How big is too big for worms?

[Phatturk]

I have about 20 silkworms that have grown so big and fat that I am afraid to feed them to my Chams. Can anyone tell me the rule of thumb when it comes to silkworm size. I know I have heard that with crickets they should be no bigger than the width of my Chams mouth, right?

 

[Tygerr]

Generally that rule is not applied to soft-bodied worms. A cham can usually handle worms that are much larger than the size of crickets that are appropriate for them.

But with young chams, I'd be a bit cautious, and still wouldn't feed them anything ridiculously large. I've noticed that younger chams tend to eat more rapidly, and often don't chew their food properly. With a really large worm, there could be a chance of choking.

 

[Phatturk]

Ok thanks a lot for the info...I am still not sure if these are too big though, so i guess i will let them become moths and hopefully get some more eggs to hatch!

 

[Jam]

My cham hermie loves silk worms and I've noticed that he has a pretty good feel for how big of one he can take on. If I give him a really large one he'll refuse to eat it ... but readily gobble up more small ones if offered. I have a beardie that will eat the large silkies as big as I can grow them for her so she gets all of his "rejects".

 

[Phatturk]

Well I fed a couple of the smaller ones to my female last night since she is quite a bit bigger than my boy. She had absolutely no problem at all, a couple of chomps and it was down lickity split. I watched for a min after to make sure it went down but she started eating a couple phoenix worms so I figured it must have been no problem! Now I have a second question: Is there a way to tell if you are over feeding your Cham? Mine are only a couple months old so I know that they eat like crazy and grow fast. I read something about the Chams stomach acid and it said that if Chams eat too much they will just poop out undigested food. Is that really bad or is that just a good indicator to pull back a bit on the food?