meal worms dangerous?

snydergeckos · #1 (**permalink**) 01-29-2006, 05:00 PM

ive heard a couple of different responses to this but i was wondering if meal worms can burrow themselves through the body of a lizard. i know it probably depends on the size of the lizard but has anyone seen this happen?

tmfleo1 · #2 (**permalink**) 01-29-2006, 05:20 PM

I've also heard about this happening but not personally had it happen remember there are a few types regular , super , and giant if a recall the super meal worms have a harder exoskeleton

chrispaine · #3 (**permalink**) 01-29-2006, 05:30 PM

I have also heard this and have heard that they can cause impaction because of their hard exoskeleton.... but then other people say they are harmless.... so ya.

snydergeckos · #4 (**permalink**) 01-29-2006, 05:30 PM

yeah a friend of mine said it happened to his and i think he had super. he said the day after he fed them to his bearded his poop was like a long slender pink looking thing. i was asking though because i told another guy about this and he said it was hookworms and that the meal worms doing that were a myth. my friend didnt even have a water bowl in his tank so we dont know how it oculd have been hookworms.

wreckwriter · #5 (**permalink**) 01-29-2006, 09:46 PM

Superworms are a different species than mealworms, their exoskeletons are much more digestible. Mealworms are a pretty large impaction hazard, supers less so.

As for the legend, I've heard it but not seen it.

NicoleRussell · #6 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 12:08 AM

no one has seen it--everyone seems to know someone who has seen it though LOL
It's a silly urban legend.
It's NOT true.

snydergeckos · #7 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 01:59 AM

if it is an urban legend then can someone tell me why my leopard gecko just pooped out 3 red chunks after feeding him live meal worms?

Reptscue · #8 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 02:37 AM

parasites...

snydergeckos · #9 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 03:03 AM

parasites that he had gotten how? he pooped healthily 3 days ago

NicoleRussell · #10 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 11:42 AM

could be so many things..I have no idea how large the worms where --how old the lizard is---what your environemnt is like...you're there and I'm here.
The only thing I know is that the worm thing is a myth.
read this:
from agamainternational.com

3. I've heard that if you don't crush the heads of super meal worms, they will eat their way out of the stomach of my lizards.

"DON'T BELIEVE all that NONSENSE people are saying or writing. Who in nature will be there to prepare the food that way for the lizards? I feed millions of superworms, and NEVER crush any heads. What big nonsense that is! (I do not sell superworms any more, so I am not biased in telling you this.)
What can happen, however, is the following: indoors lizards get (even with UVB lights) a fraction (10% or so, depeneding on many factors of the light) of the UVB light which they receive in the real sun. When they also get a diet low in Calcium, then their bones and muscles get weak. If then they see a large prey item, they THINK they can swallow it as all there forefathers could, and that is what is in their minds. However, because of their weak skeleton and weak muscles, the animal cannot handle that prey and may die from it. If that happens, then the insect is not to blame, but only the caregiver that failed to give enough UVB and calcium.
If the worms eat their way out of a lizard, then you must watch out not to swallow a seedpit of a grape, as maybe grapes will grow out of your ear. Tell that to the people who come with these silly stories. Complete nonsense. What must have happened is that an animal has died and that then loose hungry worms start eating from it, which then is misinterpreted by the observer. I never saw an insect eating his way out. Never in 30 years."

NicoleRussell · #11 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 11:43 AM

why don't you fill out a sick herp form so we can see what your animal's backround is all about.

wreckwriter · #12 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 12:59 PM

Herps can get parasites from mealworms/supers/etc.

NicoleRussell · #13 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 01:42 PM

yes Tom they can---they can get parasites from any prey which is not FT....and some say even FT hasn't been totally disproven yet...due to discrepancies in which parasites need how much freezing time in order to be completely killed.

wreckwriter · #14 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NicoleRussell

yes Tom they can---they can get parasites from any prey which is not FT....and some say even FT hasn't been totally disproven yet...due to discrepancies in which parasites need how much freezing time in order to be completely killed.

I think f/t is pretty safe, certainly the safest in that regard. Perhaps there's a small chance but I think that argument is mainly used by people just looking to start arguments.

NicoleRussell · #15 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 02:25 PM

LOL I hear ya.
I do feel safer somehow when animals are frozen for more then days---this is probably a head trip though. I do agree--FT is the safest way to go.

wreckwriter · #16 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NicoleRussell

LOL I hear ya.
I do feel safer somehow when animals are frozen for more then days---this is probably a head trip though. I do agree--FT is the safest way to go.

I agree, I like them to be frozen for at least a week before I feed them.

snydergeckos · #17 (**permalink**) 01-30-2006, 08:10 PM

i wanted to agree with you too that its a myth cause i dont see how that would be, how they could go through all the stomach acids and just the simple eating of the lizard. i was just trying to get some verification and thanks for backing it up.

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