, they had lousy products.?
-Dee
You need to order online, it's cheaper and you can set up shipments to the way your dragon eats this way he never runs out. It is more efficient this way.
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
Gormagon":1gzij84t said:
DragonPete":1gzij84t said:
Ok gotcha. ? Doesn't seem to be an issue with my boy but at his age and since its been his #1 source of protein for as long as I have record, he seems to handle them well. I want to pick up a few horns when I can get to the pet store, if they look fresh. Last time I checked most of all the feeders at the store were dead. Had to get small container of supers to hold him till his came in. Glad I don't have to depend on the store, they had lousy products.?
-Dee
You need to order online, it's cheaper and you can set up shipments to the way your dragon eats this way he never runs out. It is more efficient this way.

Actually I do order online but it took longer than expected. I had ordered several things for him when I first got him, including supers (from Amazon) but it took 9 days for the worms, everything else came in 3-5 days. I thought I'd pick up small pack of something fresh at the store to see if he liked it before I bought a larger amount. (Hornworms)
-Dee
 

BeardedDragonSteve

Juvie Member
Aaradimian":3k11dmms said:
The reason I've heard it that their exoskeletons are hard to digest, especially for babies. I can't vouch for the truth of that statement, however. I feed them to mine from time to time as part of a feeder rotation and have never noticed any issues.
They are more easily digestible compared to mealworms because they have more surface area than normal mealworms. So they have less chitin.
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
BeardedDragonSteve":3v8qz6ob said:
Aaradimian":3v8qz6ob said:
The reason I've heard it that their exoskeletons are hard to digest, especially for babies. I can't vouch for the truth of that statement, however. I feed them to mine from time to time as part of a feeder rotation and have never noticed any issues.
They are more easily digestible compared to mealworms because they have more surface area than normal mealworms. So they have less chitin.
I have heard that meal worms are harder to digest than supers and I can understand the babies needing smaller and softer protein items. Makes sense to me. ?
-Dee
 

MrSpectrum

Gray-bearded Member
DragonPete":33aor61e said:
I want to pick up a few horns when I can get to the pet store, if they look fresh. Last time I checked most of all the feeders at the store were dead. Had to get small container of supers to hold him till his came in. Glad I don't have to depend on the store, they had lousy products.?
Good luck with that (seriously). I've had to do the same when mail orders were late, but yeah, the local pet stores have old, dead, overpriced (and I'm guessing undernourished) feeders. Funny though, they've always got an ample supply of crickets. With the amount Z eats, even they're too expensive ($.10+ ea)

Around here, hornworms are only sold singly for $3-$4 EACH. :shock: (I passed).
If ZaRDoZ hits the lottery, then he can try one/some. :lol:
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
MrSpectrum":7f1ftbo6 said:
DragonPete":7f1ftbo6 said:
I want to pick up a few horns when I can get to the pet store, if they look fresh. Last time I checked most of all the feeders at the store were dead. Had to get small container of supers to hold him till his came in. Glad I don't have to depend on the store, they had lousy products.?
Good luck with that (seriously). I've had to do the same when mail orders were late, but yeah, the local pet stores have old, dead, overpriced (and I'm guessing undernourished) feeders. Funny though, they've always got an ample supply of crickets. With the amount Z eats, even they're too expensive ($.10+ ea)

Around here, hornworms are only sold singly for $3-$4 EACH. :shock: (I passed).
If ZaRDoZ hits the lottery, then he can try one/some. :lol:
It's not quite that bad here. I think it was 6 for $10 or so. But yeah everything looked pathetic. Went thru 4-5 containers to find some Supers that were still moving. ?
-Dee
 

DragonQueen3

Hatchling Member
From my experience with 3 dragons, 11 months, 8-9 months and 3-4 months, the only issue super worms will cause is when eating to many!!!

It can cause them to be constipated and their poop will have a lot of tiny shard like pieces of the crunchy worm skin ???

I rescued a male dragon last month who woudlnt eat anything but protein so I had that issue before figuring out how many worms is to many.
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
Original Poster
DragonQueen3":1yokl3ps said:
From my experience with 3 dragons, 11 months, 8-9 months and 3-4 months, the only issue super worms will cause is when eating to many!!!

It can cause them to be constipated and their poop will have a lot of tiny shard like pieces of the crunchy worm skin ???

I rescued a male dragon last month who woudlnt eat anything but protein so I had that issue before figuring out how many worms is to many.
If I don't feed him 1 at a time, he'll inhale them and not chew and I'll find pieces. Can't use his worm bowl. ? As long as I feed individually we're good.
-Dee
Oh and Petey only gets like 5-6 for his protein meal, 2-3 times a week.
 

MrSpectrum

Gray-bearded Member
DragonPete":1z8pg2ol said:
If I don't feed him 1 at a time, he'll inhale them....
That's how Z is with his num-nums (dubias). The first time I ordered ½" I was concerned. The distance between his eyes was just about ½". When they got here, I think it must have been the end of their stock (and end of the year) because while mostly ½", there were an awful lot of larger & smaller sizes as well. Also a few hundred more than I ordered. One day curiosity got the better of me, and I fed him one of the largest (probably 1"). His eyes got real big (like a puppy that gets a huge rawhide) but he had no trouble munching that sucker down. Same with giant mealies & supers (which is why I didn't hesitate with the large supers order this time). Since then, I've kept with ½" dubias--mostly because the price goes up significantly with larger sizes. Where I used to count out 5, then 10, then 15... Now I just pull out a tube (I use old paper towel tubes instead of egg crate cuz I got a zillion of em) rap on the side, and 15-20 fall out into the bowl. He scarfs down 2, 3, even 4 at a time! :lol:

Like you say, he inhales 'em! :D (Or as I say, he's a roach hoover. :p )
 
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