Superworms for Feeder Insects?

[kat.new]

Can Squirrels eat Superworms or Calciworms? If so, how many a day? I know mealworms and crickets are an option but I want to know if other feeder insects are safe.

[island rehabber]

Can Squirrels eat Superworms or Calciworms? If so, how many a day? I know mealworms and crickets are an option but I want to know if other feeder insects are safe.

Hi. I'm a squirrel rehabber but I also work in a nature center with 30 different reptile species. Superworms are an unpleasant part of my daily life -- they are wonderful food for bearded dragons and cane toads and turtles, but I would not give them to my squirrels. They are very high in phosphorous and can really upset the Calcium:Phosphorous ratio you want to maintain with your squirrels, which is 2:1. They have a tough exoskeleton that mammals often cannot digest, resulting in intestinal blockages. (Even the bearded dragons will get this from too many superworms.) They are fast, and often escape the predator that is after them; they will hide in the cage and turn into enormous black beetles one day, just when you least expect it :eek.

Last but not least, they bite. They will latch onto a poor turtle's lip and not let go.

Nope, I wouldn't. :grin3

[kat.new]

Thank you for the advice! Would you be able to tell me which feeder insects are safe?

[Mel1959]

I give my flyer mealworms and wax worms, but but not the super worms. So standard or large mealworms or wax worms. Wax worms have a very soft exoskeleton. Again, both of these are still high in phosphorous so a dusting of pure calcium carbonate or calcium citrate will help balance the improper calcium to phosphorous ratio. Just make sure there’s no added Vitamin D to the calcium.

[island rehabber]

Agree with Mel1959, mealies and waxworms as a treat are fine for squirrels.

[Diggie's Friend]

Thought to share my experience superworms in the diet of a NR gray squirrel. In a captive squirrel diet that was fashioned to reflect the forms of food that tree squirrels rely upon in the wild for nutrition. To support a source of feeder insect, in this case a larva form, Dried d Super-mealies, that save for the pincers that bothered it, which were removed, were well accepted.

In the wild, the diet of Red Squirrels, Grays, fox-squirrels, flying squirrels, Abert's squirrels, chipmunks, and ground squirrels, all include insect sources (mature or larva), that provide a natural animal sourced soluble fats to their diets.

These same ill health issues noted her in this quote, were prior found to be the same in rats.


Fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, D and E, are required for a wide variety of physiological functions. Over the past two decades, deficiencies of these vitamins have been associated with increased risk of cancer, type II diabetes mellitus and a number of immune system disorders.
The amount of 1/2 Tsp. was included daily during the summer and fall months were the actively level of healthy squirrels increases in order to supply a source mostly of fat than protein, as not to overload the kidneys with protein. Another benefit the dried superworms provided was a foraging experience that enhanced the qualify of life; this by cutting up the dried superworms and placing the pieces around the play area for the squirrel to find.

Camilles Vita-Mealies produces various kinds of organic raised grubworms that they offer with the options of live or dried, and regular or calcium/nutrient gut loaded insects and larva in order to offset the higher phosphorus than calcium content in these grubworms. This link is for your convenience.

https://vita-mealie.weebly.com/dried-superworm-listings.html