just ordered waxworms need advice

joemacchirella

Established Member
i ordered about 500 waxworms cause i have about a 4 month old nosy be and mainly have been feeding him crickets and flys but ive done my research about breeding them and the only thing that i have a question about is when making the bedding/ food for the worms with the wheat bran, honey and glycerin. on the glycerin bottle itself it says for external use only so if i feed it to the worms then the worms to my chameleon will it get him sick? i plan to feed him some worms and also wait for some to breed and become moths which i will also feed to him thank you for your time
 
IMHO you would be wasting your time trying to breed or even buy that many wax worms. They are not a good feeder for a chameleon of any age and should be used as a very occasional treat if at all. They are very fatty and don't offer much in the way of nutrition. Also if you feed treat items like this too often, your Cham may go on a strike and not want to eat other feeders.

If you want to try worms you should buy silk/horn worms as they are good to feed as a staple :)
 
It wont hurt him there are different types of glycerin in foods we eat "foodgrade" they also use glycerol to chill beer taps and you shouldn't be feeding them off regularly, so you should be fine.
 
IMHO you would be wasting your time trying to breed or even buy that many wax worms. They are not a good feeder for a chameleon of any age and should be used as a very occasional treat if at all. They are very fatty and don't offer much in the way of nutrition. Also if you feed treat items like this too often, your Cham may go on a strike and not want to eat other feeders.

If you want to try worms you should buy silk/horn worms as they are good to feed as a staple :)

I agree with also, besides horn/silk worms or Phoenix worms are just as irresistible :)
 
thanks everyone for the advice it really helped sadly i already ordered them so theirs no going back now but what about the moths are they better as feeders
 
thanks everyone for the advice it really helped sadly i already ordered them so theirs no going back now but what about the moths are they better as feeders

Sorry, the moths aren't much use either. The worms spend any nutrition they did have tuning into the moth. Also, moth wings are not good in the digestion system :(
 
well ile have to pick up some different worms any suggestions i heard butterworms are like the best i dont want to get silkworms cause all the maitnence and i think hes too small for hornworms although he eats large crickets. but like once or twice a week ile feed him some wax worms......but they wont go to waste cause i go fishing alot i dont mind catching some pan fish
 
well ile have to pick up some different worms any suggestions i heard butterworms are like the best i dont want to get silkworms cause all the maitnence and i think hes too small for hornworms although he eats large crickets. but like once or twice a week ile feed him some wax worms......but they wont go to waste cause i go fishing alot i dont mind catching some pan fish

I think the moths would be okay just for variety rarely but they are best for fishing and not food. I personally won't give my cham any wax worms because it is all he will eat if I do. Every time I've fed them to him he went on hunger strike waiting for more. It's like giving your kid candy and soda for dinner, they will love it but it will be detrimental to their health if you keep it up!
 
again thanks for the advice everyone but any suggestions on what worms/ insect i should get to feed him cause i know he needs a varied diet i cant have roaches cause the people i live with arent gunna have that but i heard butterworms are good
 
I agree with the others. It will probably take several years to work off that many worms by still offering a healthy diet to your cham :( And there are small hornworms available for sale if you're afraid of the size. Even superworms sparingly can make a good feeder, but be careful not to offer to much because they can go on strikes from this too.
 
I agree with the others. It will probably take several years to work off that many worms by still offering a healthy diet to your cham :( And there are small hornworms available for sale if you're afraid of the size. Even superworms sparingly can make a good feeder, but be careful not to offer to much because they can go on strikes from this too.

I personally don't see a problem with the waxworms, everyone seems to be bashing them but obviously you do not use them as a staple, definitely an occasionally treat like once a month give him a couple and be done with it. Just don't get to comfortable with feeding him a lot of them and often just because of the fat content. Just use as a treat, that is what I do and my chameleon hasn't gone on a hunger strike or anything yet. You should be fine, I would have bought a few less though lol he will enjoy them! good luck with them.
 
500 is definitely a lot and you will not feed them all off at the recommended once a month before they turn into month. I would definitely take them fishing. :D It is summer and that sounds like so much fun right now!
 
again thanks for the advice everyone but any suggestions on what worms/ insect i should get to feed him cause i know he needs a varied diet i cant have roaches cause the people i live with arent gunna have that but i heard butterworms are good

check out this list:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

butters are good, but you wont be able to breed them.

If you want to breed your own, go for silkworms and superworms and terrestrial isopods. all of these are silent, do not smell, and can not infest your house.

Maybe you could trade at least half of your waxworms to someone else for a feeder that is of better nutritional quality, so that you dont waste what you already got? a few treats are okay, and Certainly your chameleon will like them, and as a small growing animal even one or two a week would be okay. But you'll never use 500 (not if you care about the health of your animal) while he's young.
 
yeah i should try and trade half of them to somebody on here i cant post in the classifieds yet but should i just post an add in this section and what should i trade for im i cant get roaches cause the people i live with arent down with that... kinda interested in hornworms but i seriously doubt anyone would be willing to trade anyways thanks for the advice everybodyi greatly appreciate it
 
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