Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I wanted to get some of these and maybe even breed them. They seem to be one of the more expensive feeders, it that because they can grow really big or for some reason I am not seeing. Do you know if they have a similar nutritional value to silk worms? I heard the other thing they eat is tomatoes, tobacco, etc(plants in the nightshade family I believe), is that true? Does this mean they only eat the leaves or do they eat the fruits as well? If they do eat the fruits, I would have not problem feeding them tomatoes and such instead of "hornworm chow" which is like dried tobacco and tomato leaves. I think tomatoes would have a higher nutritional value than dries leaves. Does anyone know how to breed these guys? I figured it would not be too hard to get them to putate, but breeding moths may be a little more difficult. Could I set use some sort of mesh enclosure for the moths to live in or something? Do the moths eat? Oh, I was also wondering if there is any way to keep the hornworms from pupating, like refridgeration or something? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, jrbl

Here is some info re: raising the Hornworm from the KS-Butterfly & Moth forum:
Link

If youre going to use them as feeders DO NOT feed them Tobacco or Tomato plants!! This makes them poisonous and will kill your reptile.

Good point. The Hornworms can be quite toxic if fed plants from the Solanaceae family. I believe certain companies sell the "artificial" diet that prevents the hornworms from becoming toxic. I've seen these hornworms at reptile shows & they have a bluish-green to turquoise coloration. Although many of the fruits of certain species of Solanaceae are not toxic, they tend to be acidic. I'm not quite sure what the artificial diet is composed of, but it must be safe in order to sell these larvae as feeders.

That's why they are expensive! They get large so they eat a lot of food and the food isn't cheap!

Rodney