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waxworms as staple

pacman101 Dec 20, 2003 11:13 AM

My bearded dragon has gotten addicted to wax worms even though I fed them sparingly.Is it possible that I could use them as a staple if they are calcium dusted?

Replies (7)

somegirl Dec 20, 2003 11:38 AM

way too fatty for a staple.
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proud mama to:
1.0.0 ball python (mr snake),0.0.1 albino florida kingsnake (CK),1.1.0 leopard gecko (sebastian and vilma),0.1.0 colombian rainbow boa (luce),1.1.1 bearded dragon (kaipo, dulce, and kellen), 1.1.0 colombian redtailed boas (adam and eve)

pacman101 Dec 20, 2003 04:28 PM

On beautiful dragons it says silkworms are a great staple and they have 43% fat and waxworms only have 22% so is there another reason why I shouldnt use them as a staple?

Mattman Dec 20, 2003 05:38 PM

I'm pretty sure Waxworms have a much higher fat content then silkworms. I typed in on a search engine nutritional content of silkworms and found this site. Copy & Paste
http://www.silkworm-supplies.co.uk/nutri00.html

Waxworms are known to be very high in fat compared to most popular live feeders. Silkworms are a much better alternative to Waxworms because I'm pretty sure they have less fat, and above all the calcium to Phosphorus level is one of the most important ratios to watch when picking a healthy diet for reptiles. Silkworms have the best Cal-phos ratio of almost any feeder. I know butterworms are pretty high in calcium as well. I only did a quick search and found the site above, so look at a few sites and check nutritional contents on a few different ones. I usually use beautifuldragons.com myself, but that one fat listing for silkworms just did not sound right to me.
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Mystical Dragons webshots pictures
Mystical-Dragons Website

pacman101 Dec 20, 2003 05:44 PM

So would butterworms be a better choice?

Mattman Dec 20, 2003 06:14 PM

I honestly think if your looking for a worm to feed daily as a staple silkworms are the best worm to choose. Don't know anybody who feeds butterworms as a staple, but I do know a few people who feed silks daily with good results. If your looking for a treat to add variety to his diet either butterworms or silkworms are great choices. The reason why most people do not feed these as staples daily is because of the high prices of them. I think if they cost the same as crickets most people would feed worms instead cause of the ease of keeping them. Look at the prices of these worms before you decide to feed lots of them to your dragon. If you don't get him back to eating crickets now it's going to get harder in the future to get him back to eating them. I had a few dragons hold out for worms, but for the most part it wasn't to difficult to get them back to eating them as a staple. Worms for the most part are used as treats only.
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Mystical Dragons webshots pictures
Mystical-Dragons Website

Melle Dec 20, 2003 05:47 PM

This place says silkies have a fat content of 10.6% though.

http://www.silkworm-supplies.co.uk/nutri00.html
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~Melissa~
1.3 Leopard geckos (Guido, Oasis, Gypsy, Marli)
1.0 Bearded dragon (Pharoah)
1.0 Hog Island Boa (Michelangelo)
0.0.1 Crested Gecko (Picasso)
1.0 Ferret (da Vinci)
0.1 Chinchilla (Eevie)
1.0 Chinese Praying Mantis (Sid)

Melissas Menagerie

B22 Dec 20, 2003 06:31 PM

Hi
yep they can be aditcted to waxworms.
they r same as for us big mac,s
they r nice if you wanan give youre beardie more fat when he is thin but after that i would only give them 2,3 times a month.
byeeeeee

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