How many to feed?

[Lindz]

My little guy is around 5 months old and I just fed him mealworms for the first time to see how he did with them. At first I gave him 8 mealworms. Then I put a few more in there and he ate those too for a total of 15. It made me wonder if he just wasn't fond of the crickets in his cage so wasn't eating them.

My questions were:
1. Is that a good amount to feed him or to much?
2. How often should I feed him?

Thanks!

 

[jannb]

Mealworms can be used occasionally but not recommended for regular feeding. I would only give him a few each week. Try some silkworms, super worms or hornworms.

 

[Lindz]

I'm really interested in silkworms. Are they hard to keep and are they expensive to keep?

 

[jannb]

There are easy if you get get pod. www.costalsilkworm is a good place to buy if you are in the US.

 

[carol5208]

They cost about $20.00 shipped to your door for 100. They only eat mulberry so unless you have access to a tree youave to buy the chow. They are like all the feeder insects, they eat and poop, eat and poop and it is constant maintenance cleaning out their containers. The silk breeders sell these things called pods and the food is ready made and it comes with the silks but I think the most is like 50 in the pod. You turn the pod upside down and the poop is supposed to fall to the bottom which is the lid and is supposed to be easy clean up. Well they spin silk in the pod on this little trellis thing that comes with it and all the poop gets caught up in it. i don't like the pods and order the chow seperate and then put 50/50 in two containers. Normally they have been pretty hardy for me and grow at a decently slow pace but lately I have been getting alot of die off. They are a great feeder and they are gentle and don't bite! Sometimes I feel guilty feeding them off! They are supposed to pupate after about 5 weeks but I have had only one spin a cocoon so far. It turned into a moth after about 2 weeks and I fed it to my cham. Some people breed their own from the moths but I have never gotten that far. You can order them online from Mulberry Farms or Coastal Silkworms.

 

[Lindz]

Thank you so much for your help. How many should I feed him everyday?

 

[carol5208]

If your are still feeding crickets, then I would feed mostly crickets and fill in with some silks here and there because alot of chams get spoiled on worms and then won't eat the cricks. As JannB said the mealworms are not a great feeder so use those in moderation.

 

[jannb]

If you are asking how many silkworm to feed per day it's going to depend on the size of the silkworm. Small maybe 3 or 4 along with a few crickets. Med. maybe 2 or 3 with a couple of crickets and maybe only one large with a cricket or two. Do you know how much your little guy weighs?

 

[Lindz]

Yeah I've still got some crickets to feed him. I'm just worried because they all end up dying because he doesn't eat them. I wonder if he was raised up eating worms.

 

[Lindz]

If you are asking how many silkworm to feed per day it's going to depend on the size of the silkworm. Small maybe 3 or 4 along with a few crickets. Med. maybe 2 or 3 with a couple of crickets and maybe only one large with a cricket or two. Do you know how much your little guy weighs?

I don't know currently.