horn worms

[karmaticwave]

So, ive decided to breed hornworms. I have many worms pupating at the moment. Does any one have a good suggestion of gut load / food staple for the worms?

Ive currently got pre-made gut load from the internet but i would like to transition out of that....

any 1 know how large the enclosure for the moths should be? mine is like 2.5 feet tall.

ty

 

[pssh]

You will need hornworm chow if you want to raise them for feeders

 

[karmaticwave]

ok, just out of curiosity what is the chow composed of....?

 

[JohnnyD]

You can google hornworm food recipe and find what you need. One ingredient, agar, I believe, is the priciest ingredient you'll need. Great Lakes Hornworm sells the food either prepared or in an uncooked dry form.

 

[icegecko]

You can use silkworm food. It makes the hornworms green instead of teal. If you already have silkworms, this is the way to go- no need to get two different kinds of food mix.

This site answers everything about hornworms:
http://www.chameleonnews.com/05DecCaruthers.html

 

[d3s5]

I have eggs that just hatched about a week ago and they are eating silkworm chow without a problem. My moths are in my cham's adult cage (he doesn't need it yet) so it's 2x2x4 and they fly around the whole thing! I know they would appreciate even more room. You didn't mention the length and depth of your enclosure. 2.5 feet doesn't seem all that big for them but you won't know unless you try!
Deb

 

[karmaticwave]

i will probalby just buy the chow from great lakes.

The enclosure for moths is 2.5 feet tall by a 1.5 feet wide or so.
dont really have anything bigger

this should be big enough for them to lay some eggs right?

 

[d3s5]

Well, they have to have enough room so they can hover around your feeder to get food. The female is also in flight when she hovers around whatever she is going to lay her eggs on. She just kind of turns her abdomen underneath the leaf to lay the eggs.

 

[Shenzi Sixaxis]

"A Homemade Recipe for Manduca Diet

We have developed a diet composed of ingredients that are readily available in a large supermarket. Diet preparation requires only a kitchen blender and a microwave oven. The finished diet, having the consistency of tofu, can be easily sliced into any shape or size and the quality of the diet can be modified by adding or subtracting various chemical components.

1 cup (100 g) of non-toasted wheat germ (Bobs Red Mill, Milwaukie, OR)
1/3 cup (25 g) of nonfat dry milk (Sanalac, Fullerton, CA)
4 tablespoons of agar (generic)
1 teaspoon pure raw flaxseed oil (nonboiled, Sunnyside Corp., Wheeling IL)
1/2 tablespoon nutritional flake yeast (generic)
1 vitamin C tablet (1000 mg) (generic)
2 vitamin B tablets (generic)
2 multivitamin tablets (generic)
1 tablespoon of table sugar (generic)
2 1/2 cups water

1. Place vitamin tablets in blender and reduce to a powder. To this powder, add the wheat germ, powdered milk, and sugar and blend until the dry components are well-mixed.
2. Remove the dry mix from the blender and add 2.5 cups of boiling water. While mixing at low speed, add the agar. Be careful to replace the lid on the blender before turning it on. Blend for one minute and then add the dry mix and continue to mix.
3. Add the linseed oil and increase blender speed. You may need to manually blend the diet while the blender is running. The diet gets rather viscous at this point.
4. After blending for about 5 minutes, add the nutritional yeast flakes and continue blending for another minute. Components in the yeast are heat labile, thus, yeast is added as late as possible.
5. Once the diet is thoroughly mixed, pour it into a plastic tray that has a sealable airtight lid. The diet will solidify and remain usable for about 7 to 10 days if kept refrigerated."

DO NOT use the above recipe. It spoils very easily so it kills the worms. Plus, it's ridiculously expensive.


I haven't tried any of this list, but I hope it helps. https://www.chameleonforums.com/all-foods-hornworms-eat-60418/

 

[pssh]

If you use that recipe and add a good mold inhibitor, it should work just fine. PM me if you want to make some but need the inhibitor.

 

[karmaticwave]

any plant suggestions for inside moth enclosure?

on the smaller side...

any 1 mind telling me how to feed the moths...


ty

 

[d3s5]

I use a hummingbird feeder and hummingbird mix that I bought from Lowes. The moths lay their eggs right under the plastic yellow flowers on the feeder.

 

[d3s5]