Silkworms

[matt]

Hi all,


Just wondered if anyone had interesting experiences feeding silkworms to their caudates.

I have finally found a reliable UK supplier, admittedly for my reptiles. I did a search here and found them mentioned twice - for a thin newt and possibly a treat for Tiger Sals (Rob?).

Now I'm a big fan of feeding the "natural" food to animals wherever possible - that's why waxxies will always only ever be a teat for my Mandarins (if they could speak I'm sure they'd want them as a staple diet) and my Sals will always get crickets.

But I did notice - unless I've swallowed the hype - that their nutrtional pedigree looks good -high in protein & also lower in fat than waxxies.

My belief is that these are quite a common food in the pet trade in the US, albeit mostly for reptiles than amphibs.

Experiments so far:
*Hylid - arborea, cinerea - treefrogs love them.
*Shanjing unimpressed - didn't like the Cobra like way they stand up and rock or - it seemed - they way they smelt. They came face to face, had a whiff and fled (well, strolled off...)
Thoughts???

 

[rob]

Hey Matt,

I agree with you on the silkworms. Very good nutritionally. Tied for second with butterworms, but still behind Earthworms for number one. That's my opinion anyways.

My mandarin's aren't a fan of the silks either, but love the butters and earthworms. Crickets are fun too for them.

You are right about waxworms high in fat. So are maggots and superworms as well. This isn't always bad, as it's great to put weight on a skinny animal. If all your animals are healthy though I think your feeding regiment sounds good. Toss in silks if they take them, but if they don't keep with crickets, occasional waxies, and maybe through in some earthworms.

That's my two cents.