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What Can I Feed Hornworms?

AliCat37

AliCat37

Michelle's Candied Corns!
I just picked up some hornworms for my picky frilled lizard (hasn't eaten in almost a year now), and they have eaten almost all the chow they had in their cups. I am aware that there is pre made chow, however, it is very costly and if toothless doesn't eat the worms, buying the chow is just more money down the drain. I read that they can be fed collared greens, romaine lettuce, kale, spinach, dandelion leaves, and red peppers. Are these okay? I don't have any mulberry leaves, quite frankly I don't even know what a mulberry tree is o.o
 
as far as i know they only eat solanaceous plants. such as tomato, pepper, potato, nightshade and eggplant. you can buy 6 packs of tomatoes for a little over a dollar, so i guess that's where i would start.
 
In the wild hornworms mostly eat tomato and tobacco leaves. If you feed it that they will be toxic for your lizard. Mulberry leaves is what is feed to silkworms which are raised for feeding reptiles so mulberry leaves would be fine, but I didn't know hornworms ate mulberry leaves. Here is a link that has pics of mulberry trees, you might have one in your neighboor hood and not know it! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morus_(plant)
 
Feed them off as fast as you can. I've been in that place, and couldn't get them to eat anything besides their chow.
 
I *should* have a bunch of chow I can send you. Might be expired, but if unopened, it never goes bad. Just LMK.
 
They are usually sold in a container with enough chow to get them to adulthood. Their lifespan from egg to moth is a short one. The warmer you keep them the faster they grow. Once they are of size they stop eating and begin to chrysalis; no amount of food will tempt them. The food they are fed when they are used for reptile food is a soy based gel. They were originally fed a silkworm chow (Mulberry Farms sells it) but they are of less nutritional value then. Nightshade plants make them toxic to things that then eat them. So DON'T feed them their food of choice, tomato plants.
I'd take Nanci's advice and feed them off quickly. Next time try silkworms as a teaser food. I grow them all summer long from eggs and use the free Mulberry leaves off trees on my property. Much cheaper than Goliaths and they have a longer morph period. My guys love them. It's like crack to them!

Terri
 
Hmm thanks for the input everyone. I knew that the tomatoes were toxic for the lizard so I didn't even try it. Feeding them off fast is a good idea, but like I said, Toothless hasn't eaten in like a year so these are the little (not so little lol) experiment ones to see if he'll eat. I just don't have any other things that eat bugs :(
I guess I don't want them to starve to death. I know they are bugs but I feel bad either way. If they even just live long enough to pupate that would be perfect. Then when they turn into moths I can let them go.

Chip, if Toothless does eat these guys I'll be happy to take the chow from you, as I'll probably be ordering them a lot.
 
I could never get Tyrion to eat hornworms. Thankfully Kallie the beardie is not picky. Mine grew VERY quickly so I wonder if Tyr was just intimidated by the size. Good luck with Toothless!
 
DragonsDenSerpents said:
I could never get Tyrion to eat hornworms. Thankfully Kallie the beardie is not picky. Mine grew VERY quickly so I wonder if Tyr was just intimidated by the size. Good luck with Toothless!
Click to expand...

Toothless ate very well the first year I had him. He ate at least 35 crickets a day or 15-20 dubias. Then he stopped eating from the tongs, then he stopped eating from the food bowl, and finally all together. He used to eat adult dubias as a little baby, so I would be surprised if toes was scared of the size of the worms. He did eat three of the horn worms, and potentially a fourth ( I left it in his cage).
 
The problem with hornworms is they grow so quickly that they don't have time to wait around for food; they'll either pupate or whatever you call it, or die.
 
I know that, I've had them before. When he did eat. I gave them some dandelion leaves. I also mixed cricket food with water and they seemed to eat it.
 
Please DO NOT release them. They are a crop nuisance insect. If you were the one growing anything in the nightshade family (potato, tomato, eggplant, tobacco, etc.) you would be very bummed to find them in your garden.

Terri
 
Teri, I was just joking around. Even though my neighbor is annoying sometimes he gives me crops from his garden which I do really appreciate and I would sorely hate to lose that opportunity do to me sabotaging his garden with hornworms.
 
No worries, I know you were kidding. When I was a kid I used to collect them from a neighbor's garden who paid me a nickel a piece. My mom got really angry with me when she caught me putting them back later the same day in hopes of more nickels.:crazy01:
I was actually responding to the OP's thought of keeping the non eaten ones through to the moth stage and then releasing them. When I sold them at the pet store we constantly told people they were not for kids to watch go through the morph stages and then release like the Painted Lady Butterfly kits you see for sale. They are a great food for insectivores but a disaster for the agricultural business.

Terri
 
Idk I see the adult sphinx moths all the time out here.
I've rarely seen the horn worms. I went out to catch a toad today to eat all the leftovers. Though personally I see nothing wrong with releasing a native animal.

I wish that the freaking lizard would just eat. It has been over a year since he has last eaten actually. He picks at food once in a while, but I've been force feeding him the majority of this time. We've been to three vets so far and no one knows what to do.
 
Idk I see the adult sphinx moths all the time out here.
I've rarely seen the horn worms. I went out to catch a toad today to eat all the leftovers. Though personally I see nothing wrong with releasing a native animal.

I wish that the freaking lizard would just eat. It has been over a year since he has last eaten actually. He picks at food once in a while, but I've been force feeding him the majority of this time. We've been to three vets so far and no one knows what to do.

Lars, you can have them :) but I need something in exchange for my neighbors!
They cut down my bushes to see into the yard, then get upset when I take the snakes out because they hate snakes. She also co plainer once while I was taking pictures because she wanted to let her dog out.
 
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