General Information: Hornworms have no chitin or exoskeleton. Their color is a bright green or blue, they reach up to 4 inches long within 2-3 weeks. Hi in calcium and low in fat.

Housing: cup with lid that is kept upside down.

Substrate: N/A

Feeding: Special hornworm food that goes in the top of the cup aka hornworm chow.

Temperature: Room temp 75 degrees. can be kept in refriderator (40-42 degrees f) to extend life a few days

Breeding: N/A

Other info: only feed the hornworm chow. if fed tomato leaves can/will kill your reptile. The horn is soft and will not harm your reptile

General Information: Phoenix worms are the larvae of the black soldier fly. Developed bt Dr. Craig Sheppard.  Very high in calcium, and can be feed as a staple.  There is no need to dust these worms. Phoenix worms are packed with calcium and phosphorus. Their high calcium content and low fat, makes it an ideal feeder for gravid females and young reptiles.

Housing: To be kept in the same container they were shipping in with the lid kept on

Substrate: The sawdust that the worms are contained will suffice; no other bedding needs to be added. You can add a few drops of water to the bedding to keep it moist. Do not add too much water, as this can create mold and fungal growth because of high humidity levels in an enclosed area.

Feeding: You do not need to feed the phoenix worms. They will be fine for several weeks.

Temperature: Keep the worms at room temperatures. Do NOT refrigerate them because they have the longest shelf life at 60-70 degrees.

Breeding: N/A

General Information: Keep all handling of silkworms to a minimum to reduce the chances of die off’s. They have no smell, can’t jumb or run away, cannot bite, and are slow moving.

Housing: Small tub or rubbermaid container, with ventilation. The container should be almost air-tigt to prevent the food from drying out, but have small holes to allow air exchange.

Substrate: None.

Feeding & Watering: Mulberry leaf’s Feed daily.

Temperature: between 70-85F low humidity

Breeding: Silkworms will spin a cocoon about 28 days from the time they hatched if they are raised at approximately 85 degrees, fed, and maintained regularly. Place a piece of paper towel on the bottom of the container, so that when the moths emerge and are ready to lay eggs, the eggs can be removed with the paper towels.

Once the moths emerge, they will mate. (Females are significantly larger than male moths.) They mate for about a day, and after separation, the female will lay eggs. Sometimes another male will grab the female before she can lay her eggs. Each female will lay between 200 - 500 golden yellow eggs

When first laid, all eggs are lemon-yellow. After three days, they will turn white if they are infertile, or turn black if they are fertile. Fertile eggs usually hatch about two weeks after being laid in the middle of the summer, but they usually won’t hatch unless subjected to “winter” in your refrigerator for at least several weeks.

Wait until the eggs turn black before putting them in a Ziplock bag in the refrigerator. Once you take eggs out of the fridge, they will hatch in about 7-20 days. Direct sunlight in the morning for a few hours quickens the hatching process.

To incubate the eggs, place about 200 of them on a petri dish. Keep the eggs between 78 and 88 degrees F. An incubator works best at keeping the temperatures stable. The eggs can hatch at room temperature, but will take longer.

Place a damp paper towel next to the petri dish to keep the humidity levels high. Once the eggs have turned from a purplish color to a light bluish/gray, shows signs that they should hatch within a couple of days.

When the eggs begin to hatch, prepare silkworm chow, and place it in the refrigerator to it will be ready. Once they start to hatch, place small bits of chow in the petri dish, so the emerging worms will have something to munch on. Remember silkworms eat constantly, so always provide food. Try not to let the chow touch the unhatched eggs.

It is better to keep the young silkworms in the incubator to better assure their survival rates. After about 8 to 12 days, you can remove the worms from the petri dish, and place them into a small plastic container.

Remember to clean the container to prevent mold. Mold develops from high temperatures and high humidity. If the worms are covered too long, mold can develop and may kill the worms. If mold develops, grate about 1/2 inch of chow all over the worms with a cheese grater. Several hours later, as the worms crawl to the top of the new chow pile you can peal and lift them off the moldy chow and place them into a new container.

General Information: Mealworms have a hard exoskeleton, Can lead to impaction in younger animals. Also are very fatty. For bearded dragons they should only be a treat.

Housing: Container, or Tub

Substrate: Un-cooked oatmeal, wheatbran, baby cereal.

Feeding: They will eat the substrate but also supply, apple, carrots, potatoes for moisture

Temperature: Room tempature is fine.

Breeding: Just leave them alone in the container, they will turn into a beetle and breed.

Additional Information i gathered off Wiki:

Mealworms are the larval form of the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a species of darkling beetle.

Life cycle

• Incubation: 10-11 days at 20°C; 4-6 days at 30°C
• Larval period: 90-114 days (10-14 larval molts).
• Pupal period: 30 days at 15°C; 9 days at 25°C; 6 days at 35°C.
• Adult Stage 1 - 2 Weeks

General Information: Great worms, Can be breed easily but takes a while, no smell. Very easy to take care of. Should only be feed to bearded dragons over 16″ long, smaller dragons it may cause an impaction. It is a myth that a superworm will eat through the dragons stomach. The total life span for a superworm is a little over a year from egg to beetle.

Housing: Large container, or Tub

Substrate: Un-cooked oatmeal, wheatbran, baby cereal.

Feeding: They will eat the substrate but also supply, apple, carrots, potatoes for moisture

Temperature: Room temperature is fine.

Breeding: Superworms need to be contained by them selfs for about 2 weeks, then they will morph into beetles. House all the beetles together with something for moisture. After a few more weeks you will notice tiny superworms.

General Information: Butterworms are the soft bodied larva of the Chilecomadia moorei moth native to the mountains of central Chile. They are known for their strong fruity smell that most reptiles love. These worms are commonly used for bait in fishing, as well as, food and treat for animals such as birds, small animals, fish, and reptiles. They have smooth, fat bodies, with a very soft exoskeleton, as at full maturity these worms will become Chilecomadia moorei moths. Butter worms have a very high calcium content, 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.

Housing: When housing butter worms, you will want to keep them in the refrigerator, you will not have to feed the worms as their metabolism is slowed down they dont feed.

Substrate: Wheat bran, make sure it remains dry.

Feeding: Butter worms do not eat in this stage of life.

Temperature: Store your Butter Worms at temperatures of 42 to 45 degrees F. in the refrigerator.

Breeding: Butter worms are irradiated before they are shipped from Chile, which means that they can not breed once they come to the states. The sole purpose of irradiated them is to kill off any bacteria before they leave the country.

General Information: Wax worms are the soft bodied fat grubs of the Galleria mellonella moth. Waxworms are a popular feeder amongst reptiles, but they should only be feed as a treat. They can be great when trying to fatten up an underweight reptile, but to many can cause fatty liver disease.

Housing: Housing waxworms can be very simple. You can use a simple Cool-Whip container. Pour your homeade substrate, the waxworms, and a few crumpled wax paper balls.

Feeding: To make the substrate, you will mix bran and honey until it is well blended. Spread the mix on a cookie sheet to cool and harden. When the mix is cool, crumble it into the container. The mix may still be sticky, but that’s fine.

Temperature: Should be housed, between 55-65 degrees F (warmest section of your fridge) Also store them in low humidity.

Breeding:To breed your waxworms, keep them at room temperature, and eventually the waxworms will begin to spin cocoons. They will appear as bright orange ovals. Remove the cocoons into a separate container, that is also filled with wax paper balls and a small bottom layer of the substrate as bedding.

The waxworms will remain in the cocoons for about two weeks before moths will emerge.

Make sure to keep a lid on, because they do fly, and you probably don’t want moths flying about your home. The moths will mate and live for about a week or so.

They will lay their eggs in the crumpled waxpaper, so once they have died, wait a couple more weeks.

Then you will begin to notice tiny worms, which will grow very fast if kept at room temperature.

Once the worms are about half grown, you may want to put them in a container, with holes in the lid and bedding. Place the container in the refrigerator to stunt growth and reproduction rates.

Otherwise, if you leave them at room temperature, the worms will begin the cycle all over again.