Hornworm eggs

[ChamieNewbie]

So some awesome people here suggested that I get hornworms for my little baby so I ordered the eggs in the cup of pre-made food. They have hatched and they are moving all over the cup they are so tiny like almost cant even see them. About how long will it take for them to grow enough to feed them to my little guy? Also should I be doing anything special for them? Thank you all in advance you guys are really so helpful and I promise in the future as I learn I will pay it forward and help as much as yo all have IF I can ever half even half of the ability as you all have.

 

[Andee]

Just clean out the poop on a regular basis, I do it about twice a week when they are itty bitties, they will become big enough to feed off quicker than you expect... .____. it's a little scary sometimes how quickly the worms grow and can be slightly inconvenient lol. I would say it will take at most a week to get to feeding size, though I haven't used hornworms in a while so I'm not sure if my timing is quite right >.<

 

[MamatoElvis]

They will grow very quickly. If kept at room temperature, in two weeks they will be too big to feed. When I order small worms under an inch they only make it a week at room temp. When they get to be about 3/4 of an inch put them in a cooler. I store my hornworms in a cooler with an ice pack (make sure the ice pack is not touching the hornworm container). Change the ice pack in the morning and before bed. Mine will make it several weeks in the cooler before getting to large.

 

[carbyville]

They grow very quickly, especially if where they're at is on the warmer side. I just got a cup of hornworm eggs delivered on Tuesday. Many of them hatched yesterday, some hatched today, which was great because it really emphasized how quickly they grow. The Wednesday hatches were significantly larger than the hatches from today.

 

[ChamieNewbie]

Mine were hatching when they were delivered but it's warm here tight now. My house is cooler though and I have then kind of near the air vent since they are on the other side of the room from my Yoda. I do not want him to go crazy seeing them lol he's a piggy! Have I mentioned how awesome y'all are.....?

 

[Dro B]

You can double up on food by getting the youngest possible phoenixworms and feeding them the frass. Ive done it, but I wouldn't feed the PW's until they've pupated and flushed thier systems.

 

[absolutbill]

I order a cup of small hornworms, and a cup of eggs at the same time, but I have 2 chams, and 2 beardies to feed. As the already hatched hornworms grow I feed them off, probably smaller than I normally would, and just feed 1 extra worm, so that the worms left in the cup don't get too big at once. Once the cup of hornworms is fed off, if I have extra food left in that cup I transfer some of the recently hatched ones to that cup to use up the food. Hornworms are good feeders, but they do require a little finesse to not end up with a cup full of too-large worms. Good luck!