homemade hornworm chow

I have this one....

Hornworm Chow Recipe 1
A Homemade Recipe for Hornworm 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 linseed 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.
 
Thanks Dave. I imagine the short shelf life would come from the dairy in the mix. If anyone else has another recipe that would be awesome. Thanks again Dave. I have most of those ingridents already. Just need to find some agar.

Danny
 
Agar you can get at a lot of vitamin shoppes. I've made this recipe myself, ending in vast amounts of mold in about a week, and I mean VAST (3/4 of the pod full), but it's a good starting point as the dry mix did look like a lot of hornworm chows I have used with Small Pet Feeders.

I'm still experimenting with recipes, it's a process.
 
Most recipes are variations similar to the one posted above, but more scientific sounding. A bit of research on google will find several. A lot have cholesterol added.

Adding some preservatives will help it last much longer.
 
There's this one too...
Hornworm Chow Recipe 2

Components:

DI water 2L (DI = De-Ionized)
agar 40 grams
Dry-Pack
streptomycin sulfate 0.4 grams
ascorbic acid 8 grams
10% formalin 40 mL
linseed oil 8 mL
Vitamin Solution 20mL

Preparation of Agar Solution:

***For those who prefer to prepare agar on hot plate:
1. Boil I .5L water, mix remaining (500 mL) water and agar together.
2. Add agar, stir at boiling until dissolved.

***For those who prefer to prepare agar in autoclave:
1. Mix 2L water and 40 grams of agar in 4000 mL Erlenmeyer flask.
2. Autoclave for 20 minutes.

Preparation of Artificial Diet:
1. Add Dry-Pack to agar solution and mix (or blend).
2. Allow to cool to 50-60 degrees Celcius, remix (or blend)
3. Add remaining ingredients (4-8), mix (or blend).
4. Allow to cool to 40-50 degrees C, remix (or blend).
5. Pour into trays to solidify.
6. Cover trays with aluminum foil, refrigerate for later use.

Dry-Pack Ingredients --
wheat germ 160 grams
Casein 72 grams
sucrose 64 grams
salt mixture W 24 grams
Brewer's yeast 32 grams
cholesterol 7 grams
sorbic acid 4grams
methyl p-hydroxybenzoate 2 grams

Vitamin Solution Ingredients --
nicotinic acid 450 mg
riboflavin 225 mg
thiamine 105 mg
pyridoxine 105 mg
folic acid 105 mg
biotin 9 mg
DDI water 450mL (DDI = Double Deionized)
 
Thanks for sharing! I just started raising some myself and was wondering how easy it would be to make some of my own instead of purchase it.
 
I like Dave's recipe.
I'm going to start raising my own hornworms and was doing a search the other day.
Here's one I found from a past posts here at the forum.
Either way they are perishable. That's the downside of make it yourself.
But they look healthier.

This homemade chow/paste works for feeding hornworms too:
You can make a paste (blender) from dandelion, grape vine leaves, arugula, mustard greens, basil, some sweet potato, some carrot, wheat germ, a dash of spirulina and a little brewers yeast1 cup (100 g) of non-toasted wheat germ (Bobs Red Mill, Milwaukie,
 
Success with home made hornworm chow??

[I like Dave's recipe.
I'm going to start raising my own hornworms and was doing a search the other day.
Here's one I found from a past posts here at the forum.
Either way they are perishable. That's the downside of make it yourself.
But they look healthier.[This homemade chow/paste works for feeding hornworms too:
You can make a paste (blender) from dandelion, grape vine leaves, arugula, mustard greens, basil, some sweet potato, some carrot, wheat germ, a dash of spirulina and a little brewers yeast1 cup (100 g) of non-toasted wheat germ (Bobs Red Mill, Milwaukie,]

:eek:Hi There, I was wondering if anyone had good result with "fleetwoodchams"home made horn worm chow? How much brewers yeast? Actually what are the quantities of the veggies too?

If I want to make the Recipe 1, what is a dry-pack? Do you buy it as a all in one product or do I need to obtain every ingredient on its own?

To preserve the paste, can I freeze it and take out as I need?
Thank you***:eek:
 
Last edited:
When I made this recipe I mixed all the dry ingredients together then divided it. Put some in freezer and made some to use. I just add the liquids to make a batch as needed.
 
I have this one....

Hornworm Chow Recipe 1
A Homemade Recipe for Hornworm 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 linseed 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.

Anyone try this receipe?
 
I made this product last night companies in the simple recipe. By the way, linseed oil and flaxseed oil come from the same plant but the extraction processes to produce them are different. Linseed oil is extracted using a petroleum product and therefore is considered not for consumption. I'm wondering if it was used here as a preservative? At any rate, I am wondering if there is any reason you can't put this into bars and then freeze the bars to help them last longer. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm going to try and will post when I have information. I can't imagine it would damage any of the nutrients, other than perhaps the benefits of the Yeast.
 
I made this product last night companies in the simple recipe. By the way, linseed oil and flaxseed oil come from the same plant but the extraction processes to produce them are different. Linseed oil is extracted using a petroleum product and therefore is considered not for consumption. I'm wondering if it was used here as a preservative? At any rate, I am wondering if there is any reason you can't put this into bars and then freeze the bars to help them last longer. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm going to try and will post when I have information. I can't imagine it would damage any of the nutrients, other than perhaps the benefits of the Yeast.

Did your hornworms actually eat it? I followed the simple recipe exactly and the worms I ordered worn go near this stuff what couple be wrong?
 
I have this one....

Hornworm Chow Recipe 1
A Homemade Recipe for Hornworm 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 linseed 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.
How many mg should the vitamin B tablets be? The employee said 500mg,1000mg,2000mg were the most commonly purchased. Please help!
 
I have this one....

Hornworm Chow Recipe 1
A Homemade Recipe for Hornworm 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 linseed 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.
Does anyone know what kind (B1,B2,B6,B12,B50,B100 ECT..) of vitamin B and what mg of vitamin B should be used in this chow recipie?
 
I keep asking but NO ONE has answered yet...does anyone know which type of vitamin B (B1,B2,B6,B12,B50,B100,B COMPLEX) and how many mg (50,100,200,500,1000,2000 ect...) ?????
 
I have this one....

Hornworm Chow Recipe 1
A Homemade Recipe for Hornworm 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 linseed 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.
Hi so could I just add in all the components if I’m not going to use all of it? Like I have a pretty small hornworm colony so I don’t think I can use all of the stuff if I do as the instructions say?
 
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