Superworms 100G

Keepers size feeders by a rule of thumb: a feeder should be no wider than the space between the animal's eyes. Judge width, not length.

Superworms are supplied at one larval size, and it is a big one. There is no smaller grade to drop back to – if a superworm is wider than your animal's eye gap, the answer is a different feeder rather than a different tub. Too wide risks choking and impaction.

A 100 g tub is aimed at collections rather than single pets. If you keep one gecko or one dragon, the 20 g tub will be finished long before this one would be.

Judge it by how much of the diet superworms make up. Because they are fatty, they belong in rotation rather than in the daily bowl – so even across several animals, a tub this size is generally a month's supply rather than a fortnight's.

Superworms are one of the fattiest feeders in common use. A published review of the species reports crude fat between 35.0 and 43.6 percent of dry matter, which is why they put weight on an animal quickly and why keepers use them to bring a reluctant feeder back onto food.

They are also strongly calcium-poor. The same review reports calcium at 31.9 to 70.8 mg per 100 g of dry matter against phosphorus at roughly 563 mg per 100 g – a calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of about 0.06:1 to 0.13:1, where insectivores need closer to 2:1 the other way. Fed undusted, that shortfall leads directly to metabolic bone disease.

Gut-load for 24 to 48 hours on a calcium-rich food, dust with calcium immediately before offering, and feed out promptly.

The timing matters more here than with most feeders. A veterinary study that gut-loaded superworms on a high-calcium cricket feed recorded a calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of 1.47:1 at 48 hours, with calcium peaking near 0.95 percent of dry matter at day two and falling back to 0.43 percent by day seven. Gut-load, then feed those worms out – do not gut-load the whole tub and leave it.

With a tub this size, decant only what you need into a separate container to dust. Use calcium with D3 where the animal has no UVB; where good UVB is provided, plain calcium is usually the better choice.

Keep the tub at room temperature, out of direct sun, with the lid ventilated. Do not refrigerate superworms – unlike mealworms, they do not tolerate the cold and a night in the fridge will kill a tub.

Give them bran or oat bedding with a slice of carrot or potato for moisture, replaced before it moulds. Kept together in a group they stay as larvae; isolated individually they pupate into beetles, which is worth knowing if you find one sitting curled and inactive.

Suitable for adult and larger juvenile bearded dragons, blue-tongue skinks, water dragons, monitors, larger geckos, turtles and insectivorous birds.

Not suitable for hatchlings or small juveniles, where the size and hard outer shell are a genuine impaction risk. Not suitable as a staple for any species, and not the right buy for a single animal, where the tub will outlast the sensible feeding rate.

Superworms have strong mandibles and will bite. Offer them with tongs rather than fingers, and remove any that are not eaten instead of leaving them loose in an enclosure with a torpid animal.

Keep the tub closed and out of reach of children, and wash hands after handling feeders or cleaning containers.

• Exo Terra Calcium + D3 Powder – essential with a feeder this calcium-poor.
• Zoo Med Stainless Steel Feeding Tongs – the sensible way to offer a feeder that bites.
• Black Soldier Fly Larvae 100 g – the calcium-positive feeder to rotate against superworms.
• Superworms 20 g – the small tub, better matched to a single animal.

Live feeders are supplied for in-store collection or local delivery, with our live arrival guarantee.

Should I buy the 20 g or the 100 g tub of superworms?

The 100 g tub suits multiple animals or a regular rotation. For a single pet fed superworms as an occasional treat, the 20 g tub is the better match and will not sit around going to waste.

Can I keep superworms in the fridge like mealworms?

No. Superworms do not tolerate refrigeration and will die. Keep them at room temperature in a ventilated tub with bran bedding and a piece of vegetable for moisture.

Can superworms be a staple feeder?

No. Published figures put crude fat between 35 and 44 percent of dry matter, with a calcium-to-phosphorus ratio near 0.1:1, so superworms belong in a varied diet as a supplementary feeder rather than the main one.

Do superworms bite?

Yes. They have strong mandibles, so offer them with feeding tongs rather than fingers and remove any that are left uneaten in the enclosure.