Hornworms

[Chameleon Creator]

I was moving the hornworms into their semi individual habitats last night and it was more tricky than I thought, they have quite the powerful grip..
Also they whipped back at the q tip I was using and it looked like they tried biting it. They seem very aggressive which worries me.
Are these safe to feed to a panther chameleon?
Does anyone have any tricks to move them more quickly? Thanks guys

 

[nightanole]

1, a silk/horn will never harm a lizard
2, yes they have a kunfu grip
3. I use my hands and just peal them off

 

[pigglett79]

What are you moving them from and in to? I grow mine initially in the deli cups; however I have the screen attached to the cups with twist ties so once they get big enough I can untwist the ties and pull the entire inside screen out. This makes it much easier to move them from the cup to the Tupperware I use to grow them the rest of the time.

Yes they are a little aggressive and they have bitten me (doesnt hurt, is just startling). What I do when I feed them is either hand feed or dust their feet with calcium so that they don’t stick to the branches too hard. I have seen my boys tug at them and have to run over to get them because their tongue cant pull them off the branch.


Once my bearded dragon didn’t eat it head first and it was whipping around and trying to bite him. He also tried to swallow one without chewing once and it I think was fighting on the way down and he coughed it up.

But, they are great for hydration and the boys love them so I always will feed them to them. Just try feeding them carefully, like by hand or with dusted feet and you shouldn’t have any issues.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

I heard horror stories of the hornworms flinging back and biting the chams eye turret, also one that didn't get killed in the chewing process and hung into the chams tongue in the throat and then had to be pried out.
So hornworms are the same as silk worms?

 

[pigglett79]

I heard horror stories of the hornworms flinging back and biting the chams eye turret, also one that didn't get killed in the chewing process and hung into the chams tongue in the throat and then had to be pried out.
So hornworms are the same as silk worms?

They are much different than silk worms both nutritionally and life cycle.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

What are you moving them from and in to? I grow mine initially in the deli cups; however I have the screen attached to the cups with twist ties so once they get big enough I can untwist the ties and pull the entire inside screen out. This makes it much easier to move them from the cup to the Tupperware I use to grow them the rest of the time.



Yes they are a little aggressive and they have bitten me (doesnt hurt, is just startling). What I do when I feed them is either hand feed or dust their feet with calcium so that they don’t stick to the branches too hard. I have seen my boys tug at them and have to run over to get them because their tongue cant pull them off the branch.





Once my bearded dragon didn’t eat it head first and it was whipping around and trying to bite him. He also tried to swallow one without chewing once and it I think was fighting on the way down and he coughed it up.



But, they are great for hydration and the boys love them so I always will feed them to them. Just try feeding them carefully, like by hand or with dusted feet and you shouldn’t have any issues.

Another horror story lol.
Well I'll try the dusting then. It was recommended to crush their mandible, although I've never believed in that prior to reading that.
I keep them in deli cup as well with a gutter guard inside. I'm moving them into deli cups from 50-60 a cup down to about ten in each

 

[Chameleon Creator]

They are much different than silk worms both nutritionally and life cycle.

That's what I thought but the first reply said horn/silk worm.. I've never used silkies before and this is my first time using hornworms

 

[NosyBe15]

I feed my 2 chams Horn's all the time. (once a week meaning all the time) and I have never had an issue. Once the cham toungs it and gets it into its mouth, the first bite the cham takes, you will see a bit of guts shoot out of both ends of the horn worm.. Which I would believe would make it pretty hard for it to bite back.

Ive never had an issue.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

I feed my 2 chams Horn's all the time. (once a week meaning all the time) and I have never had an issue. Once the cham toungs it and gets it into its mouth, the first bite the cham takes, you will see a bit of guts shoot out of both ends of the horn worm.. Which I would believe would make it pretty hard for it to bite back.



Ive never had an issue.

Yes, assuming they will always bite it first, I don't think mine will have a problem with this but I just want everyone's thought on this. So this kind of puts me at ease. Maybe I'll try it alive first to get him to enjoy the taste and feed them dead afterwards

 

[Bush baby]

My Jackson will not touch horn worms because of it's grip. One time he shot his tongue at one and it held onto the branch i placed it on so tight, he could not recoil his tongue. He fought with it for a good 30 seconds before it finally let go, but the fighting/pulling seemed to hurt his tongue.

The 'bite back' is the reason why instinctively Cham's like to seize their prey by the head, thus killing it as soon as it enters the mouth.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

My Jackson will not touch horn worms because of it's grip. One time he shot his tongue at one and it held onto the branch i placed it on so tight, he could not recoil his tongue. He fought with it for a good 30 seconds before it finally let go, but the fighting/pulling seemed to hurt his tongue.

The 'bite back' is the reason why instinctively Cham's like to seize their prey by the head, thus killing it as soon as it enters the mouth.

Why are these worms so freakin strong?? Bizarre

 

[BrucenBruce]

Why are these worms so freakin strong?? Bizarre

The worm's idea of a great day is _not_ one on which it gets eaten by a chameleon. If having a strong grip on its branch prevents that, it'll hold on (literally!) for dear life!

~Bruce

 

[Zephalia]

Yes, assuming they will always bite it first, I don't think mine will have a problem with this but I just want everyone's thought on this. So this kind of puts me at ease. Maybe I'll try it alive first to get him to enjoy the taste and feed them dead afterwards

My cham will not touch a dead insect. It's the movement that draws their attention and makes them aware that this is food. I'm not sure how you would convince him to eat a dead worm.

 

[camimom]

Yes, assuming they will always bite it first, I don't think mine will have a problem with this but I just want everyone's thought on this. So this kind of puts me at ease. Maybe I'll try it alive first to get him to enjoy the taste and feed them dead afterwards

There is no reason to feed a dead anything to a chameleon.

The horn worm cant really bite the cham, not hard enough to cause damage, and as long as you dust the feet of the worm, or hold the worm for your cham to eat, everything is fine.

 

[Chameleon Creator]

My cham will not touch a dead insect. It's the movement that draws their attention and makes them aware that this is food. I'm not sure how you would convince him to eat a dead worm.

Mine eats dead reptiworms because he already knows what they look like and taste like. Not saying I should feed him dead insects though. Still fresh just refrigerated.
And mine seems to have no issues eating the hornworms as I thought. Been feeding them off lately