camimom
New Member
So I had a request to see my hornworm set up.
Scalestailsandclaws... here ya go!
This is the cage. This is what I do, if you do it different or dont agree, please feel free to add.
Its a baby cham cage that I no longer needed.
Inside is a small scheffelara plant. This is for the hornworm moths to land on and lay eggs on later. I will be adding 2 or 3 more this week.
To feed the moths, you need to get a hummingbird feeder with the premixed sugar water in it. (dont mix it yourself, as someone else did, got the mixture wrong, and they died)
To get them to breed, you must get a tomato plant, and place it near the cage, NOT in, because they can eat it, and it is toxic, thus making the worm/moth toxic to your chams. (and yes, the moths can be fed to your cham too, but I plan to wait until i have a bunch of eggs laid)
I dont have one yet, but I am getting one this week.
It takes several weeks for the moths to emerge.
Now, the bin inside the cage, is a small plastic bin filled with ecoearth (you can use regular topsoil if you want, I just didnt have any)
When you have hornworms, they must have 24 hour access to food, they eat silkworm chow. Once the worm has reached a length of roughly 3-4 inches (which may only take less than 2 weeks) OR the worm is beginning to loook a bit dirty and raggedy looking, or the feet have begun to disappear within the fat rolls (HAHA) take that worm and place it in a tub of dirt, that is just slightly damp.
To see a size reference, go here. https://www.chameleonforums.com/holy-hornworms-76403/ (also some great info in there)
Do not give the worm in the dirt anymore food. Eventually, the worm should bury itself in the dirt. I had some who did it almost immediately, and some who it took over 3 weeks to pupate, even after they had buried themselves.
Once the worm is pupated (turned into a brown cocoon, as can be seen here in my first pic of this thread, https://www.chameleonforums.com/madness-oober-pic-heavy-77891/)
Leave it alone. I only dug mine up because I was transfering them to a smaller bin.
Then place the dirt and pupae in the cage, place the tomato plant(s) next to the cage.. and wait. once emerged, the moths will drink suger water, mate, lay eggs, and then you can either collect the eggs and place them in another tub, or just leave them and wait for them to hatch. Up to you.
And then the cycle begins again.
Before I add the pic, One more thing.
When you order hornworms, they arrive in a cup that yo uhave to turn upside down so the poop will fall on the lid and so they can eat.
I leave them in there until it gets too crowded or they run out of the food.
THen i remove them, and place them in a tub, with dirt on one half of the tub, and the other side bare, so when they feel the need to dig, they can.
Once in this tub, i just place slices of the silkworm chow in the bare side, and let them do their thing.
So, heres my pic. I hope this was informative. and I hope it pays off, cuz I am tired of spending so much money on these worms when i have 4-6 chams to feed!
View attachment 50922
Scalestailsandclaws... here ya go!
This is the cage. This is what I do, if you do it different or dont agree, please feel free to add.
Its a baby cham cage that I no longer needed.
Inside is a small scheffelara plant. This is for the hornworm moths to land on and lay eggs on later. I will be adding 2 or 3 more this week.
To feed the moths, you need to get a hummingbird feeder with the premixed sugar water in it. (dont mix it yourself, as someone else did, got the mixture wrong, and they died)
To get them to breed, you must get a tomato plant, and place it near the cage, NOT in, because they can eat it, and it is toxic, thus making the worm/moth toxic to your chams. (and yes, the moths can be fed to your cham too, but I plan to wait until i have a bunch of eggs laid)
I dont have one yet, but I am getting one this week.
It takes several weeks for the moths to emerge.
Now, the bin inside the cage, is a small plastic bin filled with ecoearth (you can use regular topsoil if you want, I just didnt have any)
When you have hornworms, they must have 24 hour access to food, they eat silkworm chow. Once the worm has reached a length of roughly 3-4 inches (which may only take less than 2 weeks) OR the worm is beginning to loook a bit dirty and raggedy looking, or the feet have begun to disappear within the fat rolls (HAHA) take that worm and place it in a tub of dirt, that is just slightly damp.
To see a size reference, go here. https://www.chameleonforums.com/holy-hornworms-76403/ (also some great info in there)
Do not give the worm in the dirt anymore food. Eventually, the worm should bury itself in the dirt. I had some who did it almost immediately, and some who it took over 3 weeks to pupate, even after they had buried themselves.
Once the worm is pupated (turned into a brown cocoon, as can be seen here in my first pic of this thread, https://www.chameleonforums.com/madness-oober-pic-heavy-77891/)
Leave it alone. I only dug mine up because I was transfering them to a smaller bin.
Then place the dirt and pupae in the cage, place the tomato plant(s) next to the cage.. and wait. once emerged, the moths will drink suger water, mate, lay eggs, and then you can either collect the eggs and place them in another tub, or just leave them and wait for them to hatch. Up to you.
And then the cycle begins again.
Before I add the pic, One more thing.
When you order hornworms, they arrive in a cup that yo uhave to turn upside down so the poop will fall on the lid and so they can eat.
I leave them in there until it gets too crowded or they run out of the food.
THen i remove them, and place them in a tub, with dirt on one half of the tub, and the other side bare, so when they feel the need to dig, they can.
Once in this tub, i just place slices of the silkworm chow in the bare side, and let them do their thing.
So, heres my pic. I hope this was informative. and I hope it pays off, cuz I am tired of spending so much money on these worms when i have 4-6 chams to feed!
View attachment 50922
Last edited:
thanks for the info!!
