Hornworms Questions

[listen2justin]

so i went to my local shop to buy some hornworms. I normally get individuals and get like 5 at a time, but when i went they weren't selling individuals because they were too small so i bought one those containers that have about 25 or so in it. that was on saturday and i didn't realize they grow so quick! i fed my panther 4 on sunday and today i left 8 in his cage this morning. assuming he eats all of them today, i have about 10 left. so my questions:

on the care sheet, it only stated waxworms and mealworms are high in fat, but are these too fatty also?

i know hornworms have a lot of water, but would it be ok for me to finish the rest of them off this week? is there anything i need to worry about?

My cham is about 7 months old, so is 8-10 at a time too much?

I also have not been dusting them, but should i have be dusting these?

how often is a good recommendation to add these things? my staple is dubias, i give pheonix worms 1 to 2 days a week, and superworms 1 day a week.

 

[trickedoutbiker]

i know hornworms have a lot of water, but would it be ok for me to finish the rest of them off this week? is there anything i need to worry about?

Let us know how they taste?

Naw but really, hornworms aren't high in fat. Only around 3% or so. They are mostly water, that's why they explode into gushy goodness when you squeeze em too much or your cham takes a chomp at one.

When I have hornworms, since they do grow so fast, I let them grow to an inch or so in size, then I start to feed a couple of them every two days to my chameleon until the whole cup is gone (because he eats every other day). By the time I get through em all, they are about out of food and the last few are as large as they can get. Makes for absolute excellent hydration, especially the large fat juicy ones.

8-10 at a time wouldn't be too bad providing that they aren't all super huge. That could make for a nice runny stool the next time he poops, but it wouldn't hurt the cham. I always give hard-bodied insects too when I feed hornworms off so that way the hard food kind of balances all of the juices from the hornworm and makes the stool not so sloppy runny. The hydration is good for them though so you are good.

If you want to slow down their growth, chill them to 50 degrees for a day, every other day, and they will grow at about half the rate of normal. I use a mini fridge set to 50 degrees to do this. 1 day in the fridge, 1 day out, 1 day in fridge, 1 day out.... so on and so forth. Works great and the fridge is used to keep all my gutload materials in as well. A regular fridge would typically be too cold so you can place them in a small ice box with a bottle of frozen water to get the same effect if you don't have a fridge meant for insects and chow like I do.

As for how often? Personal preference really. I order a cup every two months in the winter and every month in the summer since it's warmer out. Just my personal preference.