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"Jumbo" mealworms...worms on steroids?

SquamishSerpents

SquamishSerpents

Katia
yesterday i went to grab some jumbo meal worms from my local pet store for my leos to eat, and the supplier had shipped kingworms instead (superworms, whatever they are, the ones that look like beefier jumbo meal worms) so i took 6 of those to see how the leos liked them.

OM NOM NOM NOM they LOVED them!

after looking on the internet for more info on the kingworms, i learned that they are actually different than mealworms.

i ALSO saw on a few different places that jumbo meal worms are just meal worms treated with steroids!

does anybody have any more info on this? if they are indeed treated with steroids, wouldn't this be detrimental to my leo's health? i certainly don't want them eating anything that's going to give them trouble in the long run!
 
The king mealworms are not considered a good thing for your lizards because of the chemicals they are fed. Nor are superworms, they are very high in chitin and keratin which is difficult to digest. Crickets and roaches are considered by most to be a better staple.
 
i guess i've got to do a lot more research on the worms then. are the chemicals the kingworms are fed the same "steroids" the jumbo mealworms get? what about mealworm beatles? are those okay for the leos?

their staple is crickets but my female is lazy and mostly refuses to come out from underneath her carpet, so i leave mealworms in the dish as a bit of a treat sometimes.
 
Regular meal worms are fine for a treat just not for the staple meal. As far as I know the king worms and the jumbo worms are the same as regular meal worms only dosed. Superworms are a separate species. Superworms = Zophobas Morio Mealworms = Tenebrio molitor

Most lizards will not eat the beetles. They are tough to crunch and to digest.
 
I fed my leopard gecko those superworms for years (I got tired of crickets dying, my leo getting sand in her mouth (she would NOT eat if she had been distrubed), and normal mealworms were too small for her) and she was just fine; and actually, after I got her totally switched onto the worms, she was more active than with crickets.
 
Many people have done that. It used to be mealworms were the only thing readily available for lizard breeders. There has been a great deal of research done on chitin and the chitin to protein ratios. Roaches and crickets are far better for your lizard than are mealworms.

Some people live a long time eating only big macs. You make the choice. Your profile says that you are 15. It couldn't have been very many years that you leo has been eating worms.
 
i'm assuming superworms are the same case for leos, too much chitin, hard to digest, not enough protein?

are king worms and superworms one and the same, or are they actually a separate species as well. i do a google search for both and the same photos come up.

superworms.jpg


this is what i got. they are big and thick, very wiggly, and darker at both ends.

i wish i could get roaches at the pet store.
 
reading the wikipedia page it seems dubias are an even BETTER staple than crickets because of the chitin/protein ratio.

anybody raise dubias?

*edit* just called a semi-local pet store and apparently dubias have been banned in canada by Agriculture Canada.
 
katia said:
i'm assuming superworms are the same case for leos, too much chitin, hard to digest, not enough protein?

are king worms and superworms one and the same, or are they actually a separate species as well. i do a google search for both and the same photos come up.

superworms.jpg


this is what i got. they are big and thick, very wiggly, and darker at both ends.

i wish i could get roaches at the pet store.
Click to expand...

That's what I fed my leo. Although, I did coat them in a calcium/vitamin dust as well. I used this stuff.
 
yes i coat them and the crickets in repashy supercalcium or whatever it's called. great stuff.

i really wish there were something else i could feed to them though other than crickets. they've had some waxworms once and LOVED them obviously, but i only gave 2 to each lizard because i know how high in fat they are, and i know that once on them some lizards cannot be switched off. my female ate an ASF pink as well, but again, really high in fat and obviously NOT a staple diet!
 
I had to explain to some little boy that looked about 10-12 years old at Petco a few months ago that leopard geckos are not snakes and should never be fed pinkie mice if they are otherwise healthy. After a lot of good points said by me, he squealed, "BUT I WANNA SEE IT EAT A MOUSE!"

The only reason I think an adult leo should be fed a small pinkie mouse is if it was abused or sick and needed to put weight back on.
 
i agree.

females who are breeding often need the calcium that can come from a pinky mouse too. my lizard didn't seem to be interested in crickets or worms or anything and had dropped about 7 grams, which is when i gave her the pink. she wasn't that hefty of a lady so for her to drop 7 grams was a bit worrying to me. but thankfully the pink seemed to have kick-started her eating habits
 
Katia, I feed those things to my hedgehog. They're crazy huge, aren't they? Are they the zoo-med brand? That's what I get. I was stunned when I first saw them.
 
lol i didn't know zoomed had their own "brand" of worms! my local pet store gets them from a supplier in Vancouver, BC. i assume they're shipped from somewhere else first, though. and yes they are REALLY huge! they made me fish them out at the pet store because they were afraid of being bit! (i used to work there)
 
katia said:
lol i didn't know zoomed had their own "brand" of worms! my local pet store gets them from a supplier in Vancouver, BC. i assume they're shipped from somewhere else first, though. and yes they are REALLY huge! they made me fish them out at the pet store because they were afraid of being bit! (i used to work there)
Click to expand...

LOL...ok, maybe not Brand, but their worms are dead and come in the "Can 'O Worms". No way would I want to touch those things when they're alive! ::shudder:: You're one brave chick, Katia! :laugh:
 
ewieeeee! canned worms, so gross! one time i got curious and opened a "can-o-crickets" that was EXPIRED (by like, 3 years, i found it in the filing cabinet in the back room)and i swear it was probably the GROSSEST thing EVER!

in hindsight, probably shouldn't have opened something that's been hiding away!
 
katia said:
ewieeeee! canned worms, so gross! one time i got curious and opened a "can-o-crickets" that was EXPIRED (by like, 3 years, i found it in the filing cabinet in the back room)and i swear it was probably the GROSSEST thing EVER!

in hindsight, probably shouldn't have opened something that's been hiding away!
Click to expand...

LOL! I have the crickets and the mini-mealies...yeah, they're a bit gross, but very convenient. I used to have tons of various worm cultures growing all over the house for my fish. It's nice not to have to deal with live anymore.

You know..I just bought a new can of crickets. I didn't even think to check the expiration date. :awcrap:
 
I feed superworms to Olivia the toad and Isabel the dragon. Both love them. Silkworms are VERY nice as a staple, especially if you have a mullberry tree for food for them. Superworms are easy because they just eat their meal and live in a tub. Superworms are supposed to be much more digestible than mealworms.
 
That is right Nanci, if you are going to feed worms, superworms are the best choice. The silk works are even better but are expensive and a pain to keep if you don't have a good supply to mullberry. I talked to some one a while ago who were raising walking sticks to feed to their lizards. They fed them pirocantha leaves.
 
Hmmm. Strange. My leo was supposedly raised on mealworms and fed crickets for the "Hunting instinct". I got her in the raffle at the Reptile Expo here in Denver. That was January 2010. I have yet to get her to eat and I've tried crickets and mealworms. She still has a nice fat tail, but I'm starting to get worried about her. I just checked and her temp is 86.7 degrees F. She's in the snake room at the moment and I really don't want it any warmer in there.

Maybe I should try some of these silkworms or even a small pinkie?
 
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