how many reptiworms?

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bambichik39

New member
I just ordered reptiworms for my jones armadillo and he just eats as he pleases out of his bowl (usually when I'm not around, very skittish). Anyways, I love these little guys, so much easier than crickets, etc. My question is, does anyone use these for leos, and if so how many makes a meal? Or does anyone know the cricket ratio as far as meat. Thanks in advance!
 
Allee Toler

Allee Toler

Member
By repti-worms I assume you mean Phoenix worms. I use Phoenix, and feed quite a few. Some geckos eat 10, some will eat 20. Depends on the gecko.
 
bwoodfield

bwoodfield

New member
Wow ... 10! The pet shop where I get my crickets charge $15 for 100 of them. That would get expensive very quickly.
 
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bambichik39

New member
Thanks, and yes phoenix worms, reptiworms, all the same. i just got 200 for under right at 13$ including shipping. 4.99 of that is shipping, so you could get larger quantities for a better deal, just wanted to try them out. thanks
 
Saskia

Saskia

New member
Are they soft bodied?? I have had problems breeding crickets and I want to give my leos easy to digest and nutricious food, I am considering my options..... I don't live in the US so buying every month or so wouldn't be an option for me, I need to buy once, import to my country and breed something... roaches are out of the question, I live with my grandma and she would flip if I started breeding any kind of roach....
 
psychmylife

psychmylife

New member
Yes, they are soft bodied. They are soldier fly larva, marketed as reptiworms, pheonix worms, soldier grubs, etc. If you google them there is a lot of good info out there.
 
Saskia

Saskia

New member
Do you know how much protein and fat they have??? Could they be good as a staple diet for leos?? combined with eventual mealworms and grasshoppers..... I am going to look for them on google anyways, but if yu already have the info.... thanks!!
 
Saskia

Saskia

New member
I just watched a video on youtube and a breeder of this kind or larvae is saying that they are 40% protein and 30% fat...... in the reptiworms.com weg page there is a not very clear lab analysis but I can't see the % of fat they have.... :scratchhead: are you sure they are good option for leos??? seem too fatty in my opinion... mealworms are 20% (or something like that) fat and they are considered too fatty..... I'll continue my research, here is the video in case you want to see for yourselves:
YouTube - Growing Black Soldier Fly Larvae
 
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bambichik39

New member
They can be used as a staple, and are actually very good for your reptiles. Many people in the bearded dragon world already use them as a staple, which is where I learned about them. I order from ReptiWorms: Welcome to ReptiWorms! if you use the discount code facebook20 you get 20% off your order.
 
Saskia

Saskia

New member
I actually was just going to link the exact same discussion!! :coverlaugh: I am doing a lot of reaserch.... I read that entire discussion, and the ones that are in favor of reptiworms are the reptiworms web page!! How can one be 100% sure that their analysis is of a large reptiworm?? I wouldn't discard the veterinarian's opinion.... and also in the discussion many different values are given to crickets (for instance).... let's take, just as an example, the protein and fat % of a cricket in that only discussion, the first post that talks about it (kaiser) says low 20% protein and 6%fat .... the second post that mentions it (animalspecialties) says 11% protein and 22,7% fat... in crickets.... so, who can we rely on???? how much protein and fat is there in a Reptiworm?? and in a cricket?? do they actually change with time????
 
psychmylife

psychmylife

New member
Well, time (life stage) has an effect, and so does diet. What're the average data on humans? I doubt insects have the same variability we do, but I think that you're safe as long as you change the diet periodically. Try the soldier fly larva for a month, throw in some crickets/roaches/mealworms after that. Allee says she uses the soldier fly larva, so I would guess they have been good in her experience.

I myself would like to try them, one of my females won't TOUCH mealworms, so she eats 99.9% crickets. She does go after wax worms, so I am hoping the larva will be similar enough. She is a year old and only 39 grams, even though she is a pretty voracious eater. I would be happy to get her in the 45-50 gram range.
 
Saskia

Saskia

New member
psychmylife said:
Well, time (life stage) has an effect, and so does diet. What're the average data on humans? I doubt insects have the same variability we do, but I think that you're safe as long as you change the diet periodically. Try the soldier fly larva for a month, throw in some crickets/roaches/mealworms after that. Allee says she uses the soldier fly larva, so I would guess they have been good in her experience.
Click to expand...

Yes but that is exactly my problem, where I live there are no feeder suppliers, I must breed my own feeders myself and unfortunately I can't breed so many different species, I was trying to stick to one or two different kinds of feeders and try sticking to them, receintly I found one crcket breeder that seems reliable but he is INCREDIBLY expensive, so, buying every month or so is not an option.... I am going to continue my reaserch on reptiworms.... hehehehe, I have to be very sure before getting in the breeding of them
 
psychmylife

psychmylife

New member
Well, according to the available info, the black soldier fly larva are great for composting! The biopod looks pretty cool, but it's pricey.
 
psychmylife

psychmylife

New member
I have recently begun trying to feed my leos BSF larva from reptiworms, with mixed results. I ordered small ones for my hatchlings, but they seem to have a hard time keeping them down/digesting them. One of my leos won't eat them, but she'll eat mealworms right next to a reptiworms.

Anyway, if anyone has any experience with this, advice would be appreciated.
 
bwoodfield

bwoodfield

New member
I bought a tub of 100 phoenix worms on Sunday. Buffy ate the first few ok, but she seemed to have a problem getting them down after that. I noticed that they tend to squirm quite a bit more than meal worms and crickets so I wonder if that has something to do with it. She still eats them, I just don't give her as many.
 
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chasethechef

New member
So are they good to feed as a primary diet? I've been doing my research and can't seem to find the best feeder for my 2 female leopard geckos.
 
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