Well they are green caterpillars, actually. In any case, the so-called Goliath Worms for sale at Ossining's Choice Pets store in the Arcadian plaza are officially among the "weirdest thing we sell here," says employee Peter Alomar.
Alomar introduced me to these strange creatures, a beautiful light blue-green that look "like birthday candles," he said, until you notice these multi-inch long fatties are moving. They sit in a little glass tank on the check-out counter of this bustling business.
While I was in the shop no less than a dozen people came through for various needs (bag of crickets, bag of bird seed), but it was these odd squirmy guys that the several workers there kept talking about.
Anna Garvin, mother of shop owner Ronald Garvin, who took over the store two years ago, said how the lizards (from baby bearded dragon to gecko, all for sale here) will "actually smile" when they eat one of these "delicacies."
They go for $2.99 a pop, which isn't a cheap treat for a lizard, but Garvin said human customers often buy one and then come back the next day for three or four more. "They say they've never seen their reptile eat so fast or look so happy."
Alomar said one lady bought the caterpillar not for reptile food but to see if she could turn it into a moth. "She did, but then the lizard ate the moth."
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