How often should I feed silkworms to my crested gecko?

Offer live insects, including silkworms, about 1-2 times a week. The rest of the diet is complete powdered crested gecko diet (CGD) mixed with water. Don't replace the CGD with insects.

Do silkworms replace crested gecko diet (CGD)?

No. A quality powdered CGD is nutritionally complete and should be the staple. Silkworms and other insects add protein, hydration, enrichment, and variety, but they can't replace the balanced base diet.

What size silkworms for a crested gecko?

Match prey to roughly the space between the gecko's eyes. Most adult cresties take small-to-medium silkworms around 2-3 cm. Juveniles need smaller worms. Oversized prey risks refusal or impaction.

Do I need to dust silkworms for crested geckos?

If insects make up only a small part of the diet and your CGD staple is complete, light calcium dusting on feeder days is plenty. Avoid over-supplementing, the CGD already carries balanced vitamins and calcium.

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Geckos

Can Crested Geckos Eat Silkworms? Benefits and Feeding

Q: Can crested geckos eat silkworms?

Yes. Healthy crested geckos eat silkworms readily as a supplemental live feeder. They're soft-bodied, low in fat, hydrating, and easy to digest. They're a topping on the diet, not the foundation, your staple should still be a complete powdered crested gecko diet (CGD).

By Matt Goren · Updated June 26, 2026

Care at a glance

Role: Rotation supplement
Protein: ~11%
Fat: ~2%
Moisture: ~80%
Chitin: very low
Ca:P: ~1:2
Calcium-rich: No (dust it)
Best for: Soft-bodied protein for picky or recovering animals

I keep crested geckos and I feed silkworms as a treat, not a staple, and that distinction is the whole point of this guide. Cresties are famous for thriving on a complete powdered diet, but they're also opportunistic insectivores in the wild, and a soft, hydrating feeder like the silkworm is a genuinely good supplement. The trick is knowing where it fits.

How crested gecko diets actually work

Here's the thing most "can they eat X" articles skip: the foundation of a crested gecko's diet is a complete powdered crested gecko diet (CGD) mixed with water, not insects. A good CGD is formulated to be nutritionally complete on its own, with balanced calcium, vitamins, and protein. Insects sit on top of that as a supplement.

So the honest framing for silkworms isn't "silkworms are a staple," it's "silkworms are an excellent live supplement to a CGD base." That correction matters, because feeding insects as the main diet is a common way keepers accidentally cause nutritional problems.

Why silkworms are a good supplement

Silkworms (Bombyx mori) feed only on mulberry leaves and turn that into one of the better feeder profiles available:

Soft-bodied and easy to digest — gentle on the gut, low impaction risk
Low in fat — roughly 10% by dry weight, far below mealworms (~28%)
Hydrating — around 76% moisture, useful for a species that drinks water droplets
Higher calcium than most feeders — a Ca:P ratio near 1:1.4, better than the typical 1:8 to 1:20

That combination, low fat, high moisture, decent calcium, soft body, makes silkworms one of the gentler enrichment feeders for a crestie. Many keepers notice their geckos get more active and engaged once live prey enters the rotation, which is the hunting response doing exactly what it should.

You can source silkworms in the right sizes from the silkworm collection at All Angles Creatures.

How to introduce silkworms

Go slow and watch the response:

Start small. Offer one or two appropriately sized silkworms and see whether your gecko engages. Some cresties pounce immediately; others take a few sessions to recognize live prey.
Feed in the evening. Crested geckos are nocturnal, so offer insects after lights-out when they're naturally hunting.
Keep CGD as the base. Insects are 1-2 sessions a week on top of the powdered diet, never a replacement for it.
Observe and adjust. If your gecko eats readily and stays at a healthy weight, keep silkworms in the rotation alongside other feeders.

Sizing and frequency

Crestie stage	Silkworm size	Frequency
Juvenile	small, ~1.5-2 cm	1-2x/week, with CGD daily
Adult	small-medium, ~2-3 cm	1-2x/week, with CGD every other day

The universal feeder rule applies: prey should be no wider than the space between the gecko's eyes. Silkworms are soft enough to forgive a slightly larger length than a cricket, but oversized prey still risks a refused meal or impaction.

Things to watch

Source matters. Buy from reputable suppliers so you're not introducing pesticide-exposed insects. Wild-caught bugs are a no.
Keep the diet diverse. Silkworms are great, but rotate in other feeders (crickets, small roaches, hornworms) and never let live insects crowd out the CGD base.
Don't over-supplement. If your CGD is complete, heavy vitamin and calcium dusting on top can cause its own problems. Light calcium on feeder days is plenty.
Watch for trouble. Lethargy, weight loss, or digestive issues mean it's time to reassess the diet and see a reptile vet. The Merck Veterinary Manual's reptile nutrition section is a good baseline reference.

Storing silkworms

Silkworms are delicate. Keep them at 72-82°F, never refrigerated (cold kills them), and feed fresh mulberry chow every other day without letting it dry out or mold. A batch keeps 2-4 weeks before the worms begin to pupate, so buy in quantities you'll actually use.

Bottom line

Crested geckos can absolutely eat silkworms, and they make an excellent supplemental feeder, soft, hydrating, low-fat, and calcium-friendly. Just keep the hierarchy straight: a complete powdered crested gecko diet is the staple, and silkworms (1-2 times a week, alongside other feeders) are the enrichment on top. Variety and a balanced base beat any single insect, no matter how good.

If you also keep leopard geckos, see my companion piece on whether silkworms are safe for leopard geckos, and browse every care guide on the exotic animals hub.

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