Superworm question

[Roccosmama]

We recently tarted giving Rocco a few superworms and he LOVES them. We get our crickets from a local pet store here in the town we live in and are very happy with them.....so we asked if they could get superworms for us. The lady working told my b/f that we should cut the heads off them before feeding them to Rocco. She said to do this because they have pinchers and can bite thru his stomach! Is this true? I know lots of you feed your beardies superworms but I have never seen any of you talk about cutting the heads off!! Thanks for everyones responses in advance!

 

[johnnyd5844]

How old is your beardie? When mine was younger I was told the same thing. I was feeding him small supers around an inch long. Once he hit 12 inches I stopped cutting the heads off and he was fine. If yours is an adult you have nothing to worry about. But if its smaller make sure you feed him smaller worms not full grow ones.

 

[Roccosmama]

Rocco is about a year and a half old. We are feeding him the medium size supers right now but he could probably handle the larger ones. I also have a baby beardie who is about 10-12 weeks old. Supers are not suggested for her, correct?

 

[johnnyd5844]

At 1 and a 1/2 your dragon can handle large super worms with their heads still on. I wouldn't feed a baby supers until they are 12 inches just because of the exo skeleton.

 

[bluesoda025]

Someone who's 100% sure should correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the thing about having to cut their heads off is a myth. You don't need to do that, I don't think. No harm in cutting them off, but it's just not possible for them to "bite through the stomach."

 

[runningguy]

I believe that it is a myth. I started giving my beardie live small supers when he was 11" with no problem. Now he is over 15" and I give him full grown supers and I have never cut the heads off. He bites into them so hard and fast that they die before he swallows them.

 

[bluesoda025]

Yeah, lol, my dragon crunches on her prey so quickly that I would be surprised if they could twitch a leg after that. Right now, my dragon is around 14".. although she may have grown a tad (haven't measured her in a couple weeks). Is that a safe size to give her full grown superworms? She would probably do fine on small superworms but I have had problems finding those. Every online site seems to only sell the 2" ones.

 

[johnnyd5844]

mullberry frams has them in all sizes.

 

[runningguy]

Bluesoda, You can always call a superworm breeder and talk directly with them to see if they will sell you small ones. If they are raising the worms then they have all sizes. I have received small supers from reeves cricket ranch which is close to you in Bellingham.

If you can't find small supers and your beardie is 14", you could try giving her one large super and wait to see if she passes it ok. Then slowly increase the number of worms that you feed her.


http://www.reevescricketranch.com

 

[runningguy]

Bluesoda, You can always call a superworm breeder and talk directly with them to see if they will sell you small ones. If they are raising the worms then they have all sizes. I have received small supers from reeves cricket ranch which is close to you in Bellingham.

If you can't find small supers and your beardie is 14", you could try giving her one large super and wait to see if she passes it ok. Then slowly increase the number of worms that you feed her.


http://www.reevescricketranch.com

 

[PeekABoo]

Someone who's 100% sure should correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the thing about having to cut their heads off is a myth. You don't need to do that, I don't think. No harm in cutting them off, but it's just not possible for them to "bite through the stomach."

It is not a myth. They may not be able to bite through the stomach but they can harm the stomach lining with their jaws. I rescued a beardie and he started having blood in his urate. We thought it was parasites, but I had him treated. It only started after we started feeding him superworms. Keep in mind this is an adult beardie. The thing is he never chewed his food well or at all really. Poor guy was so hungry.l We had stopped feeding him superworms when we ran out. Weeks later when we started feeding him superworms again we started seeing blood in his urate again. Then I happened to mention it to a guy at the pet store and his first question was are you feeding him superworms. He hit the problem bang on. We stopped feeding him superworms and the problem stopped. He wasn't allowed to eat them until he learned to chew his food well. It's all in how well they chew their food. If they are dead when they hit the stomach no big deal right.

So I suggest watching your beardie. If they chew their food well you have nothing to worry about. Be careful though, you'll know if there is a problem.