Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know egg production is stressful and that it saps a lot of their weight and calcium. So in case there are eggs coming I've been giving Chica as many dusted waxworms as she's wanted, in addition to the crickets that she happily snatches up while I'm feeding the others now that she's out of her shed depression. (My preference is to just gut-load the crickets with lizard-friendly vegetables like zuchini, and to add calcidust to the higher-phosphorus prey items such as superworms and waxworms, which also are easier than crickets to monitor individual consumption of.) But in two days, I've already gone through a container of 18 waxworms, and I know that under normal circumstances they're too fatty to be a main dietary component. Oh, I let the other two have a few, but Chica ate most them. I'd prefer to calorie-load her all she wants until the concern about eggs has passed, and I'd prefer to go heavier than usual on calcium as well, but I don't want to dangerously overdo either thing. Also, I sent away for butterworms, and am not sure how heavily I can use THEM, even under these circumstances, either.
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0.1 2006 Western Hognose (Bebe)
0.1 age unknown Cane Toad (Hengo)
0.1 2005 White-Banded Sheen Skink (Minerva)
1.0 2006 Northern Diamondback Terrapin (Queequeg)
1.0 2006 Madagascan Speckled "Hognose" (Sigmund)
1.0 2008 Bullsnake (Winkle)
1.2 2008 Eastern Collared Lizards (Pancho, Lupe, and Chica)

Wax worms have almost no nutrition besides the fat. I don't waste their caloric intake on things that don't benefit them when there are great alternatives like silkworms, hornworms, and phoenix worms, all of which you can buy on line. I buy mine at www.mulberryfarms.com

I didn't consider Phoenix worms because whenever I've tried them before, nothing liked them. It won't hurt to give them another shot, the collareds weren't around yet.

I do plan to pick up silkworms and hornworms at the next herp expo on April 5th, so I refrained from sending away for what I could get almost as soon locally. I did not have any silkworms left when these lizards arrived, but I did give them tiny hornworms during that very brief period that the horns were still small enough to be useful.

I didn't realize butterworms were as bad as that. I knew they were high in fat, but I didn't realize they were also so low in protein.
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0.1 2006 Western Hognose (Bebe)
0.1 age unknown Cane Toad (Hengo)
0.1 2005 White-Banded Sheen Skink (Minerva)
1.0 2006 Northern Diamondback Terrapin (Queequeg)
1.0 2006 Madagascan Speckled "Hognose" (Sigmund)
1.0 2008 Bullsnake (Winkle)
1.2 2008 Eastern Collared Lizards (Pancho, Lupe, and Chica)

I was talking about WAX worms. Butterworms are actually very high in calcium and are good feeders.

Oh. Good. Although all this shed-fasting and egg-worry had me worried about her losing too much weight so I could see waxworms being situationally useful, the original reason I bought them was just to try to coax an eating reaction out of her when she was off her feed. But now that her appetite and weight seem fine anyway I can refrain from buying more waxies.
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0.1 2006 Western Hognose (Bebe)
0.1 age unknown Cane Toad (Hengo)
0.1 2005 White-Banded Sheen Skink (Minerva)
1.0 2006 Northern Diamondback Terrapin (Queequeg)
1.0 2006 Madagascan Speckled "Hognose" (Sigmund)
1.0 2008 Bullsnake (Winkle)
1.2 2008 Eastern Collared Lizards (Pancho, Lupe, and Chica)

I'm glad that she seems better.