Issues with Zophobas morio. Help please!

[Andrew Ferguson]

My B.smithi hasn't eaten anything since Jan-Feb time. Maybe even December but I still felt the need to try her with something. So instead of the usual crickets and locusts, I opted for some Zophobas morio aka superworm. I popped one in, Gloria flinched a bit but didn't take. As with all mealworms, it decided to burrow really fast. For some reason, I decided to try another a few hours later and same scenario. I now have two Z.morio tunneling around.
Now in the past, I've fed my tarantula pupal stage larvae. They don't run around, burrow or fly. They will just flinch if touched. It was placed in the tank on Friday. Gloria, predictably but worth a try, didn't take it. I was going out last night and whilst waiting for wifey to get ready, I noticed the substrate moving near the pupa. Jokingly I said to my wife we had Tremors. Anyway, comes home last night and the pupa has vanished and Gloria's pale bald spot has taken on a light grey colour. Based on previous experience, a moult should take place within the next month or so. I don't really want to upset her hide and the tank in general, but the thought of a possible threat to a freshly moulted tarantula bothers me.
Now I want replies from people who have had experience of the "worms" and I've read past threads but none provide me the info I need. Do I just leave it all as it is and hope that my smithi moults ok and has a voracious appetite, or do I do some excavating and remove everything except my smithi?

[Iain L]

morio

Cant say for certain how much of a threat these possess towards T's but they will consume virtually anything. I bulk buy them for my reptiles and they eat anything I throw in with them so Im always wary and give them to reptiles in a smooth sided bowl they cant escape from. I have even fed them on dead crickets, beetles and even chunks of sugar cane and they have no problem eating those so I would be wary of leaving them roaming in with a moulting spider as even if they didnt eat it they would be likely to disturb it. Use the opportunity to have a remodelling and thorough clean out of the enclosure, far better to disturb the spider before its moulting.

[Andrew Ferguson]

I've decided to remove my smithi and keep it into a pet pal cage until it moults. The tank has been cleaned out and all other living creatures have been removed. New substrate has been added. The humidity is too high for a B.smithi so I'll leave it to dry out a bit more.

[Andy Wood]

Think that's a good move Andrew. Seems that the Morio worms don't develop
until they're on their own, maybe a space thing, but when I've had one uneaten
and it's vanished into the substrate it's not long before a reasonably
hefty beetle apppears and that's the last you want around a freshly moulted T.

AndyZoo