Horn Worms

zjuckett

New Member
What are the pros and cons to hornworms? I tried putting mealworms in a small birdseed holder that latched to the inside of the cage and my Cham did not even bat an eye at it. The next day I threw some crickets in and BAM! she went nutso! I've been looking at possible feeders and I'm wondering what the big deal with Horn worms are. They're just so expensive. Also, what about dubia roaches...?
 
hornworms are great to hydrate a cham.
I feed one to each my my chams every other day.

the issue with them... they grow super fast.

they can more than double in size in less than a week.
 
What are the pros and cons to hornworms? I tried putting mealworms in a small birdseed holder that latched to the inside of the cage and my Cham did not even bat an eye at it. The next day I threw some crickets in and BAM! she went nutso! I've been looking at possible feeders and I'm wondering what the big deal with Horn worms are. They're just so expensive. Also, what about dubia roaches...?

Kinda good that she's not into mealworms. They tend to be a bit hard to digest.

Everything else you mentioned are great choices. Chams differ, what one cham will eat another won't. So only one way to see if your Cham will take to a feeder is to try it.

My Chams will not take soft bodies feeders without a fight (hormworms and butterworms mainly). I wish they would

I just made the switch to B.Dubia roaches from crickets and i have high hopes. Its going to be good to offer something won't jump away. They ae a much better feeder all around.
 
What do you feed them and what do you do with them after they've cocooned?

When you buy them they come in their own cup with food.
you just have to dump the poo out dialy.
there are directions.

i doubt youll be able to get them to cocoon. it can hard to do.

but if get alot, and you run out of food, they eat silkworm chow.

you can buy the powder form from mulberryfarms.com and follow the directions in making it so the worms will eat it.
 
How do you store hornworms? im going to a small reptile show on sunday and last time i went someone was selling them. I would like to try them because my new guy Ratchet's urates arnt as white as i would like them to be. Also what size should i get. ratchet is about 5 mounths old and reggie is about 8 months old. Ratchet can eat 1/2 in crickets no problem, and reggie is eating full grown crickets without a problem. sorry if im hijacking this thread lol

edit: i guess i poseted a little late. part of my question was already answered
 
How do you store hornworms? im going to a small reptile show on sunday and last time i went someone was selling them. I would like to try them because my new guy Ratchet's urates arnt as white as i would like them to be. Also what size should i get. ratchet is about 5 mounths old and reggie is about 8 months old. Ratchet can eat 1/2 in crickets no problem, and reggie is eating full grown crickets without a problem. sorry if im hijacking this thread lol

they come in their own cup... nothing required.
I would buy two cups of them.

one small for your 5 month old and keep in a cooler place (but not in the fridge)
and one small and keep in a room temp place for your older one.


i wasnt joking when i said they more than double in size in a week.

i had one worm it was inch long.. 3 days later it was as fat as my pinky finger and almost the same length.
 
That's awesome! I just don't want to buy them from the petstore because they are a lot more expensive there and I live in Vermont so shipping would be a disaster, especially with my school schedule. I'm just trying to figure our a way to keep her happy and healthy without making myself poor.
 
That's awesome! I just don't want to buy them from the petstore because they are a lot more expensive there and I live in Vermont so shipping would be a disaster, especially with my school schedule. I'm just trying to figure our a way to keep her happy and healthy without making myself poor.

Buy from greathornworm or whatever its called.. a site sponsor.
its like 12 bucks for a cup of 25 (but they put in like 28-30)
then shipping, but they do ok in a bit of cold.. and it wont be for long.
 
I just found this online.


http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/magnetic-gecko-ledge-acrylic-small.html

Would it be okay to put them in there? I tried holding a small cup of crickets but she runs away from me even if I look at her. I don't know why she's so shy. I feel bad opening the front door to spray her. I just want her to be happy!!

to house them, or to just feed the worm off?
if its to feed then yes...


side note- hornworms are a caterpiller.. which means they have sticky feet.
ive found the feet can be an issue when my chams shoot for them, they cant peel the worm off the cup or branch because of the stupid worms sucker feeet.

so dust the worms feet really well, then place it in the cup.. it can move, but makes it easier for your cham to get it.
 
Sounds good. Can these be a staple or should they just be fed as a treat? And do you have any experience with Dubia Roaches?
 
Sounds good. Can these be a staple or should they just be fed as a treat? And do you have any experience with Dubia Roaches?

not a staple, but i feed one worm every other day to my guys on top of their crickets..
i dont do roaches... but i know you can use them as a daily feeder, they are easy to breed (though it takes a few months to get enough bred to feed off regularly and not have to replace) and they cant climb things.
 
Sounds good. Can these be a staple or should they just be fed as a treat? And do you have any experience with Dubia Roaches?

i give mine as a treat and i give dubia roaches for their staple food. variety is best for chams so make sure you mix it up. i recently got tired of crickets and completely switched to roaches but might order some crickets when it warms up. what questions do you have about dubias?

i either hand feed the worms or put them on the cage screen. hornworms can grip the screen and my chams love mowing them down.
 
Cool, I might break down and buy some of the caterpillars. I like the crickets though because they can climb up the mesh so it's easy for her to get at them. She's my first real cham ( I had one when I was younger and my mom didn't know what to do when I left on vacation, even though I told her, and unfortunately he passed away ). I'm just worried cause she's a little skinny and she's always pissy looking with her body bars and such.
 
Cool, I might break down and buy some of the caterpillars. I like the crickets though because they can climb up the mesh so it's easy for her to get at them. She's my first real cham ( I had one when I was younger and my mom didn't know what to do when I left on vacation, even though I told her, and unfortunately he passed away ). I'm just worried cause she's a little skinny and she's always pissy looking with her body bars and such.

wait.. can you post a pic?
girls dont really get bars... are they yellow?

and horns are good for weight.. but if it is a female, you cant overfeed or let her eat what she wants... this can cause her to grow a large clutch of eggs, which can shortern her life span.
 
This is Gracie.

photo.jpg


I took this picture a few days ago, but she looks like this almost always. Except when I open the cage her black polkadots get a lot blacker.
 
This is Gracie.

photo.jpg


I took this picture a few days ago, but she looks like this almost always. Except when I open the cage her black polkadots get a lot blacker.

oops for some reason i was thinking veiled.
NM. no clue on gender on a graceful.
 
Hahaha! No problem. And I would love a veiled too! They're so pretty. I'm going to get this one under control and then hopefully save up some money in the upcoming months to get another. Do you suggest a veiled?
 
Hahaha! No problem. And I would love a veiled too! They're so pretty. I'm going to get this one under control and then hopefully save up some money in the upcoming months to get another. Do you suggest a veiled?

As a matter of fact I do... ;)

I have two. one male, one female.

I also will be breeding the male to another members female in april.....
 
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