Hornworm Care?

Tyaeda

Established Member
We suck lol. Hornworms at our house do not last very long at all. It's hardly worth buying the things because if we buy more than 2-3 the rest die before we have a chance to feed them off.

I've looked up different ways of keeping them, but nothing seems to work.

Right now we're feeding them the same "mash" I feed my crickets. They're cubes of blended dandelion leaves, oranges, carrots, and squash. Not sure of the ratio of those, but the caterpillars eat it readily.

We're doing a bit of a revamp of our entire chameleon setup so now would probably be a good time to set up proper feeder bins. I've got mealworms and butters covered... crickets are doing very well too... it's just these darn hw I can't seem to figure out.

Would also like some info on silkies. I know they eat special mulberry food, but is their husbandry the same as hornworms?
 
You can check out my blogs for some help on raising both horn worms and silk worms. I havent had much luck feeding hornworms anything other than the commercial chow or whole leafy greens, carrots, red bell pepper, squash etc. They seem to like whole veggies more than mashed up stuff unless its the commercial chow.
 
Pigglett79 has two blogs with extensive information on keeping horn and silk worms. They do need special care but it is not hard at all. I have successfully raised silkworms to adult stage and got eggs! I am currently hatching out a batch. Both worms need a special chow. Silks do need a mulberry based chow. I am experimenting with a homemade hornworm chow cause the commercial stuff really stinks. It smells just like the poo!!! I got the silkworm chow on ebay for a much more reasonable rate than other places.
 
I buy my hornworms with the cups of food from Great Lake Hornworm. The only problem I ever have is that they grow too big and I can't get them all fed. I keep them cool to get them to slow down in growth. I don't think I have ever had more than one or two die, and usually that has been from physical trauma in shipping. I cool them for a day then keep them at room temp, which is probably in the low 70's, then rotate them to a cool windowsill every 2 days. I usually buy too many and end up giving them to friends with bigger reptiles. My panthers are not full grown yet so they won't eat the full grown worms.
 
Perhaps the poo smells just like the food ;) .....they don't seem to have a very efficient digestive system.

Also the food will start to smell bad when it begins to grow bacteria. Look for a white film and you will know bad things are happening. It doesn't smell too bad otherwise.
 
Also the food will start to smell bad when it begins to grow bacteria. Look for a white film and you will know bad things are happening. It doesn't smell too bad otherwise.

Maybe its just me, that smell just gets stuck in my nose! Yuck!
 
The smell of making gutload cubes resonates in my house for a couple days afterwards. It's so gross. Squash, dandelion, and orange.... not the best combo.
 
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