Superworm Myth?

[ClownCarOnFire]

Ok, before you read the rest of this post, please realize that I am highly paranoid lol.

Anyway. I heard rumors that Mealworms and Superworms, if not pre-killed, can eat through the stomachs of animals, killing them. Including Geckos and hamsters and stuff.

Is this real...or just a myth? I've been squishing the heads of the Supers I feed my big gecko, because I am scared. Should I just relax?

I just want a few more opinions before I feed her tonight, hehe.

Oh and if this has been answered before I apologize.

 

[Kitsune]

Myth. :3

 

[VampyricAngelX]

It's a myth. I feed my two male geckos and my fire skink superworms. They do a pretty good job at smushing the supers themselves as they eat. I'm surprised your gecko eats supers with squished heads. Because I know with mine, if the supers aren't moving, they're not interested.

 

[larry26]

Heres a simple answer to this myth its impossible. First of all the gecko will usually chomp on the head of the superworm/mealworm which will most likely kill it but if it doenst the acids in the stomach will kill it.

 

[ajveachster]

It is a myth. The geckos do chew their food. The worms die.

 

[leoman777]

its a myth

 

[Kelsey12]

I have heard it is a myth, but I do have one comment to make. Sometimes after I feed my leo a superworm, he kind of turns his head to the side and squints like he can feel it moving in his stomach. Has anyone else ever observed this? He digests them fine, but I have noticed it a couple of times. Strange!

 

[ajveachster]

Sometimes the larger insects need a little help going down. I have also seen it with the large crickets.

 

[Olimpia]

Absolutely a lie - Your gecko does an excellent job of chomping on it as he's eating it, which causes plenty of physical damage. Not to mention that the acids in his stomach are way too stong for anything to survive in there more than a few seconds. And just as a final fact to help you relax, there is no way the worm could breathe long enough to cause your gecko any type of harm. Worms don't really have lungs, since they breathe through their skin, so there is no way it could survive in acid.

Hope you relax about it! Honestly, there's nothing to worry about

 

[LizMarie]

Myth.. I think part of it started because animals have died and when the owner notices it theres a worm or something there chewing on it so the first thing that comes to mind, "OMG THE WORM ATE THROUGH MY LIZARD."

 

[Olimpia]

Myth.. I think part of it started because animals have died and when the owner notices it theres a worm or something there chewing on it so the first thing that comes to mind, "OMG THE WORM ATE THROUGH MY LIZARD."

That's probably exactly what happened lol And then that person talks about it on a forum or something and it just makes its way through the internet.

 

[nevinm]

there are 2 things this myth comes from.

number one, crappy pet keepers. a poor herp keeper will feed live food to an already half dead animal. the animal dies then the mealie, super, or even cricket realizes it needs food so it finds some and starts chomping into the softest part of the reptile. the stomich. and as said above, "omg the super ate its way out!!".

number 2, it really did happen, again because of poor husbandry. someone fed a super worm to an anole. AN ANOLE!!!! imo the anole probably choked befor it got the super down, but the super did eat its way out.

 

[daleo]

just want to add my 2 cents. i feed supers to my adult leo abuot twice a week. she loves them! she always chomps down hard! and you can hear the sound of the supers head being crushed. she always seems to eat them head first. i do belive that they know they should crush the head before they eat. but thats just me

dale

 

[ElapidSVT]

i did have a superworm chew through a healthy, living gecko from the outside, severing the femoral artery and killing the animal.

 

[Olimpia]

i did have a superworm chew through a healthy, living gecko from the outside, severing the femoral artery and killing the animal.

O.O Omg... that's horrible. Was it a small gecko? How did that happen exactly?

 

[nevinm]

i did have a superworm chew through a healthy, living gecko from the outside, severing the femoral artery and killing the animal.

i can believe that. that sucks and im sorry to hear that. but key thing there is it was from the outside. not from the inside out

 

[ElapidSVT]

during the mealie shortage i received supers instead of mealies in my order. i was feeding some to my hatchlings. some got out of the dish and were prolly thirsty and the gecko was the only source of moisture.just chance that they hit the artery or i could have saved the little guy. i don't feed supers anymore.

in the time i've been keeping reptiles, i've never had one survive ingestion, let alone eat its way out... definitely a myth.

 

[Olimpia]

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. What bad luck

 

[ElapidSVT]

o thanks, it wasn't recent...i just chalk it up to experience.

 

[Holly12]

Oh it is a myth lol my girls are only 4 and 5 months old and they eat the superworms with not one problem they go for the heads so that worm is pretty much smach up lol so no worries you can feed superworms to your leo the only way that the worm will eat the stomachs of the leo is that when the leo dies for some reason the superworms will go for the weak part of the gecko and that is it's stomach a well known breeder on here told me that but you have nothing to worrie about again it's all a myth.