Buying Hornworms Eggs or Worm? Advice!

[ColorbyChameleon]

Hi everyone!

I want to place an order for some hornworms today and would like some advice if I should buy them by the eggs or already hatched? Is it difficult to hatch them? Also recommendations to a good fast reliable vendor

I have only bought them at a couple shows but would like to start ordering online to make them a more consistent part of my Chams diet. The closest shows are always 2 or more hours away.

Thanks!

 

[junglefries]

Mulberry farms or coastal silkworms. both have pros and cons. i would suggest an order from each and you'll know what i am talking about. that being said, i order from both of them all the time. you may want to find a mom and pop pet store that stocks them. i have one that gets them every wednesday. i go there and pick up two cups for $10.95 each. buy the smallest possible, about 3/4" & the next day they will be the perfect adult cham feeder size. you can keep them in the fridge every other day to slow down growth. shipping and handling is where it hurts your wallet. one of the companies offers a deal that includes s&h, which i really like. as far as eggs, they are cheap and many users here have successfully hatched them. there are posts and experiences are easy to find through a quick search.

 

[pssh]

Eggs are easy to hatch, but there is no way to delay the hatch like silkworms. So if you get 100 eggs, you will end up with nearly all of them hatching within about a week. If you only have one chameleon, get a small amount. If you are feeding a pretty big animal, I would just get the pods.

 

[frikitiki]

Hatching the eggs is very easy. Its nothing to be scared of.

 

[ridgebax1]

I have just recently started feeding hornworms and both my cham and my granddaughter's beardie love them! They do grow really fast. I swear if you watch closely you can see them grow! My cham cannot really handle the adult worms yet but the beardie can with no problem. I am thinking of ordering eggs in the future. Shop around for eggs though because some charge A LOT for them. I have gotten worms from Coastal and Mulberry and the Mulberry farms were more robust. However sometimes the retailers will be sold out and if you need them then you just have to go with whoever has them.
Pigglett79 has to blogs dedicated to raising hornworms and silkworms that are very helpful

 

[pigglett79]

My favorite place to buy hornworm eggs is greatlakes hornworms. They even have a hornworm egg and food combo that makes it easy. I find their worms to be top quality. For every 50 eggs they send 3 cups. You then make the food and I put around 3/4 cup of food in each cup then put the remaining food in a tupperware for use later. That way if the food in the cup goes bad or you want to pull them out of the cup, you still have fresh food in the frig to use.

Also note that when worms are approaching the size you want, start putting them in the frig for a a day at a time, then out for a day. This will slow their growth and allow you to feed them off longer.