i swear that somewhere I read something about how u can morph mealies into kings or supers? ive been trying to find where I read it but cant... any one know where I can get info on how to do this if u can?

Well, yes, and no. Mealworms are Tenebrio molitor larvae, a beetle. However, they are small. If you let them grow, they will get much bigger, but they will still be the same animal, Tenebrio molitor larvae. I believe some people call these kingworms. Superworms, on the other hand, are an entirely different species of beetle larvae, Zophobas morio larvae. You can't turn a mealie into a super. When turning a mealie into a king, you're not really changing it, you're just letting it grow.

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I believe the king worm would be the same as a giant meal worm. Giant meal worms are fed a hormone or steroid to keep them from pupating for a larger period of time so they just keep eating and growing. Eventualy they will die after a month-6 months or pupate. pupation. The pupae will not morph into a beetle.

Yeah, the king is the same thing. I din't know you needed to artificially get them to grow large though. Never seen them before. All I know is that they look like the normal ones only bigger.

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i've read alot on this topic and their are people saying that you shouldn't feed these super's to your herps. it has been said that the long term effects on your herps are hazardous.

Well certainly not as a staple. They're not nutritionally balanced enough to be used as a staple diet for any herp. However, the same is true for mealworms, waxworms, butterworms, cutworms, and pretty much anything other than crix and silkworms. There is a rumor that mealworms and superworms have the ability to chew their way out through your pet's stomach, but these are false. Any healthy herp's stomach acid would kill it relatively quickly. This may hold true for an extremely ill amphibian, but any amphib that is that sick is probably doomed already anyway.

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hmm I hate to resurrect such an old topic but I have found your statement on mealies not being a good staple to be false. Some of the longest lived Leopard geckos (not sure bout other species) have been raised on nothing but meal worms.

I too didnt know bout the hormone thingy.

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I have an innate love for all creatures big and small, no matter if they are furry, scaled, slimy, or feathered.

I raise mealworms and superworms and they are two different bugs. I don't give any steroids or hormone to my mealies; just carrots, cabbage, oats......The superworms pupate and they look like giant versions of mealie pupae and then like giant beetles. The two do however seem to always get mixed up when they are worms. I am always separating them.

Yes, kingworms are artificially enhanced mealworms, nothing more. I don't personally see the point.

However, you must understand--king worms were created before zophobas (superworms) became available. A giant mealworm was therefore a great idea...something you can feed fewer of to larger reptiles. Nowadays, I'm amazed you can get them at all. Small zophobas would fit the bill much better.

I doubt kingworms are all that great for reptiles--the hormones used to create them would after all be passed on to the herps that ate them.

Zophobas are nutritionally adequate--if I remember, they are slightly better than mealworms, nutrition-wise, but not too dissimilar overall. Crickets are more nutritious overall, but its best to feed a variety of insects, not just one type, to your reptiles.