Horns on hornworms

Question.

My vet recommended hornworms to me, and so I ordered a bunch along with some silkworms for my Pudgy. The hornworms are beautiful, but my question has to do with their actual horn. It's so sharp! Will this hurt him, or am I supposed to remove it before I feed him?

Called the vet's office, and he wasn't 100% sure. Said that he thought it would be fine, to call the farm directly. So emailed Mulberry Farms and looks like it's a-okay to feed with the horn and all:

Hi Heather
The horn may look wicked sharp, but it is really just a piece of skin.
No danger to your beardie at all
Regards

Susan
Mulberry Farms

They are correct. My Brady loves these hornworms and has had no problem devowering them.

I wish I had seen this post sooner. Yes, the horns are fine, very soft. Our beardies absolutely love horn worms and they do grow very fast.

Just to help with a little more info...That horn is nothing but worm skin and is nice and soft. Probably tastes good too. Like chicken skin lol.

Yep your beardie will be fine.

If I'm not mistaken, silkworms also have this "horn" on their backs. Looks kind of cool to me, actually. And yes, it is just a soft piece of skin (I've personally touched them to see what it feels like), not sharp at all.

He really doesn't seem to have any interest in either the silkworms nor the hornworms. He was gaping and I stuck a hornworm in his mouth a little to see if he'd take it and he did, but since then he won't eat them. Any ideas?

My beardie doesn't show great interest or enthusiasm for them either. I think it is because they're not as active or "jumpy" as crickets (her fave!). Because they're attracted by movement when hunting for prey, that's probably why the caterpillars don't catch their attention as much.

She DOES eat them though! She may not eat them when I hand feed them to her all the time, or when I want her to, but what I do is leave a bunch in the cool side of her tank, and she just goes over there and eats a bunch when she's hungry (usually first thing when she wakes up)! Actually, I find this even more convenient than other feeders since I can just leave a bunch in there and she can eat them when she wants, and I don't have to worry about the leftovers biting her, etc. It did take a couple weeks for her to get "used" to them though. I think she did acquire a taste for them after a while, so don't give up right away.