Do silkworms need to be dusted with calcium?

Yes. You'll read that silkworms have a 'favorable calcium ratio,' but like nearly every feeder insect they're phosphorus-heavy, so dusting still matters. They do carry more usable moisture and a softer, leaner body than crickets or superworms, which helps — but it doesn't replace a calcium supplement. Dust on the schedule your specific animal requires and treat the silkworm's profile as a head start, not a free pass.

Why can't I refrigerate silkworms like I do other feeders?

Cold kills them. Silkworms are tropical-origin larvae that go dormant and then die at refrigerator temperatures — the opposite of how waxworms or hornworms tolerate a chill. Keep them at room temperature to slightly warm, around 78–82°F, in their ventilated container. If they get cold they turn dark, mushy, and stop eating.

What do I feed silkworms to keep them alive?

Mulberry leaves or a commercial mulberry-based chow — not just any leaf. Silkworms are specialist feeders that won't thrive on random greens. Most keepers buy them pre-loaded with chow; refresh the chow every other day, keep the container dry, and they'll grow fast. A batch usually lasts 2–4 weeks before the larvae start pupating into cocoons.

My silkworms keep dying — what am I doing wrong?

Almost always too much moisture. Silkworms need dry and warm; misting or condensation breeds the bacterial and fungal die-offs they're famous for. Don't mist them, don't seal them in a wet container, and wipe out any condensation. Keep them around 78–82°F, refresh chow on a clean dry surface, and remove any worms that have gone dark or limp before they take the rest down with them.

Are silkworms good for animals prone to obesity?

They're one of the best feeders for it. Silkworms are low in fat and high in moisture and protein, so you can keep feeding volume up without packing on weight the way superworms or waxworms do. That makes them especially useful for leopard and fat-tailed geckos, White's tree frogs, and adult tegus that gain weight easily.

Will silkworms work for a picky eater on a hunger strike?

Usually not. Silkworms move slowly, and most animals strike on movement. When an animal is already refusing food, a sluggish silkworm rarely triggers a feeding response — reach for a wriggling cricket or a hornworm instead. Silkworms shine as a staple or rotation feeder for animals that are already eating, not as a last-resort enticer.

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Amphibians

Silkworms as a Feeder: A Keeper's Guide for Anoles, Tegus, Tree Frogs, Geckos, and Beyond

By Matt Goren · Updated June 25, 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've fed silkworms (Bombyx mori) to just about everything in my animal room at one point or another, and they've quietly become one of my favorite rotation feeders. They get pigeonholed as a bearded dragon and chameleon worm, but that sells them short. A soft, low-fat, high-moisture larva is useful across a huge range of insectivores — you just have to size it right and present it right for each animal. The feeder is the same; the application changes.

This guide is the species-by-species version of that experience: how I actually use silkworms for anoles, tegus, tree frogs, uromastyx, and African fat-tailed geckos, plus the husbandry that keeps them alive long enough to feed off, and an honest accounting of what they can and can't do. If you keep a chameleon or a beardie, the same principles apply — silkworms are a staple-grade feeder for those too.

What a silkworm actually is

Silkworms are the larvae of the domestic silk moth, Bombyx mori — the same insect that's been farmed for silk for thousands of years. As a feeder, what matters is the body: soft, smooth, and very low in chitin, which is the tough material in an insect's shell that's hard for animals to digest. That low-chitin softness is the whole appeal. A silkworm goes down easy and breaks down easy, which makes it gentle on the gut of everything from a tiny anole to a hatchling tegu.

Nutritionally, silkworms are high in moisture and protein and low in fat. That combination is rare and valuable. Most of the convenient feeders — superworms, waxworms, mealworms — carry their calories as fat, which is exactly what gets pets fat. Silkworms let you keep feeding volume up without the fat load, so they're a genuinely healthy staple or treat depending on the animal.

One correction worth making up front, because the internet repeats it constantly: silkworms are often sold as having a "favorable calcium-to-phosphorus ratio." Treat that with skepticism. Like nearly every feeder insect, silkworms are phosphorus-heavy, and you should still dust them with calcium on whatever schedule your animal needs. They do start from a better baseline than a cricket — more moisture, less fat, a softer body — but that's a head start, not a reason to skip supplementation. For the underlying reason this matters, the Merck Veterinary Manual's section on reptile nutrition is a solid non-commercial reference on calcium, phosphorus, and metabolic bone disease (MBD).

Keeping silkworms alive: storage and rotation

Silkworms have a reputation for dying on people, and it's almost always a husbandry problem with two causes: moisture and cold. Get those two right and they're easy.

Keep them dry. This is the big one and it's the opposite of how you'd treat a hornworm. Silkworms need a dry container — excess moisture breeds the bacterial and fungal die-offs they're notorious for. Do not mist them. Wipe out any condensation, and keep their food on a dry surface.
Keep them warm — around 78–82°F. Room temperature to slightly warm is ideal. Warmth keeps them eating and growing.
Never refrigerate them. Cold kills silkworms. They're tropical-origin larvae, so unlike waxworms you can't park them in the fridge to slow them down. A chill turns them dark and mushy.
Feed them mulberry, not random greens. Silkworms are specialist feeders that eat mulberry leaves or a commercial mulberry-based chow — not lettuce, not just any leaf. Most ship pre-loaded with chow; refresh it every other day on a clean, dry surface.

The catch with silkworms is speed: they grow fast. A small silkworm can become a large one in a week or two, and a batch generally lasts 2–4 weeks before the larvae start pupating into cocoons (at which point they stop being food). This means two things. First, order quantities matched to your collection — a single anole or tree frog eats through 30 silkworms slowly, while a hatchling tegu can clear 30 in a week. Second, expect them to outgrow your smaller animals; the worms you bought for an anole this week may be too big for it next week. When you need fresh, correctly-sized larvae, All Angles Creatures stocks silkworms in a range of sizes for exactly this reason.

Anoles

Green anoles (Anolis carolinensis), brown anoles (Anolis sagrei), and the various Caribbean species are small, visually-hunting lizards that eat small insects in the wild — fruit flies, tiny moths, small crickets. Silkworms fit when they're small enough.

Sizing. Anoles are tiny. Use very small silkworms — 1–2 cm maximum. Anything bigger is a choking risk.
Frequency. 1–2 small silkworms per feeding, 2–3 days a week. Hatchlings daily; adults every other day.
Presentation. Anoles hunt by sight and movement, so a still silkworm in a dish usually gets ignored. Tong-feed individual worms, or use a feeding cup placed up at branch level where the anole patrols.
Why bother. Anoles are prone to MBD on cricket-only diets. Silkworms' leaner, higher-moisture profile (still dusted with calcium) is genuinely useful here, especially for breeding females.

Tegus

Tegus — Argentine black-and-white, red, and gold — are large opportunistic omnivores. Adults eat rodents, eggs, fish, and fruit; juveniles eat heavily on insects. Silkworms have a clear role for the young ones.

Sizing. Hatchlings take medium silkworms (3–4 cm) easily. Adults generally won't bother — a silkworm is too small to be worth their effort.
Frequency. Hatchlings: 4–6 silkworms per feeding, mixed with crickets and small discoid roaches, daily. Juveniles: 6–10 silkworms 2–3× per week.
Why bother. Hatchling tegus grow fast and need calcium for that bone development. Silkworms deliver protein without the high fat of mealworms or superworms. Once a tegu is large enough to take rodents (around 10–12 inches), silkworms naturally drop out of the rotation.

Tree frogs

White's tree frogs, red-eyed tree frogs, and gray tree frogs are insectivorous amphibians with sticky tongues and a strong preference for moving prey. Silkworms work but need handling.

Sizing. Very small to small silkworms (1.5–3 cm). Frogs swallow whole, so too-large prey causes regurgitation or worse.
Frequency. 2–4 silkworms per feeding, 2× per week for adults; daily for froglets.
Presentation. Tree frogs need movement to trigger a strike, and most won't take a motionless silkworm. Tong-feed individual worms to give them some wiggle.
Why bother. Tree frogs — White's especially — get obese fast on insect-heavy diets. Silkworms' low fat lets you keep them fed without the weight gain. If you keep White's, this is one of the best feeders you can rotate in; see my full White's tree frog care guide for how it fits the larger diet.

Uromastyx

Uromastyx are primarily herbivorous as adults — leafy greens, seeds, and dandelions make up most of the diet — but juveniles eat insects readily, and even adults take the occasional bit of prey. Silkworms have a narrow but real role.

Sizing. Medium silkworms (3–4 cm) for juveniles. Adults rarely take insects regularly.
Frequency. Juveniles: 3–4 silkworms 2× per week alongside the staple greens. Adults: 2–4 silkworms once a month or less, purely as enrichment.
Why bother. Juvenile uromastyx need protein for growth and calcium for bone development, and silkworms supply both without the high-fat trap of mealworms.
Caution. Uromastyx are obesity-prone and herbivore-leaning by design. Don't overdo insect feedings even with a lean worm like this.

African fat-tailed geckos

African fat-tailed geckos (Hemitheconyx caudicinctus) are the leopard gecko's stockier cousin — similar husbandry and diet, slightly different temperament. Silkworms work the same way they do for leopard geckos.

Sizing. Small to medium silkworms (2–4 cm) match the gecko's mouth at most life stages.
Frequency. 3–4 silkworms 1–2× per week, with crickets and small discoid roaches as the staple.
Why bother. Same logic as leopard geckos: lean profile, soft body, high moisture. Fat-tailed geckos put on weight even more easily than leos, so a low-fat feeder is especially valuable for adults.

Where silkworms shine (and where they don't)

After feeding them across all these species, the pattern is clear. Silkworms are useful for almost any insectivorous reptile or amphibian where:

The animal is prone to MBD on standard cricket diets (most insectivores).
The animal is prone to obesity on richer feeders (leopard and fat-tailed geckos, tree frogs, adult tegus).
The animal is small or has a soft mouth (anoles, hatchlings, tree frogs).
You want a hydration boost (desert and savanna species, especially in dry winter months).

And they're the wrong tool when:

Strict carnivores past the juvenile stage — adult tegus, monitors, large snakes — find a silkworm too small to be worth eating.
An animal is on a hunger strike. A slow-moving silkworm won't trigger a strike when nothing else is working; switch to crickets or hornworms.
Strict herbivores — adult uromastyx barely need them, and tortoises ignore them entirely.

Bottom line

Silkworms are versatile in a way most feeders aren't. The same worm that supports a panther chameleon also supports a juvenile tegu, a green anole, and a White's tree frog — you just adjust size and frequency. The value is consistent across all of them: lean, soft-bodied, high-moisture protein that improves nutritional balance without the fat trade-offs of richer feeders. Keep them dry and warm, feed them mulberry chow, never chill them, and always dust with calcium — do that, and silkworms earn a permanent spot in your feeder rotation.

New to building a feeder rotation? See my White's tree frog care guide for how silkworms fit a real diet, or browse the full exotic animal care library for hornworms, discoids, and the rest.

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