Superworm Feeding Caution (Zophobas morio) -- cricket4u

Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Yes, it has been said that superworms biting geckos is one of those urban legends, but it appears to really happen:

"In writing things may sound dramatic, and some people can be skeptical until it happens to them. A friend of mine was feeding his gecko a superworm. She saw his gecko bite once and suddenly the worm dropped out of her mouth. After that the gecko started refusing to eat completely. Concerned he took her to the vet and a bite mark was seen in the inside of the mouth which had began to show signs of infection.

Please smash the superworm's head prior to feeding."

With thanks to cricket4u -- 8 Jan 2012
 
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Yoshi'smom

Yoshi'smom

New member
Yeah these suckers bit me too. They're aggressive little bugs. I feed them sparingly to add variety to the leo's diets.
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Kelly ~

I hate getting bitten by my feeders! Those nasty older Jamaican field crickets, Gryllus assimilis, were biting me :roll:. Thank goodness I recently found a permanent source for my favs the Acheta domestica---the gentle brown crickets.
 
Yoshi'smom

Yoshi'smom

New member
Yeah. I know how you feel.... I sometimes have to go searching all over the place to get the brown crickets.... I've been considering more and more of starting my own feeder colonies.
 
Harley_Davidson

Harley_Davidson

New member
I usually cut off the heads if I feed super worms but don't feed them very often. Usually go with king worms as they are larger than mealies but not vicious like supers...LOL
 
cricket4u

cricket4u

New member
Yoshi'smom said:
Yeah. I know how you feel.... I sometimes have to go searching all over the place to get the brown crickets.... I've been considering more and more of starting my own feeder colonies.
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It's a very good idea to breed your own of course if you have enough mouths to feed. It will give you the reassurance of being a cleaner source of food since you cared for them.
 
cricket4u

cricket4u

New member
Elizabeth Freer said:
Kelly ~

I hate getting bitten by my feeders! Those nasty older Jamaican field crickets, Gryllus assimilis, were biting me :roll:. Thank goodness I recently found a permanent source for my favs the Acheta domestica---the gentle brown crickets.
Click to expand...

I don't touch crickets or roaches:coverlaugh: I guess the fast movements make me cringe. Do the Jamaican field crickets bite when you grab them or even by sticking you hand in the bin?
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
cricket4u said:
I don't touch crickets or roaches:coverlaugh: I guess the fast movements make me cringe. Do the Jamaican field crickets bite when you grab them or even by sticking you hand in the bin?
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For some of my geckos I cut off the back legs of the 4+ wo crickets to keep them in shallow feeding dishes. So perhaps I deserved the bites! Since Gryllus assimilis seem to live forever, I was often dealing with 4+ wos to prepare for my leo, my crestie, & sometimes my fliers. Figured out a way to pin down the Gryllus assimilis when amputating the legs, but even then I'd get a bite or two :evil:!

Fortunately I only have Blaptica dubia in the roach department 🍌.
 
A

acpart

Active member
I find that when I feed my geckos superworms, they manipulate the worm in their mouths till they get to the head and then bite down on that. Fortunately I haven't had any problems. If I cut off the heads, the worms stop moving and the geckos lose interest.

Aliza
 
T

Tjmphx

New member
My big male Leo hates superworms but everything else loves them. They can be feisty lil critters. I use tweezers to feed them when I do. Those biting crickets we just started seeing them this year in Arizona. I don't like them at all. Thankfully I raise my own roaches.
 
JIGSAW818

JIGSAW818

New member
acpart said:
I find that when I feed my geckos superworms, they manipulate the worm in their mouths till they get to the head and then bite down on that. Fortunately I haven't had any problems. If I cut off the heads, the worms stop moving and the geckos lose interest.

Aliza
Click to expand...

Brand new nail clippers. Only use the clippers for this purpose though nothing else. Clip off the chompers on these guys.. I spoke with some one who used to do this for his bearded dragons... it makes them squirm even more ( Which will definitely grab attention) and it will not be a threat!
 
T

Tjmphx

New member
Yeah I heard that you can't have roach colonies in Canada. I can understand but still no bueno. We cant own crayfish here. (great feeder for my monitor) but she will eat thawed frozen ones.

That's a good idea about the clipping of the pinchers. The little things in life that make day to day life easier. :)
 
Riverside Reptiles

Riverside Reptiles

Administrator (HMFIC)
Harley_Davidson said:
We aren't allowed roaches here.....ILLEGAL.......
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I'm willing to bet that there's some species of roach that's allowed. You'd just have to put the effort into finding out which one(s). There's tons of different types of roaches out there. I can't imagine that they're all illegal in Canada.
 
Hilde

Hilde

Administrator
Staff member
Riverside Reptiles said:
There's tons of different types of roaches out there. I can't imagine that they're all illegal in Canada.
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The only legal roaches here are the ones that live in the walls. It's kind of hard to incarcerate you for wall vermin that are next to impossible to exterminate. Once you raise them they become a captive population and thereby illegal under the federal laws. You could supposedly catch some and use them immediately, no stopping to gutload, but the risk of pesticides and parasites aren't worth it. I guess you could say we only allow WC roaches.
 
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