Super worm question...

[Ramrod]

I take it you have never dropped one in carpet. You have never seen a worm burrow so quickly...

AAAAAnd its gone

Yeah I have and you are so right. They dissappear in no time. Gotta be quick

 

[Spyro]

I often think I’m sticking my hand into a sarlac pit when I work with these guys. Vicious buggers.

 

[AmandaS]

I often think I’m sticking my hand into a sarlac pit when I work with these guys. Vicious buggers.
View attachment 282154

That is nightmare fuel for me. I'm so skittish around supers, even with the foot long tongs. Lol. My own kid makes fun of me.
Something about them just heebies my jeebies. ?

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Don't they bite? That's why I don't hand feed them

I've fed them by hand and otherwise to my beardie for the past year+
If I've ever been bitten, it was a non-event, or I think I'd recall it more vividly.

I agree, if it ever happened, a horrible death would result.
It would promptly be eaten alive by a reptile. AHHHHH!!!

I take it you have never dropped one in carpet. You have never seen a worm burrow so quickly...

AAAAAnd its gone

Yes, and they can turn up days later a room or two away...
I didn't learn this from dropping one, but from their eating their way out of a thick plastic container.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...s-beetle-in-kitchen-sink.177841/#post-1599655

 

[Fchamel]

I've fed them by hand and otherwise to my beardie for the past year+
If I've ever been bitten, it was a non-event, or I think I'd recall it more vividly.

I agree, if it ever happened, a horrible death would result.
It would promptly be eaten alive by a reptile. AHHHHH!!!

Haha! Good one! ? ? ? ?

 

[Fchamel]

eep. I have screamed over supers before. A couple of years ago when I started feeding them to an anole I had (I later realized they aren't good for them). I was digging into the container to find them. All of a sudden this big worm pops out and I shoot up into the air and scream.

bugs are not my specialty ? ? ?

 

[Fchamel]

Those things will live forever if kept together. They will only get so big and their max size is still good to feed adults.
Cold turkey is the way to go if breaking a habit but it'll sometimes make you pull your hair out?

When I got supers for the first time for Carly, they lasted forever! ? ?

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Has anyone else ever noticed that the "n" in "anole" can look a lot like an "h" when you're wearing the wrong glasses?

 

[Fchamel]

@Klyde O'Scope I just tried it! Your right! ?

 

[Kronos]

I've fed them by hand and otherwise to my beardie for the past year+
If I've ever been bitten, it was a non-event, or I think I'd recall it more vividly.

I agree, if it ever happened, a horrible death would result.
It would promptly be eaten alive by a reptile. AHHHHH!!!



Yes, and they can turn up days later a room or two away...
I didn't learn this from dropping one, but from their eating their way out of a thick plastic container.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...s-beetle-in-kitchen-sink.177841/#post-1599655

Oh heck no!!!!! They actually ate their way out?? That is not cool with me!!!!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Oh heck no!!!!! They actually ate their way out?? That is not cool with me!!!!

In one way, it's actually very cool...

Biodegradation and mineralization of polystyrene by plastic-eating superworms

• Superworms can eat and live well with Styrofoam as sole diet.
• Depolymerization of ingested Styrofoam occurred within the superworms’ guts.
• Up to 36.7% of ingested Styrofoam was mineralized into CO2.
• Gut microbiota plays a key role in the biodegradation of PS within the guts.

Granted, this is not the exact species we usually feed our reptiles, but it's closely related.
From Wikipedia:

Perhaps the best known species is Zophobas morio, a beetle whose larvae are robust mealworms sold as food for pets such as lizards. The larvae are known commonly as "superworms".[2]

Zophobas atratus is also used as pet food, sold in pet stores[3] under the name "giant mealworms", but should not be confused with darkling beetle mealworms sprayed with juvenile hormone.[4] Studies have found that in the wild the larvae sometimes live in bat guano, and they tend to cannibalize the pupae of their own species.[5] Researchers have discovered that the larvae can subsist on a diet solely of polystyrene (Styrofoam).[6]

Lemme check... The specific container they ate through has a recycle code of 5:

"5" signifies polypropylene (PP) (auto parts, industrial fibres, food containers, etc.)

Not polystyrene, but I guess they weren't as picky eaters as some reptiles.

I'm not suggesting anyone (even consider) gut loading their feeders with plastic; it's just one of the wonders of science & nature.

Who'da thunk? ?‍