catalpa worms?

catalpa worms - anyone feed these?

I did a search and didn't find reference...

One of the men at work has them all over...in East Texas we use them for fishing and the fish love them....there's an abundance this time of year around here....he asked me if the Beardies could eat them so I thought I'd throw it out and see what you guys have to say....

Here's a quote from a google search - "Catalpa "worms" are actually caterpillars, the larval stage of the Catalpa Sphinx moth, which "infests" exclusively various species of Catalpa Trees" - caltapaworms web site

I don't feed anything wild caught except earthworms to Mountain Horned Dragons...so I was going to tell him "no thanks" offhand. I'm leary about the toxins from the plants, parasites, etc....any thoughts?

Angie

Hello Angie,

I saw you over here so I thought I would see if I could help you out.
The catalpa worms are more of a larvae than anything. They are primarily used for fishing bait. I think they may tend to be more on the fatty side, so I will have to say no, I would not recommend them on a regular basis. I wouldn't think a few every now & then would hurt, as a treat, but not as a staple. Earthworms are the same way. They are fatty so they shouldn't be used as a staple, either.
I hope this helps. I am going to see if I can find more out about them, & if I do, I will let you know.

Tracie

Hi Tracie,

Thanks for the reply...I was surprised that it wasn't already on here somewhere...I am leery of feeding them anything wild caught...btw...the earthworms are only for the Mountain Horned Dragons....the Royal Family (King, Queen and Crown Prince of the BD world) would probably stick their nose up in the air if I dangled a stinky earthworm in front of them!!

I decided to tell the guys at work to just use them for fishing! I'm afraid they might have pesticide or poison on them.

Thanks....Angie

Hello Angie,

Yeah, it is better safe than sorry! I haven't found much more on them. Probably best to be used as fishing bait.
The earthworms are pretty decent for the mountain horned dragons, huh?
I agree, your dragons probably wouldn't even eat them anyway, the earthworms, that is~! LOL

Tracie

Hey Tracie...the consensus is that MHDs can eat all the earthworms they can hold...high protein, high calcium...and best of all...they will EAT them. I usually grab a cup of nightcrawlers at the superstore in the bait section and keep them in the fridge. If they stop eating crickets, mealworms and superworms they will usually always go for a nightcrawler - just slurp them down like a kid with spaghetti! I like to keep horn worms and silkworms because everyone likes them but we are out of those right now, thought the catalpa's might substitute but like I said, I'm scared to feed wild caught insects. Thanks for looking for the info. Angie

Hello Angie,

Yeah the wild caught insects or bugs bother me too. You never know what they got into!
That is great MHD's can eat nightcrawlers & earthworms both. Interesting. They must have a slightly different metabolic rate than beardies do. Great you do hornworms & silkies too though. They are healthy feeders.

Tracie

If anyones interested this website can help www.greatlakeshornworm.com raises hornworms or tomota worms....they feed them on a home made diet and let me tell you for babies it's very good i have a 6inch boy beardie and he wouldn't eat many pet store bugs not even crickets (well very little) ate more veggies then i.ve ever seen ababy eat.. so i bought this worms i called rob told him the size of my dragon and he sent me 1/2 worms with food and my beardie Kumu loves them...........and he looking great his getting fatt healthy and growing at a steady rate..with plenty of water and veggies i'd give it a try even for new owners