Interesting Find in the Cricket Bin

[Ginevive]

I have met my match with superworms. I always thought that no living creature could really gross me out, but now I found one. I was feeding Rust a few of those vile things last night; here's my method. I had them in a rubbermaid container but I did not want to touch them ( ! ) so I would flip a few onto a sheet of paper and then toss them into his tank. I hate picking them up because they swing their ugly little heads around like they'll bite you! When I dropped one, I actually shrieked like a little girl, something I haven't done since I watched one of those Halloween movies a few months ago.
A bunch of them were also walking backwards; is this some sorta defense mechanism?
I hope none of them turn into beetles. I will make my boyfriend deal with them. Seriously, I can deal with insects, but for some reason the superworms horrify me to no end. For live food, it's going to be just crickets for Rust from now on!

[Shelby]

Superworms don't actually gross me out.. I just worry about them biting me. As long as you aren't squeezing it (just hold it loose in your hand) they don't bite, but if you hold it in your fingers, they will try. I just hold them right behind the head, then they can't do anything.

They walk backwards a lot.. helps them to burrow down. They always try to burrow.

You don't have to worry about them turning into beetles. You actually have to separate each worm into it's own little container (like a film canister) And leave it undisturbed for a couple weeks in a dark warm place. Then they turn into a pupae, at which point you could just get rid of them, or wait about a month for it to emerge as a beetle. So really, no worries.