Scared of feeding super worms :(

[GeckoNub]

I bought some super worms online but now i have them im scared of feeding them to my geckos They seem so big and nasty and ive read so many stories of them biting peoples lizards

I tried squishing the head but it just ended up being yucky cos i only seemed to pull its skin off its head :sick:

My bigger geckos wouldnt eat it, just licked it a few times. I ended up chopping it in half and one of my babies ate it.

What are the chances of them biting my geckos? I would feel guilty forever if one of them got bitten :cry: Other than mutilating the worm is there any "safe" way to feed them?

 

[BalloonzForU]

If you keep your feeders well fed (gutloaded) and hydrated most will not bite your leos and they are pretty dead by the time the leo starts bitting them.

 

[GeckoNub]

How nasty are the bites if they decide to whip round and try and take a chunk out of one of my geckos?

Atm i have them in a plastic fish tank with wheat bran and carrots. I havent noticed if they are eating each other and they do seem to be eating the carrots.

I just worry cos i know my geckos arent the brightest of the bunch

 

[ajveachster]

I wouldn't worry about it. It might take a little bit for the gecko to realize that the superworm is food. We feed them to most of our adults. The worm is usually snatched up in a heartbeat, and some will lick off all the vitamin dust, then eat the worm. If not usually the worm ends up either under the paper or in the water dish. We haven't seen any worm wounds on our geckos. If you are worried you could probably just clean out any worms that are not eaten after an hour.

 

[GeckoNub]

Well i think i have spoiled my geckos in that they refuse to eat from dishes so i plop the food in one at a time till they lose interest

I got sick of the "food" escaping under the paper towels while feeding so ive got some repti carpet Still have to put it in the vivs but its in the plastic tub with my babies and last night Freya got stuck on it for the first few mealies but then realised "if i dive head first onto this im gonna keep getting stuck" and was ok then hehe

Yoshi and Daisy are being awkward atm and havent eaten in about 3 days so im gonna try the super worms tonight and hopefully will have some success I feel a bit more at ease now thanks so fingers crossed i dont have any accidents, although with Yoshi (my suicidal misfit) anything can happen :main_rolleyes:

 

[LizMarie]

In my experience I've never seen a super leave marks on my gecko. I remember once Lana grabbed the super by the tail and the super turned around and I guess tried to grab on to her chin then she tossed it, stomped on it then decided to eat it head first. lol

 

[Chewbecca]

When they're eating supers, there's usually so much flailing the super around that the super doesn't have a chance to bite the gecko.

My hatchlings eat supers, and I have yet to experience a biting problem (they eat medium sized ones).

 

[Seekeroftruth]

My geckos have experienced some bites; it's nothing to damaging but it was enough for them to flail and spit it out. I have also been bit too, similar to a fireant w/o poison. I just crush their heads with tweezers and feed by hand. Problem solved

 

[VampyricAngelX]

I was a little nervous to start feeding my boys supers, they just looked so big. But they ended up loving them and now they're my staple feeders for my two males. Mikko isn't as aggressive when eating, so I have to cripple the superworms a bit. Dante on the other hand is quite vicious and there's no way of those worms being able to bite back when he grabs them XD I've even fed my little female the rare small ones I find in the tubs I buy and she has no issues with them.

 

[ReptilesForTheWin]

I used them for the first time about 2 weeks ago. My female who was only 30 grams gobbled up 10! I talked to many people while I was feeding her they said that she will either stop eating or throw up. She stopped after 10 and never threw up. She haddent eaten in a few days I think that is why.

 

[Ehatcher]

they are one of the best feeders aside from dubia IMO.

 

[Gonser]

I have a leo with two bite wounds from a large super, so YES they can bite your leo. The big supers flail around and try to bite, so I worry about them biting the eyes. The skin will heal but a bad eye injury may not.
Solution: buy SMALL superworms for leos. They come small and a nice size for leos. Those big horse supers are just too large for safety. Buy the small ones in bulk. There will be a few larger that you can just toss outside, but most are a real nice size and easy for the leos to eat without being attacked by the viscious buggers!
When I order the smalls, they actually come in in a variety of sizes, some are really tiny which I use for juvies, and some are a bit larger which I use for my adults. But there are no big horses in there which I like.
So, I highly recommend getting smalls. Not all worms vendors have them so shop around. I constantly gutload my supers with fresh greens, carrots, etc., plus I have a dish of calcium and vits in there and they do eat that stuff, so they are really good for the leos. But....they are so good that the leos will overeat them, so watch their belly size! Supers are high in fat so you don't want to gorge them. Mixing in some mealies and crickets is a good idea now and then.

 

[Chewbecca]

they are one of the best feeders aside from dubia IMO.

Agreed.