Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking for opinions on feeding silk worms.

does anyone use silk worms as feeders for their lizards???

Any pros or cons about silk worms???

Thanks
stano40

I personally don't know much about silkworms, but think they are a decent feeder bug. I do know there food is expensive and unless you have a mulberry tree you need to continue buying there special food. Read up on roaches. They are a great feeder and easy to keep. Look under the help and support section. On the worms you can check out California silkworms website for info.
James
www.blaberus.com

I think roaches and other foods are great but I also feel that your reptiles need variety. They are going to get different nutrients from different feeders.

My MHDs love nightcrawlers and that is the main part of their diet. They are naturally high in calcium. No other feeder really compares in calcium to the nightcrawler. I will never stop offering this feeder.

From what I have read the silkworms are also a bit higher on calcium making them a good calcium boost for your pets diet too.

For animals that require a lot of moisture or one recovering from dehydration the nightcrawlers and silkworms are also a bennie in that they are high in moisture. I would think this would also mean that you should feed some other more solid insects to fill out the diet and provide the fats and protiens that are needed but silks and earthworms are great feeders too.

To answer your question on silkworms, they are very nutritious. They aren't difficult to raise, but like James pointed out they require special food and it can be expensive. You also have to look at how many feeders you will be going through to determine if buying eggs is a viable option or if you should just buy the smaller amounts of worms with pre-mixed chow and feed them off.

I feed enough that it is feasable for me to buy 2000-5000 eggs and several pounds of chow powder at a time. It is price is lower the more you buy.

If you have a mulberry tree near by that you are sure isn't sprayed with insecticide then they are still a good choice in the summer as you can feed them for free. I have a tree in my yard and bring in several handfulls of leaves at a time and wash and drain them and keep them in the veggie crisper. They eat a lot so it isn't without some time investment.

Some reptiles don't take to silkies right away but once they taste them I have never had a critter turn them down. I fed them to lepard geckos when I was keeping them and my MHDs have never turned them down.

So, if you are wanting to try them out I wouldn't hesitate to do so. I firmly believe that no animal should eat just one food. Can you imagine how bored and malnourished you would get if you had to live just on one thing!

Just my opinion!

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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

Marcia,

I couldn't agree with you more. Although I promote roaches I think a variety of feeders is the best choice. I personally like roaches because different species eat different foods (some on eat leaves, others eat dog food, fruits) therefore they pass on a variety of good things. I think all feeders are useful and my goal is to someday breed as many of them as I can. I have seen a post before on how to make your own silkworm food. I'll have to try and find that one when I go to start breeding them.
James
www.blaberus.com

If you find that please share! That would be a real boon! I am just finishing up feeding off the results of 5000 eggs. My guys are really getting spoiled as they love silkworms.

I'm gonna have to email you off forum with some roach questions!
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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

Thanks James and Marcia,

That was some great info on the silk worms and I am pretty sure I will be starting to raise silk worms. Would also like to know the website for making silk worm chow.

Thanks again and if I find any info I'll share the news.

stano40
bob stano
wells, maine
Link

I was talking to a friend last night that keeps both silkies and roaches, and he said the silkworms where times times as much work. I have been searching but havn't found the post yet. I would love to breed silkies, but the food is so expense. I may buy one of the breeder kits and try them out. I have also learned that if you can find access to Mulberry trees you can vacuum seal the leaves for later use.
James

From the information I have gathered they would fall under waxworms, they have a lot of fat. So they would be a better treat. They also suffer from a lot of infections which I can't find if they are transferable, but makes them harder to keep.