Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I caught 6 wild hornworms on my grandfather's tomato plants this evening. On-line sources say that you should not feed them because they are toxic from the tomato leaves, which are toxic for reptiles. My question is that if I feed them bell pepper or hornworm chow for a few days can I then feed them?

No.. unlike with say mealworms or something, Catepillars accumulate toxins from the plants they feed on and store them in their body to protect their adult form from predators. Feeding them a different food for a few days wouldn't get rid of the toxins already present.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
3.5.3 Leopard geckos (2.0 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 0.1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short), 1.0 Rainwater Albino (Mycah), 0.4 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, Rain and Aris) and 2.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas, and Mystic))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
3 cats (Ashe, Sahara and Hercules)
6 Fish (4 Red Danios, 1 Cardinal Fish, and 1 Tiger Barb)
8 Ramshorn snails
"And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!"

So, you are saying that no matter what my mealworms feed on if I do as one gut-load instructs and starve them for 24 hours and then feed the gutload nothing from the bedding will carry over to my reptiles?

This is something I have been wondering about so I am really glad to see this topic come up!

Gutloading is a very controversial topic and one that everyone has an opinion on. I think it is under-discussed, just mentioned in terms of "you must gut-load" with no real exchange pertaining to the basics of it.

I would love to see more opinions and ideas on proper gut-loading!
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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html

I just completed an article on gutloading for the latest edition of the Chameleons! Online E-zine at www.chameleonnews.com. There are also several nutrition and feeder articles that can be accessed through the article reference link.
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Wild Eye Reptiles www.wildeyereptiles.com

Captive Chameleon Bloodline Tracking Database www.chameleondatabase.com

I didn't say that... its possible for stuff to carry over from the original gutload...vitamins... small amounts of toxins if present in quantities not sufficient to kill the insect... however, starving them for a week or so (merely providing water) will generally reduce the amounts to negligible in feeders insects. Catepillars are much different. Like poison arrow frogs, the toxins from their food are isolated and migrate to the skin and muscle flesh. During larval stage and into adult primarily those toxins remain present where they would fade from normal bugs who lived through exposure to them...
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
3.5.3 Leopard geckos (2.0 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 0.1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short), 1.0 Rainwater Albino (Mycah), 0.4 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, Rain and Aris) and 2.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas, and Mystic))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
3 cats (Ashe, Sahara and Hercules)
6 Fish (4 Red Danios, 1 Cardinal Fish, and 1 Tiger Barb)
8 Ramshorn snails
"And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!"

To further this... Hornworms who never feed from plants that produce toxins.. never become toxic themselves and therefore can be eaten. However, if they even once get fed from tomato or Tobacco plants, those toxins will remain in their system for their entire lives. Most insects aren't built like that...
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
3.5.3 Leopard geckos (2.0 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 0.1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short), 1.0 Rainwater Albino (Mycah), 0.4 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, Rain and Aris) and 2.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas, and Mystic))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
3 cats (Ashe, Sahara and Hercules)
6 Fish (4 Red Danios, 1 Cardinal Fish, and 1 Tiger Barb)
8 Ramshorn snails
"And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!"

The one and only "The Vivarium" issue I ever bought had an article about gut loading vs. coating the insect with vitamin/mineral/calcium powder. I can't remember what volume/issue # is was (it was the one with the Blue Beauty snake on the cover) but the point was, the insect that was coated with the powder had a better nutritional content than the insect that was just gut loaded.

I do both just to cover all my bases.

-Jackie