Silkworms - 25 pack

The rule keepers use is that a feeder should be no wider than the space between the animal's eyes. Width, not length, decides whether a feeder is safe.

Silkworms will not hold a size. They grow through several stages and cannot be stalled, so a pack that is correctly sized on the day it arrives may be too wide for a small animal a fortnight later. With 25 worms this matters more than it does with a small pack – plan the feeding order so the last ones are eaten before they outgrow your animal.

Twenty-five suits several animals, or one animal fed silkworms two or three times a week. For a single reptile trying them for the first time, the 12 pack is the better buy.

Judge the quantity by how fast you can use them rather than by price per worm. Buying the larger pack and losing the tail end of it is the usual outcome when silkworms are treated like mealworms.

Silkworms are widely marketed as a calcium-rich feeder. Published figures do not support the claim: compiled analyses of commercially raised invertebrates place silkworm larvae at roughly 1 part calcium to 13 parts phosphorus, which is calcium-poor and comparable to mealworms.

Buy them for what they actually offer – a soft body with no hard chitin, high moisture, and unusually good acceptance from reluctant feeders. Those are real advantages. Treating them as a calcium source is how a well-meaning keeper ends up with a deficient animal.

Dust with calcium immediately before offering, then feed straight away. Powder holds well on a silkworm, so a light coating is enough.

Gut-loading does not apply here. Silkworms eat mulberry leaves or mulberry chow and essentially nothing else, so there is no way to load them on a calcium-rich food. With a pack this size, decant what you are feeding into a separate tub to dust rather than powdering the whole container, which spoils the chow.

Use calcium with D3 where the animal has no UVB, and plain calcium where good UVB is provided.

Keep the container at warm room temperature, roughly 22 to 28 degrees, with ventilation. Do not refrigerate – cold kills silkworms rather than holding them, which is the opposite of how mealworms behave and the mistake that costs keepers a whole pack.

Feed mulberry leaves or mulberry chow, refresh it every couple of days, and clean out droppings and old food regularly. At 25 worms the waste builds up fast, and mould in the container will take the pack out well before hunger does.

Suitable for collections of leopard and crested geckos, bearded dragons, chameleons, skinks, water dragons, frogs and turtles, at a size matched to each animal.

Not suitable as a sole diet, and not a substitute for calcium supplementation. Not the right buy for a single small pet or an occasional feeder, where most of the pack will outgrow the animal before it is used.

Silkworms do not bite, jump or climb smooth sides, which makes them one of the safest feeders to offer. Remove uneaten worms at the end of the day rather than leaving them to be lost in substrate.

Keep the container away from human food, wash hands after handling, and keep it out of reach of children.

• Exo Terra Calcium + D3 Powder – needed here, despite the silkworm's reputation.
• Silkworms 12 Pack – the smaller pack, for a single animal or a first try.
• Zoo Med Stainless Steel Feeding Tongs – for offering soft feeders individually.

Live feeders are supplied for in-store collection or local delivery, with our live arrival guarantee.

How long will a 25 pack of silkworms last?

Only as long as they stay the right size for your animal, usually one to two weeks. Silkworms cannot be refrigerated or held at a size, so plan to feed the pack out rather than store it.

Do silkworms need dusting with calcium?

Yes. Published analyses put silkworm larvae near 1 part calcium to 13 parts phosphorus, so they are calcium-poor despite often being sold as calcium-rich. Dust before every feed.

Why are my silkworms dying?

Almost always cold or mould. Keep them at roughly 22 to 28 degrees Celsius, never in the fridge, and remove old or mouldy chow every couple of days.

Can silkworms be a staple feeder?

They can form a regular part of a varied diet, but not the whole of it. Feed a mix of insects and dust with calcium, since no single feeder covers an insectivore's requirements on its own.