What should I feed my phoenix worms when they get here?

[RowenJade]

No one's said anything about it that I've seen, or does the cup also come with their food?

Secondly, in the future if I want to switch to repti-worms do they need food or does that come with them?

Thanks in advance guys and you've been GREAT with my many questions (and just excitement) :mrgreen: Sorry there's so many!!

 

[wes]

Feed them nothing. They come in a mysterious substrate that looks like sawdust, but apparently isn't. It might be wheat bran. They don't eat it, but it apparently calms them down as they can hide in it.

 

[Ebrithil]

phoenix worms = repti-worms

 

[RowenJade]

Ohhh really?!?! The prices are sooo different I assumed they were different. Is there anyway to breed them that anyone knows of?

 

[Dr. Phoenix]

When you receive your Phoenix Worms, please do not feed them anything. Just leave them in their closed cups until the next feeding time. The packing media is not food. This is important because you must NOT restart the digestive process of the worms. Doing so would foul the media and soon the worms would die.

phoenix worms = repti-worms

Phoenix Worms, Calciworms and Reptiworms are the same species. However, they have different nutritional values. As the scientific community knows, many aspects of production of these feeders impact their nutritional value. For instance, the ratio of calcium to phosphorus that these feeders contain is critical to your pet’s long term health.

Phoenix Worms have a balanced ratio of 1.5 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorous and can be safely fed as a staple. This balanced ratio was determined by an independent lab analysis. Calciworms has published that their ratio is 3.28 to 1, also determined by an independent lab, and they advise that Calciworms are "not intended to be fed as a sole ration." An unbalanced ratio may lead to hypercalcemia and renal failure. For more information, go to http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/reptilesgeneral/a/metabolicbd.htm.

Reptiworms doesn't seemed to have performed any nutritional analysis on their product. In fact, Reptiworms has copied data and information from the Phoenix Worms website ("...They have the ideal 1.5:1 Calciumhosphorus ratio" and "...contain high amounts of lauric acid which helps battle diseases such as Coccidia...").

Phoenix Worms are produced using a carefully researched process that ensures the correct balance of calcium and phosphorous. Without an independent lab analysis, the nutritional content of Reptiworms is unknown. We encourage owners of pets with sensitive dietary needs to research the calcium phosphorus ratio of feeders to ensure the health of their animals.

Craig Sheppard, Ph.D.
President, Insect Science Resource LLC
Professor Emeritus
http://www.phoenixworm.com

 

[Eljay]

I have just bought some calciworms for my beardie. I am in the UK, and the supplier said they are the same as pheonixworms sold in the USA, just had a different name because they were here in the UK....is this not right then? do they LOOK all the same? so I wont be able to tell if they have a higher calcium ration than actual pheonixworms?

 

[Dr. Phoenix]

Eljay,

The calciworms that are being sold in the UK may be different than the worms with that name in the US. To our knowledge, the UK calciworms have not published independent lab analyses for their product (just like reptiworms has not in the US). There is no way to know whether the Ca ratio is balanced just by looking. The company that produces the UK brand of calciworms must send their worms to an independent laboratory, pay for the worms to be analyzed, and then publish the actual nutritional values and mineral ratio for their customers. No company can truthfully state that the Ca is balanced unless there is an independent report to support the claim. This information is critical to protect the long-term health of animals. Unfortunately, some companies copy our information and state that their worms are the same as Phoenix Worms. This is not possible and we hope that customers will demand facts from their supplier.

Craig Sheppard, Ph.D
President, Insect Science Resource LLC
Professor Emeritus
http://www.phoenixworm.com