can melworms eat through a bearded dragon's stomic

[halt]

can meal worms eat through a bearded dragon's stomic? because that's basically what I feed him and Its hard to get greens were I live.

 

[Stolas]

If the mealworm isn't properly chewed up (which most of the time beardies don't fully) yes, it can.

Mealworms aren't a very good diet for your beardy, no matter what most say, think of it as eating Ramen Noodles all the time as a human. Its food, but its not very healthy for you at all

Crickets are the best staple for a beardy, roaches, anything that can be gut-loaded with calcium.

If you have to feed your beardy mealworms, the best way to avoid this is to pinch the heads of the worms before feeding. What that means is feed them with a pair of tweezers, but right before you hand them to your beardy, pinch the head of them as hard as possible with the tweezer ends. This will ensure that the worms are fully dead (while still wiggling while they die to attract your dragon) and make sure they won't be able to chew around inside your dragon

Hope this helps!

 

[halt]

thank you vary much.

 

[randommonks]

No it cannot. Mealworms cannot survive in a dragon's body, and neither can superworms. I agree that mealworms are not a suitable feeder for bearded dragons. If you can, order crickets/roaches/reptiworms online and have them delivered.

 

[spurlee01]

No, the stomach acid kills them. I still wouldn't feed mealworms because of a hard chitin shell.

 

[Goonie]

[Moved from Beardie ER to Feeding]

 

[AtlasStrike]

Where on earth did this rumor start? :shock: I have heard it multiple times from a number of people now and it is absurd. I liken it to telling a kid that if they swallow an apple seed that an apple tree will grow in their stomach or that bubble gum stays in your stomach forever and if you swallow it, it will keep building into a giant bubble gum ball in a corner of your stomach. Absurd. Complete fiction.

Meal worms are terrible food for your beardie, and if you are not feeding salad, that makes it even worse. There is no reason you shouldn't be able to get salad, the foods beardies eat are varied and most are extremely common. You need to step up and take appropriate care of your pet, there is really no legitimate excuse for essentially ignoring the needs of your animal.

 

[jelxxx]

They cannot, but crickets are best. Mealworms are high in fat and have a hard exoskeleton that can be difficult to digest. Still, the stomach acid in a beardie's stomach kills mealworms. I've seen studies online demonstrating this fact. You can get greens at any grocery store.

 

[halt]

Meal worms are terrible food for your beardie, and if you are not feeding salad, that makes it even worse. There is no reason you shouldn't be able to get salad, the foods beardies eat are varied and most are extremely common. You need to step up and take appropriate care of your pet, there is really no legitimate excuse for essentially ignoring the needs of your animal.

you right what greens should I feed him? I'm working on getting crickets'

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Halt, the best list to find foods for beardies is under Nutrition at this site www.beautifuldragons.com The list is long & there are so many things dragons will eat. So give that list a try. As for mealworms, they don't have alot of nutrition, so your beardie won't grow as much. How old is your dragon? And how long? If your dragon is 16" long the kink in their disgestive system has straightened out, so they can eat super worms or king worms. Crickets are good, but if you can get some dubio roaches, I've heard that dragons love those things!
Hope that helps.

There are good care sheets on this forum, too, so check it out.
Good luck

 

[DragonsNDoodles]

Haha, that's a total myth.

Dubia roaches are excellent, especially if you don't live close to a pet store where you can get a steady supply of crickets (they die off easily and quickly). Dubia roaches are more nutritious, have less waste, and they don't chirp/stink/fly/climb/jump. They also breed readily in captivity if provided with a plastic tub and a heat pad.

 

[halt]

thank you a ton!!!!! he's about 12 inches long and will be one years old on Christmas.

 

[kjinxx2]

The reason that Mealworms can not eat through a bearded dragon's stomach is because of the process by which they 'breath'. Mealworms, like most insects, do not have lungs. Instead, they have direct 'air tunnels' if you do, to their cells etc. If you drop a mealworm in water (or if it really even touches water) you'll notice that they instantly die. The same goes for stomach acid, saliva, etc.

 

[AtlasStrike]

12 inches is really small for a one year old.

 

[halt]

12 inches is really small for a one year old.

how do i get him to grow