The Puffer Forum

Hi, just want to know if you can feed meal worms to MBU puffer and Red Eye Puffers???

Thanks

i believe meal worms arent good for them because of the chitonous(sp?) shell being hard to digest. i fed one to my GSP once as a treat and it came right back out almost exactly how it went in, i will never feed them to him again

Yes, their outer shell (chiton), is difficult to digest. They are also a very fatty food.

I keep chameleons and was told not to feed meal worms to them because they "pinch" going down the throat. Sounded horrible, so I've stayed away.

pufferpuggirl wrote:I keep chameleons and was told not to feed meal worms to them because they "pinch" going down the throat. Sounded horrible, so I've stayed away.

Hey Pufferpuggirl, they are not meant for you

Ha bloody ha!

I've successfully fed my pet guppies the guts of mealworms before. They love it!!! All you do is squish the head of a mealworm and then take it off. Then you will have to reach inside and grab out it's guts (amazingly their guts are pure white!) This method therefore bypasses the hard outer shell of the mealworm. It works...not sure if it will work for puffers though. BTW for pufferpuggirls comment about mealworms biting chameleon's throats....that's a myth. It's just like the myth about mealworms biting their way out of other reptilian insectivores.

eh? cut off the head and reach inside? I'd like to see a video of that!

Still is considering a fatty meal & only to be fed as a treat.

You can avoid the chitin issue by feeding only 'white" mealworms - those which have freshly shed they skins and not yet hardened the new one (similar to soft-shell crabs and post-molt shrimp). Obviously, these are only available if you are keeping mealworms for other types of critters and have on-going cultures.

Otherwise I second PP's comments - only the occasional treat, not a staple.

J-P wrote:eh? cut off the head and reach inside? I'd like to see a video of that!

You actually don't need to reach in that deep. It actually can be squeezed out EASILY!! I will try showing a vid of me killing the mealworm, taking out it's guts, and feeding them to my guppies. My guppies love them so much!! I just love em to bits!!! They love it so much that the fry will join in gangs and snatch them from an adult trying to swallow the whole mealworm's guts!!! LOL But it's cool It's like a revolution against their parents LOL!