Tomato Hornworms

[Critter Mom]

Has anyone tried tomato hornworms? I have heard that they only last a couple of weeks and double in size about every day, but they are almost pure calcium and about the best thing to feed your salamander/lizard if it is not too big for your animal.

Anyone know anything more about them or had experience feeding them or keeping them?

 

[Greatwtehunter]

It's not so much that they are high in calcium but that they contain an enzyme that helps process calcium easier. They are high in protein and low in fat from what I have been able to find. They say they are similar in nutitional value as silkworms. One thing I have noticed is that if you feed them to often to your critters then the hornworms will give them runny stools. I should mention that I have only fed hornworms to reptiles and NOT amphibians so they may react differently.

 

[SludgeMunkey]

They are mildly toxic in the "horrible taste" sense. They also feed on green tomatoes and leaves which are toxic. Personally, I wouldn't use them.

I use silk worms instead with great success. The multitude of sizes available on the web fit most needs, and they are as easy to culture as fruit flies though they take a bit longer. Bonus if you have a mulberry tree in your yard, otherwise there is a commercial culture food they thrive on readily available from silkworm suppliers.

 

[Coastal Groovin]

SludgeMonkey is right. Don't use them they are toxic. :kill:

 

[Greatwtehunter]

They are mildly toxic in the "horrible taste" sense. They also feed on green tomatoes and leaves which are toxic. Personally, I wouldn't use them.

They are only toxic if you personally pluck them off of a tomato plant. The ones you buy online are perfectly safe to use and non-toxic because they are fed on a commercial diet. This diet has non of the natural chemicals that would make them toxic. Also by the hornworms being raised on this diet you avoid the bad taste factor.

Here is a slight breakdown of thier nutritional value:

Protein: 9%
Fat: 3.07%
Calcium: 46.4mg/100g
Moisture: 85%