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What Do Superworms Eat?

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Superworms are not the most beautiful creatures on earth. With their soft long brown and white bodies, they do look quite gross to people but to reptiles and birds these creatures look like a tasty bite to eat.

Superworms or Zophabas morio are the larvae of darkling beetles. These worms are also called king worms, morio worms or zophabas. They look a lot like giant mealworms but unlike mealworms that are often treated with growth hormones, these worms grow up large all on their own.

These worms are often kept by the reptile and pet industry and they are easy enough to keep and breed all on your own at home. Growing up to 50-60mm these worms can have quite a healthy appetite and their diet is quite vast.

What do superworms eat?

Superworms thrive if they are kept in a proper habitat and if you provide the right types of foods. If superworms do not have access to sufficient food sources they will devour each other for moisture. If this happens you will find a lot of dried heads with no bodies attached in your bedding.

What Do Superworms Eat?

Superworms can consume a vast variety of foods and require both wet and dry foods to thrive. Here is a quick look at the best foods to feed your superworms.

Wet foods

These worms require lots of wet foods to stay hydrated. Without sufficient wet foods, your worms will soon start devouring each other or, in nature, other species like worms and slugs. You can offer a wide range of wet food types like apples, carrots, melons, cucumbers, peppers, and others as wet foods.

It is best to avoid acidic or spicy foods like citrus fruits, tomatoes and onions as these foods can affect the health of your superworms negatively.

Wet foods should be replaced every two days or as soon as you notice mold growth or rot on the foods.

Dry foods

Superworms will also consume dry foods and leftover plant materials like leaves and grass. The best dry foods to offer your superworms include grains. Grains such as oats or any type of cereal can be offered to your superworms as added feed.

It is best to offer your superworms a wide variety of foods and especially a lot of wet foods. A greater variety of foods allows them to absorb a wider range of nutrients so they can grow faster.

Superworm bedding

Superworm bedding also doubles as food to these worms. The bedding is added to containers for worms to live in but this product also contains lots of food particles that superworms can consume. Offering the correct bedding can help reduce your feeding times and ensures that your worms are happy and healthy at all times.

Diet variations

Superworms will feed on anything they can to survive. This can include plant species or other insects such as worms. They do however thrive on fresh foods with lots of moisture and could die out if they are deprived of too much moisture or if their habitat is too wet.

How to feed superworms

These worms are pretty easy to feed. They are eager eaters and will munch away at anything you lay on top of their culture. It is best to slice food pieces into relatively thin slices. Thinner slices allow them to consume larger proportions of these foods and allow them to get more moisture from fruits and vegetables.

Food can be left inside the bin all day for up to two days or until these foods start showing signs of rotting or mold. When foods start to go off, they should be removed from the bin.

How much do superworms eat?

Superworms don’t require fresh food every day. They can be kept 1 – 2 weeks without food. This is because their bedding also contains lots of nutritional elements that they can consume in the meantime. Worms will consume the needed amounts of food all on their own. You can simply offer fresh food about once a week and the worms will consume everything they need to survive.

Superworms

What do baby superworms eat?

Superworms are bred out from eggs. It takes 7 – 10 days for eggs to hatch and the worms will remain in larvae stat for 120 – 150 days. When larvae hatch, they are very tiny but visible.

Baby superworms love to eat small chunks of sliced potatoes, carrots, apples and more that you place on the bedding surface. They will consume all the needed nourishment from these foods now and until they grow into full-sized worms.

What do wild superworms eat?

In nature, superworms consume anything they have available to them. This can include plant materials, roots, other worms, slugs and more. These worms are especially common in farms where there is plenty of manure to thrive in.

Can humans eat superworms?

The body of a superworm consists of 19.06% protein, 14.19% fat, 2.60% fiber, 61.92% moisture and 173ppm calcium. All of these nutrients can be good for the human body to consume. The real question here is; do you want to eat superworms? These worms are rather gross and they can bite. Humans can eat superworms although this is only likely in extreme circumstances.

How do you give water to superworms?

You don’t have to offer water to superworms. The worms will get their needed water from wet food sources like potatoes, carrots and more. Some farmers do however choose to offer water crystals to their farms. These crystals can be consumed by your worms and will protect them from being eaten by one another should feeding be delayed.

What animals eat superworms?

These worms are mostly kept by reptile owners. They are a treat to many reptile animals like lizards and bearded dragons. These worms can also be offered as feed to birds and animal species like hedgehogs may choose to consume them. Superworms are also offered as bait to catch fish.

Can superworms bite?

Unlike mealworms, superworms can bite. They also use a small pin on their backs to sting you. For this reason, it is probably best to offer superworms to larger or adult animals. You can also choose to kill superworms before offering them to sensitive reptiles.

Superworms are good feed to offer reptiles. These creatures are very easy to keep and they don’t require much to survive. It is an affordable animal feed to breed if you have a lot of reptiles to feed.

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