best type of worm?

I have a 2-3 month old male veiled and I'm introducing hand feeding to him tomorrow. What is the most beneficial type of worm I can offer him?

My local pet store carries silk, horn, meal and super worms.

of those 4 silks are the most nutritious.
hornworms are also pretty good especially if your worried about hydration.

whats your local store?

Dont mean to hijack the thread but Ive never used horned worms, Do you have to cut the horns off or anything? wont the cams get hurt with the horns? (yeah I know stupid question LOL and you thought there were no stupid questions HA!! i found one)

sedecatur said:

Dont mean to hijack the thread but Ive never used horned worms, Do you have to cut the horns off or anything? wont the cams get hurt with the horns? (yeah I know stupid question LOL and you thought there were no stupid questions HA!! i found one)

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no the horns are soft and bendable. Not a stupid question at all!!! The horn do look sharp and spiky but they are decieving.

DAD3886 said:

whats your local store?

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I live in Gainesville - the store I am referring to is Hogtown Reptiles.

Silkworms would be the best out of all of those. They are low in fat which is good and have about the same fat content as a cricket. Supers are ok(but fatty) so beware because alot of chams love those over crickets sometimes and give up on crickets to eat those. I guess they must taste like steak or something! lol I would not get horns if you have a young chameleon. They grow very quickly and will probably be too big to feed off when you have a young chameleon like you do. they can triple their size in a matter of days! Meals are basically like supers but have less meat and are basically just exoskeleton, so use those sparingly also.

Drew V said:

of those 4 silks are the most nutritious.
hornworms are also pretty good especially if your worried about hydration.

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well considering I have yet to see my cham drink one single drop, I will say I am somewhat worried about his hydration.. although his poops are looking good.

Don't worry as long as he looks good and his poop looks good too. I tear my hair out all the time trying to get my chameleon to drink!!!

Out of all those the first one I had success with hand feeding my just 3 mo panther was a baby superworms super wiggle

Phoenix worms are also good for the young chams.

carol5208 said:

Don't worry as long as he looks good and his poop looks good too. I tear my hair out all the time trying to get my chameleon to drink!!!

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lol I understand your frustration. I just worry about my little guy. After getting advice on this forum and talking to many cham owners my thinking is, they won't thirst themselves to death, right??? lol

carol5208 said:

Silkworms would be the best out of all of those. They are low in fat which is good and have about the same fat content as a cricket. Supers are ok(but fatty) so beware because alot of chams love those over crickets sometimes and give up on crickets to eat those.i guess they must take like steak or something! lol I would not get horns if you have a young chameleon. They grow very quickly and will probably be too big to feed off when you have a young chameleon like you do. they can triple their size in a matter of days! Meals are basically like supers but have less meat and are basically just exoskeleton, so use those sparingly also.

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Thanks Carol. I agree, who wants a hot dog when they can have steak?!
I will try the silk worms.

Yep I placed an order yesterday through Joshs Frogs on some Phoenix worms so I am just waiting for those to get here I have not heard anything though so not sure when I will get them but I am curious to see if Ozzie likes them as much as he did the silkworms.

jannb said:

Phoenix worms are also good for the young chams.

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none of the pet stores around here carry them. Do you know of a website that offers them?

Ozzie2011 said:

Yep I placed an order yesterday through Joshs Frogs on some Phoenix worms so I am just waiting for those to get here I have not heard anything though so not sure when I will get them but I am curious to see if Ozzie likes them as much as he did the silkworms.

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Your Ozzie is very handsome btw! I wish my cham would change colors like that! He usually stays a brown/green color except for when he sleeps. He turns a pretty green, like your avi, when he sleeps.

Momma Lauren said:

none of the pet stores around here carry them. Do you know of a website that offers them?

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www.coastalsilkworm.com
www.phoenixworms.com

Phoenix worms, Nutriworms, ReptiWorms are all the same thing, they are the maggot or “grub” (sounds better) of the Black Soldier Fly. These companies have trademarked the grub phase somehow because of a proprietary diet or something but they are all a very common garbage munching larvae of a fly that only exists for about eight days to breed and lay eggs. The adult fly doesn’t even have a mouth, it never eats. It lives off the fat acquired in the grub stage and dies after those few days as an adult. The adult looks a little like a wasp, not so much like a fly. The grubs are very neat to read about. They seem to excrete some type of antibiotic that protects them from the germs in the garbage where they live, and it is actually a repellant to the common house fly. These grubs chomp through food waste or even waste from pig or chicken farms, etc to the point that they are being used for all types of vermicomposting experiments to reduce massive amounts of waste down to a manageable soil additive type of compost. I think these will be a common pet food item very soon as more people catch up about raising them. I just ordered from Josh’s frogs also to get my BSF bucket going. I’ll be willing to share as I learn more and get my colony going.