Hornworms U.K.?

[AngieL]

Hey everyone!

Does anyone know where to get hornworms in the uk? I have had a look around the web but can't find any, just the moths! I have no bothers getting silkworms but fancied adding something new to keep a good variety going

Does anyone on here breed them maybe?

Thanks!

 

[Miss Lily]

You won't find them for sale in the UK - they are considered to be a pest as they are an invasive species. I've been keeping chams for 4 years and never seen hornworms offered for sale over here. A friend of mine grows cabbages in her garden so she can feed off the cabbage white caterpillars. Never tried it myself though.

 

[AngieL]

Yeah I see that

Thought someone on here might breed them though?

 

[Miss Lily]

Don't think so, not in the UK. Someone may prove me wrong though, but I've never seen any. When my first cham was poorly hornworms were suggested as nice soft feeders, but I couldn't get any. The supply of silkworms over here isn't very consistent either so I breed my own now.

 

[AngieL]

Good for you! I've just started getting them but not sure about breeding yet I get them from lizard lunch, they seem to have a steady supply!

 

[RoskaL]

Are silkworms good and easy to breed? Do you have to go into the moth stage? My misses is petrified of moths and the ones iv seen are well cool lol

 

[Miss Lily]

Good for you! I've just started getting them but not sure about breeding yet I get them from lizard lunch, they seem to have a steady supply!

They are about the best supplier - or silkwormstore. I tend to buy eggs now though as I never seem to get the whole lot that I order to stay alive.

Are silkworms good and easy to breed? Do you have to go into the moth stage? My misses is petrified of moths and the ones iv seen are well cool lol

Well, I'm not particularly fond of moths, but I absolutely adore silkmoths! They are the cutest things - like little furry white teddies with wings! Oh, and the eyelashes for antennae are something else! They can't fly, they just flutter their wings to attract each other when mating. Basically, you keep feeding and feeding the silks and they will eventually start spinning their cocoons. It takes 4 days for them to be complete enough to move the cocoons, then it takes a week to 10 days for the moths to emerge. Once their wings have dried out and unfurled they will begin mating and may stay locked together for over 24 hours. After they separate the female will begin to lay her eggs. They are really fascinating little critters!

 

[RoskaL]

They are about the best supplier - or silkwormstore. I tend to buy eggs now though as I never seem to get the whole lot that I order to stay alive.


Well, I'm not particularly fond of moths, but I absolutely adore silkmoths! They are the cutest things - like little furry white teddies with wings! Oh, and the eyelashes for antennae are something else! They can't fly, they just flutter their wings to attract each other when mating. Basically, you keep feeding and feeding the silks and they will eventually start spinning their cocoons. It takes 4 days for them to be complete enough to move the cocoons, then it takes a week to 10 days for the moths to emerge. Once their wings have dried out and unfurled they will begin mating and may stay locked together for over 24 hours. After they separate the female will begin to lay her eggs. They are really fascinating little critters!

How big do they get? Think I'm gunna order a starter kit thing and give it ago

 

[Miss Lily]

They get quite big - I didn't measure one, but I had trouble fitting my tweezers around them just before they started spinning! As far as I remember they got to over 2" long at least and about 1cm wide. They start off as tiny black hairy things barely a couple of mm long. Here's a link to some more info on raising them:http://www.wormspit.com/bombyxsilkworms.htm

 

[ZuggieTheCham]

Silkworms are easy to breed once you know what your doing.. Ive got around six hundred eggs in the fridge now and breeding them was really fascinating to do

 

[RoskaL]

right now i gotta find somewhere i can get a cheap kit, iv only got one cham so dont need millions lol

thanks for that link

 

[ZuggieTheCham]

We only have the one aswell but we had about 15 moths all together i think and have a lot of eggs it is mad how many they pop out lol green banana roaches are a good feeder are guy goes mad for them and when he has the one he saves it in his mouth for ages lol we are breeding them aswell they are the easyest things ever to do all u do is leave them to it and feed them and they breed haha

 

[Menio]

government has made very wrong decisions ...they allow people in whole europe to sell reptiles but where the hell we can get food for them?? it doesnt bother the government.
In UK is very poor market for reptiles;like chameleons ...they like green insects like gyna lurida,or Tettigonia viridissima which in UK is replaced with Locusta migratoria only.......fakt is that specie is also highly invasive ........??.....?........so whats the point? to remove Hornworm from market?..it must be other fakt government is not telling us the other Truth facts....but anyway they never do.

All livefood in UK for reptiles is black-grey colours and its very boring to eat the same every day.Im not surprised chameleons life only 2 years. maybe that is real reason for government to limit livefood.When one reptile dies...you go to BUY another and bisnes going on.Thats very sad truth we all turn our back from.

 

[AnamCara]

government has made very wrong decisions ...they allow people in whole europe to sell reptiles but where the hell we can get food for them?? it doesnt bother the government.
In UK is very poor market for reptiles;like chameleons ...they like green insects like gyna lurida,or Tettigonia viridissima which in UK is replaced with Locusta migratoria only.......fakt is that specie is also highly invasive ........??.....?........so whats the point? to remove Hornworm from market?..it must be other fakt government is not telling us the other Truth facts....but anyway they never do.

All livefood in UK for reptiles is black-grey colours and its very boring to eat the same every day.Im not surprised chameleons life only 2 years. maybe that is real reason for government to limit livefood.When one reptile dies...you go to BUY another and bisnes going on.Thats very sad truth we all turn our back from.

This is a very, very old thread. Are you looking for feeders in UK? Many people there keep chameleons and live longer than 2 years.