Hornworm Breeding Woes

[ParabuthusKing]

I am giving this one final shot and asking you all what you think is going on here.. I have ordered hornworms twice now with the hopes of breeding them as they are a very nutritious but expensive food source for my chameleons. I have ordered about 50 worms each time and fed off half of the worms before putting the remainder of jumbo worms into 2-3" of coco fiber that was well moistenend. Each time the worms dug and pupated normally. The first attempt I may have let the substrate dry out a little too much between misting from what I have learned, and ALL of the worms emerged as moths with deformed and stunted wings. All just twitched around until death Ok, so maybe I made a mistake.. Round #2 was identical, except that I made sure to keep substrate moist at all times. AGAIN they all emerged with defective wings! Urghh So now I have spent $100 with no colony to show for it. Any suggestions or insight is greatly appreciated. Also, anybody willing to part with a starter pack for the now poor and needy is greatly appreciated Thanks again!!

Nathan

 

[pigglett79]

Wow sorry to hear you are having such a hard time. I use Eco earth and mist it once a day. I have not ever had moths with stunted wings. I have seen where it takes a few hours for them to plump up their wings, but they eventually fill out and fly. If the soil is moist I can't see why they are not forming right.

 

[Trillian]

Sorry to make this more complicated... I had about 10 pupae, had about half hatch with stunted wings. I didn't ever mist the substrate (eco earth that was damp to start with). I put the nectar feeder on the ground for the stunted ones, but they didn't last long anyway. Got a heap of eggs which are hatching now.

 

[fisheramon]

im actually starting to breed hornworms as well. what are yall feeding them while worms?

 

[camimom]

I have a blog on breeding them that might help.

look to the right of my avatar, on the other side of grey bar, and click the blog thing. take you right to it.

 

[Trillian]

im actually starting to breed hornworms as well. what are yall feeding them while worms?

Hornworm chow. I ordered two cups from one of our sponsors and the caterpillars are growing fast! If you search the forum you can find hornworm chow recipes though, I'm just a big fan of the easy option!

 

[pssh]

You had something for them to climb out onto right? Also, maybe try feeding the breeder worms tomato plant instead of chow. With various moths and butterflies, sometimes they are better and stronger breeders when fed their natural diet. Dont use the tomato plant fed worms as feeders though! Their natural host plants tend to be toxic.