Butter worms?

[robbiep23]

Was just wondering if any one here has used butter worms as a feed, they seem to be quite expensive compared to mealies and can't realy find much info on there content. Would they be a staple diet or just a treat like waxworms?

 

[Lady_Kiya]

Pretty sure the fatty content in those is high, so as far as I am aware they are more a treat than anything else.

 

[robbiep23]

Think i will order a small amount and try them as a treat just to see what sort of response i get to them. My leo does need to put some weight on so these could help. Don't like feeding to many waxworms, don't want an addicted gecko!!!!

 

[Sturt]

I use butterworms for my bearded dragon, I'm told they have a high nutritional value.

If this is incorrect I'd like to know though lol don't want to do wrong by the wee man

I've never used them with my leos though

 

[herpencounter]

Moisture- 58.54 %

Ash- 1.04 %

Protein- 16.20 %

Fat- 5.21 %

Calories/ Fat- 87.73

Calcium (ml/100 grs)- 42.90

Butter worms are exceptionally high in their calcium content, averaging about two times the normal calcium content then any other feeder insect on the market.

But, at the same time, the calories/ fat is extremely high, as well, which means that these high calcium insects should only be fed as treats.

 

[robbiep23]

http://hubpages.com/hub/Butterworms just some info i managed to find on butterworms. Think they would make a better treat than staple food.

 

[Sturt]

If we look here though:

http://www.grubco.com/Nutritional_Information.cfm

We see that the Butterworms have a lower percentage of fat than any other feeder comparing them to herpencounter's analysis.

:main_huh:

 

[Snowy & Petra de Gecko]

Well

From what I understand a Butterworm can be used like another feeder or a different feeder on a different day.

Waxies are the ones that you should feed as treats.

I have not seen Butterworms for sale in any of my local pet stores so I would have to special order them on the internet.

If I had them, then I would use them like SuperMealworms.

 

[Paco]

No Butter worms people. They are only good for fishing bait. Same as Giant Meal worms. I used them for a bit until I found out they are Irradiated before coming into the country to get rid of parasites and bacteria, this also makes them sterile and not able to reproduce.

So until someone starts to produce them in the states and stops the Irradiation treatment on them I will Not use them again.

 

[robbiep23]

No Butter worms people. They are only good for fishing bait. Same as Giant Meal worms. I used them for a bit until I found out they are Irradiated before coming into the country to get rid of parasites and bacteria, this also makes them sterile and not able to reproduce.

So until someone starts to produce them in the states and stops the Irradiation treatment on them I will Not use them again.

What country are they imported from? i live in the uk and butterworms are readily available if a little expensive.

 

[Paco]

What country are they imported from? i live in the uk and butterworms are readily available if a little expensive.

They come from South America. I can buy them buy the 1000- 100,000ct all day long during most of the year, and are expensive here as well. But as I said they Are IRRAIDIATED before they leave the Country. I was going to start selling them as feeder as well until I learned the process they under go before leaving the country.

 

[robbiep23]

thanks for the info, think i will leave them alone. i know its a long shot but would it be possible to breed from the imported ones then you would have a supply that hadn't been treated if you only started to use them from maybe third or forth generation? not to sure on their lifecycle.

 

[Digby Rigby]

Butter worms

Butter worms aka trebo worms aka trevo worms have a monodiet. They eat only the trebo plant or tree aka trevo. So unless you can get trevo/trebo trees/plants I do not think it is possible to breed them. They are from Chile I believe. We have also had a couple of people tell us of an interesting and undesireable thing that has happenned. Dead worms seem to turn black and ozze a black liquid that actually stains and warps certain plastics. I would not want to feed things capable of such reactions. Stick with dubia, hornworms, silkworms among other suitable feeders and get rid of the crickets and mealworms!

Digby Rigby [email protected]