Is this true?

[Lycia]

Hi,

There is so much conflicting information you hear that sometimes I don't know what to believe! So as far as those of you with experience know is this true or false.

Don't feed your beardie Superworms because if they don't chew the worm properly the head stays alive and will eat them from the inside. A manager at a pet store told me this. I'm not sure if he only meant as a young beardie but this scared me off ever giving Apollo superworms PERIOD!

I'm sure I'll come across other things to fact check but thats it right now.

 

[AHBD]

No, it's not true. It's believed that the myth may have started when someone had a lizard die, then found a mealworm nibbling on the dead lizard so they mistakenly concluded that the worm had eaten out of the stomach. Superworms are fine for beardies over 15", my 14" beardies even eat the medium ones with no problem. Some people feed baby superworms to their small beardies, but they really shouldn't be used as a staple, just a treat or part of their diet along with greens + other small insects.

 

[Lycia]

Thanks AHBD

That also answers my question about when I can start feeding him superworms. I'm preparing to place my first mail order of supplies and I found a site that offers a package of crickets, superworms, Phoenix worms, wax worms and mealworms. I'll look for a different package since those are too big for him.
I think I found a good site to trust but if anyone has any suggestions I'd gladly take them.

 

[BEARDIESandCOFFEE]

BAHAHAHA… this was a funny post. :lol: sorry, i mean no offense, just the fact that a petco person said that, DOESNT SHOCK ME AT ALL!!!!! man those guys are annoying. I've never heard so much false info in my life, coming from those so called "pet experts" …..

 

[unkempt1]

Hi,

There is so much conflicting information you hear that sometimes I don't know what to believe! So as far as those of you with experience know is this true or false.

Don't feed your beardie Superworms because if they don't chew the worm properly the head stays alive and will eat them from the inside. A manager at a pet store told me this. I'm not sure if he only meant as a young beardie but this scared me off ever giving Apollo superworms PERIOD!

I'm sure I'll come across other things to fact check but thats it right now.

Next time you see the manager (if there is a next time) ask him if you swallow an orange seed, will an orange tree grow in your tummy? :lol:

 

[tygoreye]

Aside from the ridiculous comment that "manager" made about a disconnected head not only living, but eating your pet (by the way, exactly where would the eaten food go if it has no body?) I would like to add my personal experience with feeding mealworms. I have had some of my Dragons eat them fine with no problems at all, others wouldn't touch any of their other food after having only a few mealworms and it would take me weeks to get them back to eating their greens and roaches again... Some were much less fortunate than that. My Dragon Gertrude (an incorrectly sexed male was SEVERELY impacted due to the hard outer shell the mealworms have. I brought him to the vet and was told to bring him home and try alternative methods before any invasive surgery was performed. Luckily I was able to remedy the situation with two weeks (yes 2 weeks!) of very warm baths, belly massages, pedialite drinks from a syringe, and a nightly snack of baby food prunes dripped onto his nose. When he finally went poop it was like an explosion (luckily I was using my boyfriend's bathtub and out of that explosion all these little mealworm shells started floating to the top. I had seen them in his poo before but I think this much poo at once was a wake up call to me. After relieving him of his uncomfortable situation I brought him to the vet just to get him checked over and make sure the problem had been completely taken care of. I had a discussion with the vet about the mealworms. He said that most Bearded Dragons can't fully digest the mealworm shell and that some have trouble digesting it at all. Since then I have not bought a single mealworm. This predicament my little guy was in also opened my eyes to all types of different feeders. I now feed Dubia and crickets as their main feeding source. In addition to those I feed waxworms to my Juvenile's and gravid dragons, and I have just started feeding silkworms and hornworms as snacks. Initially I looked at hornworms and silkworms and the price made me shudder, but looking into it a little further I found that you could purchase 1000+ diapaused silkworm eggs at a fraction of the cost and hatch only what you need and keep the rest in the fridge till you're ready to hatch them! Sometimes we need to come up with different ways to give our babies the best and still keep our wallet it check.