Hornworms

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discojan

Juvie Member
I read somewhere that hornworms can sometimes be poisonous to beardies. Is that true, or are they a safe feeder? I have little one on hunger strike post-parasite meds. She's refusing crickets, but eating greens and berries (she's spoiled I know). I want her to start chasing wiggly things again, and thought the color of hornworms might entice her.

I just want to make sure they're safe before I mail-order. Thoughts?
 

Tomek

Juvie Member
Original Poster
Hello, I have been feeding hornworms to my beardie for a few months now. HE LOVES THEM !!, I get them from a local petstore, but was looking for somewhere online to purchase them from. They are very expensive and I only give a few to mine each week. I was told that eating just one was equivalent to eating 12 crickets. They are very filling for him, but he cannot get enough of them. I have not heard they are poisonous to beardies? anyone out there here this?
 

Vacren

Juvie Member
They're safe. I don't know why anyone would say hornworms were toxic, I suppose if you were to feed them nothing but avocado it could be harmful to your dragon, but I can't think of any other way to make them toxic.
 

Honda99300ex

Juvie Member
The reason you heard they were toxic is probably due to the hornworms(tomato worms) eating the tomato plant in the wild, which is toxic to beardeds since the tomato is in the nightshade family of plants. So, hornworms raised on artificial diet in captivity are perfectly healthy!! I've never seen a dragon, or any herp so far, refuse one! cheapest and easiest is to breed them, not very hard at all!! www.manducaproject.com
 

discojan

Juvie Member
Ah, yes. Now that you mention it, I think it did have to do with tomatoes, which is odd, because I think I read on beautiful dragons that tomatoes are ok for beardies in small doses rarely. I remember reading about it this summer, because we had some gorgeous hornworms on our garden kale, but in the end, I was worried about feeding the wild ones.

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

In any case, I went ahead and ordered some hornworms and silkworms in the hopes that we can entice our little Salsita to get off the hunger strike with these new wigglers. She is eating her greens and lapping up critical/carnivore care from a spoon, and we're still giving her acidophiliz, but she's not really put on any weight since she started the icky parasite meds and she won't chase crickets like she used to. She's one week post-meds, so we're hoping her appetite will return soon.
 

foodfinders

New member
I feed horn worms to our breeder dragons, and I feel that they promote our dragons to breed. our clutches are large and our hatches are always high.I've ordered from Great Lakes, Coastal silkworm and Linda's Gone Buggie and I've been happy with all of them
 

discojan

Juvie Member
Thanks for the suggestions. I ordered from Coastal worms because they also had silkworms which I wanted to let our girls try! Depending on what they like, we'll order from Great Lakes next b/c it is closer to us in KY.
 

Honda99300ex

Juvie Member
I think your right about tomato being ok in small doses, but not the actual plant itself, which is toxic and why the hornworms that ate it would be toxic.
 

Vacren

Juvie Member
Just stick to the artificial foodstuffs. It's healthy, grows fat worms, and keeps everyone happy and alive.

~V
 

discojan

Juvie Member
This all makes sense. Good news is that our girl went back to chasing crickets today, so now all these worms will be a yummy treat! thanks for all the feedback!
 
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