As the above posters said, Mealworms have very little nutritional value for a Bearded Dragon, due to the fact that the majority of a Mealworm's body is just hard shell...... Superworms, on the other hand, are extremely nutritious, and are an excellent source of protein for your beardie, because they have a greater meat to shell ration than that of a Mealworm. Personally, I think that Superworms are one of the best feeders available, and, unlike crickets, they are easy to keep, and have very few die-offs. Since I changed over to Superworms for my three, they have all gained weight, and seem to be much healthier.
One thing I did want to mention though, just for future reference, for both yourself, and any of our other members reading this thread, is to let you know that, if your beardie is under a year old, and/or is less than 9 inches long , then feeding him Superworms may be problematic for him while he is still so young. Adult beardies generally do very well when switched over to Superworms, however, the youngsters sometimes can have serious digestive problems from them until they are a bit older, and get a bit more size to them.
Unlike crickets, and other soft bodied feeders, Superworms can be a bit hard to digest, and it takes a beardie a longer period of time to digest Superworms than it does other types of feeders. Because of this, if your beardie is under a year old, and/or is less than 9 inches long, then his intestinal tract is not long enough yet for him to completely digest them properly before passing a bowel movement. Also, youngsters who are under a year old frequently have very sharp turns in their intestinal tracts, until they get a bit larger, and closer to their adult size, and those sharp turns can sometimes cause pieces of the worm's hard shell to get hung up in there, which could cause an impaction. Therefore, if you have a younster, who is not yet fully grown, then it would be best to wait until he is very close to being his adult size before starting him on Superworms.
Of course, since your beardie already is an adult, then switching him over to Superworms now would be fine....just start him off on them slowly, and monitor his bowel movements carefully for a few days, to make sure that he isn't passing any pieces of undigested worms in his stool. If he seems to be tolerating them well, with no digestive problems, then you can slowly increase the amount that you're giving him to about 15 worms or so, 2 to 3 times a week. Superworms should not be fed on a daily basis, unless you only give him 5 or 6 each day. They are extremely high in protein, which is good for your beardie, but in moderation, if he is already an adult. Once a beardie reaches adulthood, he should be limited to about 30-35 live feeders a week, regardless of what sort of feeders you're giving him, since too much protein in their diet, once they become adults, can cause kidney and liver problems as they age.
As far as cutting the heads off of the Superworms before feeding them, that is a matter of personal choice. It really isn't necessary, since the stories of Superworms chewing their way out of a beardie's stomach is a bunch of nonsense, and an "Old Wive's Tale"! Once the worm hits the digestive acids in a beardie's stomach, they're going to die whether you cut their heads off or not. However, the heads are nearly completely hard shell, so cutting them off does make the worm somewhat easier for your beardie to digest.
I, myself, prefer to cut the heads off before feeding, simply because I hand feed all three of my little guys, and SUPERS BITE! And not only do they bite, but sometimes they HANG ON when they do, until you shake them off! The biting doesn't seem to bother my beardies, as they scoop them up with their tongues and chew them up before the worms know what hit them, but, since I hand feed, its much easier on MY fingers to just remove the heads before feeding, so I don't need to worry about it! My beardies really don't care, one way or the other! LOL
Also, if you hand feed, and you do cut the heads off of them just before offering them to your beardie, they will still be moving, which should put a stop to his not wanting to eat them because he thinks they're dead. You may think that holding out a headless, wiggling Superworm, oozing worm guts is completely digusting, but it will make you extremely popular with your beardie! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Hope you find this information helpful.....