# meal worms



## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

A guy at the pet store today said meal worms would be a fine addition to my cichlid's diet. He dropped one into a CA tank with a few JDs and they relished it. . Anything I should be worried about with these worms, or are they perfetly safe to drop right in?


----------



## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

I've heard nothing negative about their use....


----------



## armac (Nov 28, 2002)

many of the flowerhorn enuthisiast are using mealworms, very nutricious, but kind of expensive :laugh:


----------



## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

Well I fed some to my CA and 1 SA cichlids and they all loved it. IT was $3 for a pack of 100. my big female FH took 8 of them. My small cons even ate a few. Highly entertaining feeding.


----------



## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

Paul said:
 

> Highly entertaining feeding.


 they were live?


----------



## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

armac said:


> many of the flowerhorn enuthisiast are using mealworms, very nutricious, but kind of expensive :laugh:


 Yeah...when I was at an FH store that was all they fed their fish.


----------



## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

they are very alive and active. Each time I pick one up I end up getting bitten. Guess I better use forceps next time. Found a great site that sells them dirt cheap, well at least compared to what I pay in wisconsin.

http://www.wormman.com/mealworms.htm

Your cichlids will love them. Next trial will be with my piranha.


----------



## Caseman (Jan 7, 2004)

Let me know how it works with the piranha. Im sure i could get some from a bait shop around here somewhere and they will most likely be cheap.


----------



## Kory (Jun 5, 2003)

I just picked up 50 of them today also. My fish seemed to love them my big Oscar ate 10 of them and my small JD and GT played tug of war with one. Quite entertaining.


----------



## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

way to go kory. we were thinking alike today. I am gonna order some Large ones off the website. I cant believe in all these years I had never thought to try worms, its the most entertaining thing I have ever seen my fish do. I had 2 convicts fighting over a small one just minutes ago.


----------



## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

now i want mealworms too


----------



## Burf (Nov 3, 2003)

They are really easy to breed yourself, makes it really cheep!
My apisto's are my only fish that touch them at the moment, they just hold them in their mouths sucking them like spaghetti, then spit out their skins!! (i'll look for a pic)


----------



## *DaisyDarko* (Mar 17, 2004)

I read somewhere the other day that mealworms and superworms (I think they are called) have the same risk for disease transfer as feeder fish.
Don't know if this is 100% true though.


----------



## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

Can dieases be transferred between insect to fish?


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

mealworms are safe to put in with fish. and they are very nutritious for your fish too. i feed them to all my cichlids about once a week and they all love them







. my piranha doesnt really like them that much though... he likes the regular night crawlers alot more.


----------



## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

you should remove the heads before feeding, they are known to remain alive and eat there way out of fish and reptiles.


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

Innes said:


> you should remove the heads before feeding, they are known to remain alive and eat there way out of fish and reptiles.


 are you serious


----------



## rUBY84 (Jan 8, 2004)

lemmywinks said:


> Innes said:
> 
> 
> > you should remove the heads before feeding, they are known to remain alive and eat there way out of fish and reptiles.
> ...


 ... my thoughts exactly...


----------



## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

you sure the heads dont get ground up in the pharyngeal jaws?


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

ya, my fish always chew theirs up pretty good. i wouldnt think that they would survive after that..


----------



## gourami-master (Apr 1, 2004)

once i knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew this guys cusion,who knew a guy,who knew a guy,who knew a guy that feed his cichlids mealworms and they got calliminonius cotti and all of them died and he had to do a teardowm and bleach it thats why hakri doesnt sell them anymore its little worms that hang out of your fishes butthole and they destroy their organs or soemthing like that its untreatable


----------



## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

shut up.


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

Paul said:


> shut up.










he should


----------



## Kory (Jun 5, 2003)

Innes said:


> you should remove the heads before feeding, they are known to remain alive and eat there way out of fish and reptiles.


 Unlikely after they have been mashed up by the chewing. Also they would drown being underwater and all.









Do wild fish have a caretaker chop the heads off of their bug prey before eating them. Nah did'nt think so


----------



## BoomerSub (Jun 23, 2003)

Innes said:


> you should remove the heads before feeding, they are known to remain alive and eat there way out of fish and reptiles.


 By the time the worm makes it to the fish's stomach it's been crushed by at least one set of jaws, even if it's not dead it'll be stunned long enough for the digestive juices to do their thing and kill it.

The only thing i can think of that would be vulnerable to this would be a fish that swallows it's prey whole with little or no chewing (_Chaca_ sp.), but these fish rarely or never eat insects (presumably to keep this from happening). Like p45 said, most fish that will eat insects have specialized mechanisms (either behavioral or physiological) to kill or stun the bug before it enters the stomach.

-PK


----------



## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

lots of unbelievers....


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

Innes said:


> lots of unbelievers....


 do you have evidence innes







i want to see if this is true or not.


----------



## BoomerSub (Jun 23, 2003)

Innes said:


> lots of unbelievers....


 Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Do you have any evidence that this is possible? A friend-of-a-friend's-girlfriend's-guidance-counselor's-second-cousin's account is not enough.

-PK


----------



## Burf (Nov 3, 2003)

Im with innes on this, i know that you should cut the heads off mealies before feeding them to larger reptiles that would swallow them whole, but i dont bother with my gecko as they get well and truely munched up before being swallowed.
Having said that i dont know if I would bother doing it with my fish, they have usually drowned before hitting the bottom of the tank. 
Suppose that its better safe than sorry though.....


----------



## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

i have never ever heard this before..damn when i worked in the fish store..i got dared to eat one..and like a drunk teenager..i said okay...lol..crunchy to say..lmao,,,what a sight it would be at the lfs with the mealworm coming out of my chest like alien lol...


----------



## benefit (Sep 3, 2003)

Mealworms wont eat through your cichlids stomach. I have read about some cases of this with amphibians but i wouldnt believe it untill i see it or hear it from a reputable keeper. I have fed my cichlids and various fish mealworms throughout my years of fish keeping with no ill effects. I dont feed them as a staple though. they seem to be very fatty but i might be wrong. All of my fish love them and they work well to get wild fish or picky eaters going. Dont be afraid to feed your cichlids mealworms! They will love you for it


----------



## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

I love hearing the crunching sound made when my FH and JD eats them


----------



## Krueger (Dec 18, 2003)

if the teeth dont kill them, digestive juices will.. they wont have enough time to do anything once the juices take effect..

i found some mealworms outside the other day, the were kind of small (less than 1") but my silver dollars ate them.


----------



## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

benefit said:


> I have read about some cases of this with amphibians but i wouldnt believe it untill i see it or hear it from a reputable keeper.


I guess I'm not reputable enough









but either way I aint giving them to my Salamander or Fish or anything else with there heads on (if at all)


----------



## the grinch (Feb 23, 2004)

i swallowed a watermellon seed and it grew in my stomach. I wouldnt suggest anyone eating a watermellon seed. 
just playing with you guys, but seriously they will not eat through your fish's stomach. Nobody on this site that has feed their fish meal worms will ever tell you that has happened to their fish. You can squeeze poop outta your worms rinse them off or chop off meal worms head if you want to but that is silly.


----------



## Burf (Nov 3, 2003)

An easy way to settle this, use the mealies that have just shed and still white. this way they wont be able to do any damage, even if they wanted to.


----------



## Kory (Jun 5, 2003)

Innes said:


> benefit said:
> 
> 
> > I have read about some cases of this with amphibians but i wouldnt believe it untill i see it or hear it from a reputable keeper.
> ...


 Does this look like the face of a reputable person?


----------



## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

Kory said:


> Innes said:
> 
> 
> > benefit said:
> ...


 no


----------



## gourami-master (Apr 1, 2004)

ha ha lol but im still wondering why hikari doesnt sell mealworms anymore


----------



## Lonald (Jan 10, 2004)

maybe with a larger cichlid that wouldnt really need to chew the worm and just swallow it, then it might have a slim chance of happening,but I dont think cutting the heads off is something you definately need to do.

gourami-master, were you on another site under the name st.cichlid???


----------



## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

Lonald said:


> gourami-master, were you on another site under the name st.cichlid???


 I sure wouldn't be even remotely surprised


----------



## gourami-master (Apr 1, 2004)

st.cichlid??? where the hell did you get that idea


----------



## Methuzela (Apr 27, 2004)

So whats the verdict on feeding them wormies to Piranhas?????


----------



## roller03hockey10 (Oct 23, 2003)

hey it doesnt take but one second to pull off the head of the meal worm. what could it hurt better safe then sorry. ihave to pull the heads of the meal worms for my lizard and she crushes them. they have been known to dig through lizards so i wouldnt past them to dig through fish.


----------



## gourami-master (Apr 1, 2004)

Methuzela said:


> So whats the verdict on feeding them wormies to Piranhas?????


 the p's would rip them apart espessially kolbenschlag's rhom he just scares you into voting


----------



## benefit (Sep 3, 2003)

The point here is that they wont eat through your *cichlids* stomach. My cichlids enjoy the wiggling action of the worm as it falls to the bottom and actually entices the picky eaters to feed. Its completely unnecessary to remove the head or kill the worm. Many experienced keepers have been doing this for years and i havent heard of any cases of a monster mealworm eating its way out of a large cichlid or small cichlid. I was just watching my large male saum eat a jumbo mealworm and he thoroughly crushes the worm. I highly doubt its alive before it reaches his stomach. Overall its your choice. If you want to rip the heads off do it.


----------



## the grinch (Feb 23, 2004)

some people will believe anything. Meal worms eating their way through a fishes stomach after eating it. lol.


----------



## Lonald (Jan 10, 2004)

gourami-master said:


> st.cichlid??? where the hell did you get that idea


 you just act exactly like a guy on another cichild forum... thought maybe it was the same guy...


----------



## vaporize (Apr 11, 2003)

I've never heard, of cutting their heads off. My personal experiences with mealworms were just gross, My Oscars eat them whole, and then comes out whole in a sack, that's about it. Yes, they also do drown in water after about 10-15 seconds. I don't like the fact that my Oscars eat them whole and shits them out whole as well. My P's don't eat them, so I can't say much for them.


----------



## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

vaporize said:


> I've never heard, of cutting their heads off. My personal experiences with mealworms were just gross, My Oscars eat them whole, and then comes out whole in a sack, that's about it. Yes, they also do drown in water after about 10-15 seconds. I don't like the fact that my Oscars eat them whole and shits them out whole as well.


----------

