# Freeze dried Vs Live mealworms



## Arquan

Are freeze dried meal worms really that bad for hedgies? I'm used to feeding them to my hermit crabs and hamster, I can handle those by hand... I can't wrap my brain around the idea of live mealworms yet :shock:

If I get them online (http://www.supercricket.ca/), can I just toss them into the freezer and hope they die? Does it work that way?? :?

I see myself feeding my hedgie using chopsticks to hold squirming worms.......*shudder*


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## hanhan27

I think the mind set is "better safe than sorry" when it comes to this because there are reports of hedgehogs having impactions caused by freeze dried mealworms. It's just like water bottles - we know they CAN cause issues even if most hogs never have a problem with them - why bother with possibly dangerous water bottles when we can use bowls, which don't cause any health issues? 

I have a terrible bug phobia and I admit that I do scream when I accidentally flick a mealworm on my leg or something, but I handle using tweezers just fine.  If you get mealworms, you should put them in the freezer. This will make them less squirmy (they kind of "hibernate") and will prolong their life stages.


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## Arquan

OMG!  I just googled impaction and hedgehogs and got a nice scare attack with the story
Okay, I'm sucking it up and getting the good stuff :|


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## LizardGirl

Frozen mealworms are different than freeze-dried - if you bought live ones and froze them, you don't need to worry about the impaction scares. What you DO have to worry about is just making sure they are always fed fresh out of the freezer as once they start thawing they'll decompose. Ew!


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## Arquan

LizardGirl said:


> Frozen mealworms are different than freeze-dried - if you bought live ones and froze them, you don't need to worry about the impaction scares. What you DO have to worry about is just making sure they are always fed fresh out of the freezer as once they start thawing they'll decompose. Ew!


Is that the same with frozen crickets? The decomposing part I mean...


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## LizardGirl

Yup! Any dead creature you leave out at room temp is gonna start breaking down on the inside.


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## Arquan

Good to know! 
I buy live crickets for my hamster occasionally, I don't think she has a preference but it's just so amusing to watch her work for food (that's the fastest she ever moves). I hope if it's the same way with a hedgehog vs live cricket..:lol:


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## anthylorrel

My hedgie won't touch a frozen meal worm. She'll eat them chilled out of the fridge, or room temp, but she seems to think frozen ones are gross, because they are already dead, methinks. Even just putting them in the fridge makes them much less squirmy. You don't have to handle them by hand. It took me a while to work up the guts to touch one. What I used to do is use my chop sticks to put one or two meal worms on/in a small plate/bowl, and just let my hedgie eat them off the plate. Worked well for me. Plus, I could let them warm up so they were nice and squirmy just the way she likes them. BTW, if you can't find a local place to buy, look up a company called Camille's Vita Mealies. I just had a fantastic experience buying a small (300ct) container of meal worms. The prices listed on their website is the price for the worms, and 2-3 day priority shipping included. My hamster loves them too. xD


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## Arquan

I checked them out earlier, sadly to say I don't think they can ship across the border to Canada
*sniff*


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## GoldenEyes

isn't that a pain? buying things when you live in Canada online? our ebay reall isnt the best, neither is our amazon  lol and the shipping fees are crazy


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## Arquan

More often than not, things are cheaper in the US  
Like the Zoo Med on Amazon US was having a sale on their heat lamps and CHEs and thermostat earlier, for almost half the price, but the shipping fees are just too ridiculous it would have been almost the same if I got it from Big Al's here..
Said sale was not on Amazon Canada and we get less varieties too :evil:


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## anthylorrel

Arquan said:


> I checked them out earlier, sadly to say I don't think they can ship across the border to Canada
> *sniff*


I'd shoot them an email and check. You never know. =)


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## setterchick

I use a tweezers to pick through and find them.  gross little things!


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