How many of this equals how many of that?

lisa127 · Mar 21, 2014

I'd like to expand the diets of my herps. My question is, if I try out butterworms, phoenix worms, hornworms, etc. how many of each equal how many crickets or mealworms?
In other words, how many butterworms would equal a dozen mealworms (approximately)? How many hornworms, phoenix worms, superworms, etc. equal a dozen mealworms? You get the idea...

Olympus · Mar 21, 2014

You'll have to eye-ball it. You're really looking at volume, not at quantity. So if you usually feed, say, 10 crickets then in dubia roaches (since they tend to be chunkier and meatier) you may only need to feed off like 6. These feeders vary quite a bit in size sometimes, so if we tell you a number it may be too much or two little. So just use your best judgement calculating the equivalent volume and you'll be ok.

Tongue Flicker · Mar 21, 2014

Besides, your leo knows how much it needs/wants and usually shy's away if it feels full. Also take note that crickets and roaches have corners in their bodies as compared to the soft-bodies of worms that can take more room in your leo's tummy

lisa127 · Mar 22, 2014

Leo's don't always know how much to eat. I personally cannot give my adult male all the food he wants to eat or he will be a huge balloon!!

I'm not interested in feeding crickets and roaches at all, btw. Mealworms, superworms, butterworms, phoenix worms, hornworms, etc.....Those are all ok. We don't do crickets or roaches in this house though! I realize I'm looking at volume and not quantity. Which is why I'm trying to figure out how many of other worms would be approximately a dozen mealworms.

Olympus · Mar 22, 2014

Just eye-ball it. You must be familiar with what a handful of 12 mealworms looks like, so it it looks like 6 butterworms, or 3 medium hornworms, then that's that. These worms (especially hornworms) can vary so much in size that it really depends on what size you're feeding - you'll need to feed off more tiny babies or fewer if you're doing more medium-sized worms. There's no exact conversion chart!

leolover7 · May 6, 2014

lisa127 said:
Leo's don't always know how much to eat. I personally cannot give my adult male all the food he wants to eat or he will be a huge balloon!!

I'm not interested in feeding crickets and roaches at all, btw. Mealworms, superworms, butterworms, phoenix worms, hornworms, etc.....Those are all ok. We don't do crickets or roaches in this house though! I realize I'm looking at volume and not quantity. Which is why I'm trying to figure out how many of other worms would be approximately a dozen mealworms.

Leos know when they are full. They do not feed on opportunity and eat it all, they eat until they're full.

DrCarrotTail · May 7, 2014

I usually go by my leos' weight. I have a small scale and weigh all of my leos every week or two. If They lose a bit or maintain when they should be growing I give them a bit more, if they look fat and are gaining I give a bit less. As long as they get something a week or two of dieting or overeating while you figure it out won't hurt them. I usually feed my non-breeding adults 10 mealworms twice a week or 2 superworms or 2 dubia. I haven't fed any of the other things you're asking about but I know the size of horn worms varies a LOT from mealworm sized babies to HUGE ones that are close to pupating so without seeing the actual insects you're about the feed and how big they are it's really hard to say. Plus I don't know the nutritional breakdown of each kind and meaty goodness to crunchy outside ratios...haha.

lisa127 · May 7, 2014

DrCarrotTail said:
I usually go by my leos' weight. I have a small scale and weigh all of my leos every week or two. If They lose a bit or maintain when they should be growing I give them a bit more, if they look fat and are gaining I give a bit less. As long as they get something a week or two of dieting or overeating while you figure it out won't hurt them. I usually feed my non-breeding adults 10 mealworms twice a week or 2 superworms or 2 dubia. I haven't fed any of the other things you're asking about but I know the size of horn worms varies a LOT from mealworm sized babies to HUGE ones that are close to pupating so without seeing the actual insects you're about the feed and how big they are it's really hard to say. Plus I don't know the nutritional breakdown of each kind and meaty goodness to crunchy outside ratios...haha.

I do the same as you. I weigh once a week to make sure they are maintaining. I also feed approximately 20 to 24 mealworms each week to my adult leo. My 7.5 month old is still eating a bit more than that, but he is definitely slowing down on growing and soon will be on a maintenance diet I'm sure. So basically, you have found 2 superworms to be equal to 10 mealworms? When I do feed my leo's superworms I don't give them the huge ones though.

DrCarrotTail · May 7, 2014

My adult leos get whatever makes it out of the bin and into their bowl....haha. They don't seem to have an issue with even the biggest super worm. I've been feeding 4-6 supers a week in place of 30-50 mealworms and they seem to be gaining weight so if they were on a maintenance diet I'd probably give 2-4 per week or 20-30 mealworms, however, most of mine are growing, breeding or getting ready to breed so they get a bit more

I've been playing it by ear. I like them to be hungry when I open their bins so I don't feed as much as they want but I don't want them to lose weight either....at least not all of them! haha Some are pigs and definitely need a diet!!

How many of this equals how many of that?

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