Red thing coming out of superworm??

[Azymondias&Ryn]

It was hard to get a good picture because this one was quite the squirmer Does anyone know what it is? I don’t exactly know if it’s coming OUT of it or if it’s just stuck on its legs but no matter what I did, it wouldn’t come off. I isolated it just in case, thoughts??

 

[xp29]

View attachment 89461 It was hard to get a good picture because this one was quite the squirmer Does anyone know what it is? I don’t exactly know if it’s coming OUT of it or if it’s just stuck on its legs but no matter what I did, it wouldn’t come off. I isolated it just in case, thoughts??

Never seen anything like that before.

 

[ChileanTaco]

I do not know exactly of superworms, but for other insects something like this is parasites. E.g. many species of mantis, grasshoppers and beetles can have internal parasites looking like this, leaving the body to be re-ingested by a bird or reptile where they mature and their eggs are leaving the host with its poo.

Just to be sure, as photos always can be misleading: This is not some superworm shed, but it is actually coming out of the superworm?

If it is in fact coming out of the superworm, I would strongly suspect a parasite and as much as I hate it to kill an insect without feeding it, I would kill the superworm and not feed it to my dragon. Generally, I don't feed my dragon any insects that look unhealthy.

 

[Azymondias&Ryn]

I do not know exactly of superworms, but for other insects something like this is parasites. E.g. many species of mantis, grasshoppers and beetles can have internal parasites looking like this, leaving the body to be re-ingested by a bird or reptile where they mature and their eggs are leaving the host with its poo.

Just to be sure, as photos always can be misleading: This is not some superworm shed, but it is actually coming out of the superworm?

If it is in fact coming out of the superworm, I would strongly suspect a parasite and as much as I hate it to kill an insect without feeding it, I would kill the superworm and not feed it to my dragon. Generally, I don't feed my dragon any insects that look unhealthy.

Okay, I will check later today again to see if it’s still attached and will look closer to make sure it is in fact coming out of the worm. I’ll keep y’all updated, thanks!

 

[Azymondias&Ryn]

I do not know exactly of superworms, but for other insects something like this is parasites. E.g. many species of mantis, grasshoppers and beetles can have internal parasites looking like this, leaving the body to be re-ingested by a bird or reptile where they mature and their eggs are leaving the host with its poo.

Just to be sure, as photos always can be misleading: This is not some superworm shed, but it is actually coming out of the superworm?

If it is in fact coming out of the superworm, I would strongly suspect a parasite and as much as I hate it to kill an insect without feeding it, I would kill the superworm and not feed it to my dragon. Generally, I don't feed my dragon any insects that look unhealthy.

Update: Looked again today and it was completely gone. Tried to look for it in the bedding but didn’t find it. Probably was just something grabbed by its back legs. You reckon it’s safe to feed?

 

[ChileanTaco]

I don't know what you use as bedding (for the superworms) and what you feed them. If it's looking totally different than any of that, I would not feed this superworm to my dragon but rather kill it. (I dislike very much killing insects in general (food for beardie or other animal is okay, otherwise I don't like doing so), but here I would make an exception.)