# Morio Worms ...



## pixiechops

Can someone give me some advice on feeding morio worms to a bearded dragon?

I'm getting a bit confused about whether morio worms are suitable for a bearded dragon ... Some people are advising that you can feed quite a few and use them a part of the staple diet and some say use them rarely.

I feed my bearded dragon probably about 5 or 6 throughout the week (along with crickets, locust, fruit, veg and the very occassional wax worm as a treat), but the a shop assistant where i buy the food from, asked if the morio worms were for a bearded dragon, which i said yes, he then said... 
"sorry but not to be rude but you aren't really meant to feed them morio worms"

So now i am confused ... whats the right thing to do???

He is my first bearded dragon and I would hate to be doing the wrong thing :sad: 

Thanks for any advice


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## luke123

Mario Worms are ok for Beardies but not as a staple diet. I feed mine about 10 every 4-5 days, and a few locusts inbetween those. What you're feeding sounds good to me, but just to make sure how big is he? I wouldnt feed them to a Beardie under 12 inches..


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## pixiechops

Think he's about 14/15 inches, he's coming on 2 years now, so i thought he would be able to digest them


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## luke123

Sounds fine to me! A lot of shops don't really know what they're talking about (Some do, but most don't), but I don't understand why he was telling you not to buy them when they can eat them - Bit stupid?


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## Ninjaaa23

luke123 said:


> Mario Worms are ok for Beardies but not as a staple diet. I feed mine about 10 every 4-5 days, and a few locusts inbetween those. What you're feeding sounds good to me, but just to make sure how big is he? I wouldnt feed them to a Beardie under 12 inches..


dont feed mario worms they will run around jumping on your beardies head :lol2: howecer morios are ok (if your beardies old enough)


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## luke123

I never noticed there was different names for them! They're called Mario Worms here..Like a massive Meal Worm? Or is a Morio a different thing completely?


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## Ninjaaa23

luke123 said:


> I never noticed there was different names for them! They're called Mario Worms here..Like a massive Meal Worm? Or is a Morio a different thing completely?


it was a joke asin the mario the lil italian game character lol but a think their called morios its just you mispelled them as marios (it was a failed attemp at a joke lol because in mario you jump on peoples heads)


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## luke123

I got it but then I actually realised that they're spelt differently..If you search for both of them on Google, Mario or Morio worms then it comes up with the same thing..


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## Ninjaaa23

lol didnt realise that they must be the same thing just mybe people call them by a different name


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## Blaptica

pixiechops said:


> Can someone give me some advice on feeding morio worms to a bearded dragon?
> 
> I'm getting a bit confused about whether morio worms are suitable for a bearded dragon ... Some people are advising that you can feed quite a few and use them a part of the staple diet and some say use them rarely.
> 
> I feed my bearded dragon probably about 5 or 6 throughout the week (along with crickets, locust, fruit, veg and the very occassional wax worm as a treat), but the a shop assistant where i buy the food from, asked if the morio worms were for a bearded dragon, which i said yes, he then said...
> "sorry but not to be rude but you aren't really meant to feed them morio worms"
> 
> So now i am confused ... whats the right thing to do???
> 
> He is my first bearded dragon and I would hate to be doing the wrong thing :sad:
> 
> Thanks for any advice


 
The right thing to do is find another shop. My beardies are fed around 50% morios for the livefood part of the diet and thrive on them. Morios are an excellent part of the diet for beardies.


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## Blaptica

luke123 said:


> Mario Worms are ok for Beardies but not as a staple diet. I feed mine about 10 every 4-5 days, and a few locusts inbetween those. What you're feeding sounds good to me, but just to make sure how big is he? I wouldnt feed them to a Beardie under 12 inches..


The scientific name for morio worms is _Zoophobas morio. _So why do you call them Mario worms ?


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## luke123

JEEESUS they're worms! Does one letter actually matter so much to you?


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## Ninjaaa23

yeah its just a letter sum pronounce it differently i would stick to crix or rosches for the main part of the diet mybe "MORIOS" some days


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## mr stroudy

Ninjaaa23 said:


> yeah its just a letter sum pronounce it differently i would stick to crix or rosches for the main part of the diet mybe "MORIOS" some days


what are rosches are they some sort of cockroach lol :lol2: im only playing


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## SteveCourty

Keep them as a treat. If you find someone who argues what there called saying there marios then point them to the scientific name it always shuts them up straight away


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## Blaptica

Sorry Luke for sounding rude. I made the mistake of posting after only reading the first couple of messages. Aplologies...

But still there is a lot of confusion over various livefoods and what is or isn't good to feed to x animal. It isn't helped by the fact that some people started to give a livefood an alternative (non logical name). I hope you explain to people in your area why it should be called a morio worm not a mario worm. There is already alot of confusion because often they (morios) are called giant mealworms, as are also hormone fed (overgrown) normal mealworms _Tenebrio._

I think the quote below from you perfectly demonstrates the confusion the alternative name causes.



luke123 said:


> I never noticed there was different names for them! They're called Mario Worms here..Like a massive Meal Worm? Or is a Morio a different thing completely?


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## luke1983

I always have some Morio worms available in a box for my beardy and he is fit, healthy and active and i've never had any probs


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## Blaptica

luke123 said:


> Mario Worms are ok for Beardies but not as a staple diet. I feed mine about 10 every 4-5 days, and a few locusts inbetween those. What you're feeding sounds good to me, but just to make sure how big is he? I wouldnt feed them to a Beardie under 12 inches..


Yes variety is good. But its interesting to note that probably the biggest lizard breeder in the world, certainly one of the biggest, used just morio worms as food for his adult breeder lizards for many years, with excellent results. 

I even use them for baby beardies when they are only a couple of weeks old with no problems (baby morios though, for baby beardies)


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## SteveCourty

Anyone know how easy they are to breed up?


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## luke123

SteveCourty said:


> Anyone know how easy they are to breed up?


 Fairly easy, but it's getting them to turn into beetles that's a bit harder. They won't change unless they're put into little tubs on their own.


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## pixiechops

Thanks for all the advice ... was worried but i recon it was a case of someone sticking their nose in. I suppose everyone has a different idea of what the right thing to do is! 

I know it sounds stupid but because he is my first beardie it kinda knocked my confidence in the knowledge i do have, but he doesn't seem to suffer any health problems and he does love them ... so i think i'll just carry on the way i am


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## Blaptica

pixiechops said:


> Thanks for all the advice ... was worried but i recon it was a case of someone sticking their nose in. I suppose everyone has a different idea of what the right thing to do is!
> 
> I know it sounds stupid but because he is my first beardie it kinda knocked my confidence in the knowledge i do have, but he doesn't seem to suffer any health problems and he does love them ... so i think i'll just carry on the way i am


If the shop you use does not recommend morios for bearded dragons, could you ask them what they do recommend them for ?


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