[ReptileMan27]

There has been a myth going around for a few years now that mealworms are not safe to feed to your lizards because the lizards dont always kill them and they are still alive in the lizards stomach and can eat their way through the lizards stomach. I have heard that the only safe way to feed them is to cut their heads off first. That whole myth is just that, a myth and theres no truth to it. I have personally fed mealworms for years and lots of other people, inlcuding breeders do with no problems. Mealworms make a good staple diet for many lizards and their 100% safe.

[new_ICULIZARD]

I've never heard the myth about mealworms, just superworms and its not a myth, just wrong information.  Superworms, if not taken out of enclosures or given food, will search for any source of food and water and can eat into sleeping, sick, or injured lizards.  This has been talked about for years and most people think it is just a myth, only because they seem to think the worm is eating its way OUT of the lizard as opposed to eating its way INTO the lizard.  I have actually seen this happen before on several occasions in stores and breeding facilities.  This is very easily taken care of by either watching the lizards eat all the worms or simply leaving veggetable matter on the cage floor for the worms to eat, instead of your lizards.

Travis

Travis & Kerry
ICULIZARD
The evolution of colour ...

[ReptileMan27]

I've never heard the myth about mealworms, just superworms and its not a myth, just wrong information.  Superworms, if not taken out of enclosures or given food, will search for any source of food and water and can eat into sleeping, sick, or injured lizards.  This has been talked about for years and most people think it is just a myth, only because they seem to think the worm is eating its way OUT of the lizard as opposed to eating its way INTO the lizard.  I have actually seen this happen before on several occasions in stores and breeding facilities.  This is very easily taken care of by either watching the lizards eat all the worms or simply leaving veggetable matter on the cage floor for the worms to eat, instead of your lizards.

Travis

Travis & Kerry
ICULIZARD
The evolution of colour ...

I have seen that happen before to and your right, people really do believe the mealworm/superworm was eaten and chewed it way out of the stomach win actually it chewed a hole in the stomach from the outside. Thats why all uneaten food should be removed shortly if not eaten, that goes for cricks to, they have been known to chew off toes and stress the lizard.

[Napolean]

Yes tell me about it  i once had a skull decoration in with my BD cage and it had a whole on bottom and on the top of the skull ( it was a piggy bank type thing lol ) so i thougth that they could get under the skull to get into the skull and put some clear tape over the top hole thinking this would stop them...3 days later i find a chew mark on his tail thinking how the heck did this happen ive been taking out all the uneaten food , so i couldnt find out why this happened so i competly clean his cage and i find nothing and i new it was in there some where so i even took out his tiles see if it some how got under them,nope nothin so im completly confused so i lift up his skull and like 5 crickets fall out  so as soon as i "exturmanate" them for harming my little guy i pt in a bunch of tissues and then taped the bottomof the skull so now there is no chance of them getting in and if they do they will eat teh tissues and not Dante    so the moral of this story is so that you know that a cricket can get in the some of the places you may have thought was impossible little buggers ( ya i now it was kinda corney  lol )

[Autoshoty]

Never happened to me...when i feed my BD crickets i put them in a cut type thingy and he eats them out of there.

[CrazyReptileWorld]

new_ICULIZARD is correct, the myth of them eating out of the Lizards is a lie

[ReptileMan27]

new_ICULIZARD is correct, the myth of them eating out of the Lizards is a lie

Yes, that is what this whole topic is about , that is why I called it the mealworm myth, because its just that, a myth .

[tntpet]

I still feel that there is a risk with feeding mealworms to smaller reptiles, as their exoskeleton is hard, and difficult to digest.  It has been know to cause impaction on a few occasions, but doesn't seem to be a significant risk to larger animals.

[little_chrissy]

i will agree tnt, the exoskeleton can be difficult to digest, but mealworms are ok to feed once in a while, just not as a staple diet

[ReptileMan27]

i will agree tnt, the exoskeleton can be difficult to digest, but mealworms are ok to feed once in a while, just not as a staple diet

Only for small lizards like anoles etc.., for larger lizards like leos,beardys, they are fine as either a staple diet or part of a varied diet , in fact most breeders of leos feed mealies as a staple But this is not what this topic is about, this is about the myth that mealies are not safe because they can chew threw a lizards stomach after eaten .