# Morio worm bite whilst being eaten. Please help



## Kln90 (Feb 8, 2012)

Just got home from work. Got our largest female Leo out to give her one or two morios for her tea and she ate one but went tail first instead of head first this time. She swallowed it, but then made a funny noise and no kidding it flew back out of her mouth super fast and about 2 foot away, it had blood on it and was dead. We disposed of it and checked inside her mouth, put her in a food box and checked under her with a light, couldn't see blood anywhere. She's now back in her viv (didn't give her anything else) and she's taken a big drink (don't normally see her do that). Do morio worms bleed or was the blood hers. Obviously going to keep a close eye on her but not seeing any damage is it worth a trip to the vets? I'm worried it's bit her inside


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## David V (Jan 3, 2009)

Morio worms are considered dangerous if eaten alive, squash or chop their heads off. I have large logs in my bosc viv and they chew through wood and burrow in with no problem so you can imagine they would cause some harm to your Leos stomach, mouth, throat ect.


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## Kln90 (Feb 8, 2012)

Oh god really, I didn't know that, what should I do then, do you think I should book a vets appointment? She's since eaten a locust in the last half hour, never had any problems before except for one swinging for our other Leo's eye once. I'll be sure to squish the heads before feeding them again


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## trudib (Jul 24, 2011)

If she has eaten since then i wouldnt be to concerned, just keep an eye on her in case she gets an swelling in next few days.
As for morios i have no idea with leos but if i gave by beardie dead food he would turn his nose up. He has morios as well as Pachnodas and if i chop the head of either he would point blank refuse to eat it.
As i say no expert on smaller reps and feeding so wait for someone who is, but if she is eating dont panic just yet


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## Herpalist (Jun 17, 2009)

She won't do that again....:gasp:


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## Stephen Nelson (Jun 21, 2010)

When I first fed mine morios they made the mistake of going tail first and one did get bitten on her eyelid. They soon wised up and they love them. They always go for them head first now and chomp down on the head crushing it before swallowing. They aren't as stupid as people make out. I tried crushing the heads prior to feeding and as with the poster above they showed no interest.


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## sazzle (Jun 3, 2008)

Stephen Nelson said:


> When I first fed mine morios they made the mistake of going tail first and one did get bitten on her eyelid. They soon wised up and they love them. They always go for them head first now and chomp down on the head crushing it before swallowing. They aren't as stupid as people make out. I tried crushing the heads prior to feeding and as with the poster above they showed no interest.


Completely agree, they soon learn  we can't wrap them in cotton wool x


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## GECKO MICK (Jun 6, 2012)

They soon get the hang of it dont kill the morios before feeding them off.They'll only learn by there own mistakes.:2thumb:


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## Rawwwrchazli (Mar 16, 2012)

Morios also secrete a bloody coloured substance.
When I had my Beardie, if she gorged herself, it would leak out her nose. I took her to the vet, TWICE over it and then just had to make sure she didn't stuff herself with them.
They do bite, and it could be blood from the stomach but don't panic too much


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## Braz (Feb 10, 2011)

GECKO MICK said:


> They soon get the hang of it dont kill the morios before feeding them off.They'll only learn by there own mistakes.:2thumb:


Yeah my Leo got a nip off one, but now when I put one in he pulls a knife out of his cave and circles it until he sees his chance and whack. He takes its head off. He's got a out 50 morio heads on his wall now. They do learn.


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## Kln90 (Feb 8, 2012)

Haha that made me giggle braz... And thanks guys I'm more relieved now, checked her this morning, no signs of blood/bleeding and she's her normal self, just hope it doesn't happen again, and I agree with the dead thing, I think only one of ours would eat something dead and we would have to wiggle it around with tweezers. Thanks for all the replies


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## empirecook (Sep 1, 2009)

Have you ever seen the morio beetle?

If you think the worms are scary, check them out when they morph into beetles. Ugly ****ers and give me the creeps. And this is from someone who keeps tarantulas


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## Kln90 (Feb 8, 2012)

Wow empirecook that's disgusting! They're huge couldn't deal with that haha


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## Rawwwrchazli (Mar 16, 2012)

empirecook said:


> Have you ever seen the morio beetle?
> 
> If you think the worms are scary, check them out when they morph into beetles. Ugly :censor: and give me the creeps. And this is from someone who keeps tarantulas
> 
> image


My mum loves the beetles! She refuses to let me dispose of them! She has a whole RUB full. Darklin Beetles. Apparently she studied them when she did her animal behaviour degree and they are apparently AEWSOME...:whistling2:


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## Kln90 (Feb 8, 2012)

Haha well I suppose you learn something new every day, but that's not for me.... Not having much luck these last couple of days it seems, just tried installing a T5 bulb (for a beardie we are getting) to the controller and the attachments are really fiddly, it says not to turn the bulb which we didn't but whilst trying to get it on one of the pins bloody snapped whilst trying to screw the fitting on, one broken bulb and 34 quid down the drain  has anyone else experienced struggling to get the rubber screw fits on without damaging the pins. Pretty sure I ordered all the right stuff but it's all a really close fit and difficult to install to me


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## kirky1980 (Apr 4, 2010)

empirecook said:


> Have you ever seen the morio beetle?
> 
> If you think the worms are scary, check them out when they morph into beetles. Ugly ****ers and give me the creeps. And this is from someone who keeps tarantulas
> 
> image





Rawwwrchazli said:


> My mum loves the beetles! She refuses to let me dispose of them! She has a whole RUB full. Darklin Beetles. Apparently she studied them when she did her animal behaviour degree and they are apparently AEWSOME...:whistling2:


iv got loads of these in my live set ups and gotta agree with your mum they can be as intresting to watch as your lizards lol amazing viv cleaning bugs aswell id not be without them :lol2:


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## sam gamgee (Apr 8, 2009)

I very occasionally offer them to my leos but only when they have just shed (the worm!) and the jaws are soft. If, only if, I feed them whilst `hard` I do crush the head. Dragons & Dwarf monitors I feed whole without squished heads.......they appear to have a harder bite than leos. They get well & truly crunched.

Dave


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