Too many hornworms/ Open mouth

DayneDavis

Member
So I ordered a cup of hornworms to provide a more varied diet for my Jackson. He is about a year old so I have been trying to feed the worms off before they get too big for him too eat. The last few days I have been feeding him mainly these hornworms with a few crickets and grasshoppers here and there, but today I found a really runny/slimy dropping which now has me worried that I have been feeding him too many soft bodied worms and not enough crickets and other insects like that. What is a healthy limit on what percentage of worms can be fed, what is a good way to slow down the growth of hornworms without a mini fridge, and should I be worried about this dropping? He also has leaving his mouth open a lot. His basking spot is at 82 so I don't believe it's the heat and I've also seen him with his mouth open even after his lights have turned off. Are there any concerns I should have about that?
 

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seems like a common occurrence with the jackson's... as long as theres no difficulty breathing/eating, swelling, or lethargy I wouldnt worry about a respiratory infection or something like mouth rot

good luck slowing the hornworm's growth :p I wouldnt worry about the lack of roughage just yet, as long as youre including some other bugs with a little more chitin it should be ok in the short term
 
Maybe it is a cal issue! I haven't been dusting the worms and he has been eating them primarily for the last week. I have rep cal with D3 but what do you recommend for just plain calcium, and how often do you offer the D3?
 
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