Goliath/tomato worms where can i get them in the UK???

[loulou87]

The clue is in the title! I want to get George some Goliath worms but have been to both reptile shops around by me and cant find any! The guy in the reptile shop ive not used before said he had never even heard of them?! he even said he goes to european shows and hes not seen them- i described them to him after giving both names?! '' Big green worms that look like caterpillars!!'' he then tried to sell me mealworms and Morio worms- im not sure if they are the same as each other but they arent goliath worms!

On another side George has had a few morio worms but i give them as a treat because of the Chitin being hard to digest- is this right? Also George has decided that he likes locusts more than crickets and after he has eaten locusts and a cricket runs near him he looks at me as if to say ' you think im going to eat that when i can have yummy locusts!?' the guy told me at the reptile shop ~(that didnt know what goliath worms were, and also told me walnut sand was fine) to starve him for 2 days like he does with his EVERY WEEK and then he will go back onto crickets?! im not sure i want george to starve and epecially when i asked how to tell if he was really starving (he said he would be dead!!), i dont want to take the risk i dont think!

So basically i want to treat george like a king and treat him to a goliath worm and dont know where to get them in the midlands? help!

Advice please? x x

 

[lokiesslave]

hi

ive been looking for them too cant seem to find anywhere that stocks them, im from the midlands too im gonna ask at "pets at home" because there are good at getting things in on 'special order' if they cant get them they usualy ask suppliers where or if they can be got , i googled it an found a net pet shop that will post them to you. i'll look for the link and post it here for you

good luck xxx

 

[Buggsy]

lol ive never seen them in the UK but would love to get some if you eventually find a stockist!

FYI:
Mealworms, bad
Morio (supers) goof for over 16" - look similar but actually good, alot easier to digest although a little fatty so i mix them with other things
Butters: very good staple, i get 100 or so at a time and that lasts me a few months in the fridge.
Phoenix: supposed to be a very good worm but ive tried both UK suppliers and they never last, they are always in the black/hard stage when i get them!
Wax worms: very bad candy for beardies!

I think thats all the worm available over here atm!

Its also perfectly normal to prefer locusts, i guess they taste better. Gizmo wont even look at crix now!

 

[lokiesslave]

hi again

dont think you can get them here there considered a pest and apparently u need a licence from defra to keep them. but i have seen that earth worms are supposed to be quiet good how tru it is i dont know so look into it befor you feed them to your beardie.
hope this helps

 

[Buggsy]

even if you were to get an earth worm, you would need to breed it 5-6 times to make sure it's 'clean' enough to be considered a safe feeder insect.

 

[loulou87]

I will try get some butter worms for him- not heard of those before. Not given him mealworms because i heard they were hard to digest. I do give him Morio worms because i heard they were OK but only a few a day- also if i put them into his food bowl he is more likely to eat salad.

As for locusts Im happy to feed them to him- someone described locusts as steak and crickets as beans on toast and so i understand that he might prefer locusts. he does eat some crickets too. ive decided to take him out of his viv and feed him in a separate container now (just got to find one) it makes less mess and i can moniter his eating. I cleaned his viv out yesterday and like 30 crickets came out his log when i unblocked it. I think he might just be too lazy to catch them, he trys to catch them and seems to slow. not sure whether i should just let him learn he needs to be faster? what you think? he gets locust because they arent as quick and jumpy.

Anyways will try butter worms too and see how that goes. he isnt too fussy to be honest (apart from prefering locusts) so im sure he will love them! thanks for your help

P.s Maybe one of us should set up a goliath worm farm!!

 

[lokiesslave]

loki des;nt like crickets at all !!! not that i mind cos i think there awful lol she can get enough locust tho, my dad grows tomatos and last year there was a few goliaths on them , only a yr to early