Silkworms for Tree Frogs: A Soft, Nutritious Feeder Done Right

Silkworms (Bombyx mori) are one of my favorite feeders to recommend for tree frogs, and they don't get nearly enough love. Most keepers default to crickets and call it done — but silkworms bring a combination of traits that's genuinely hard to beat for soft-mouthed, prey-swallowing amphibians like White's tree frogs, gray tree frogs, and their relatives. This is the case for silkworms, and how to use them properly.

Why silkworms suit tree frogs so well

Three things make silkworms stand out as a tree frog feeder:

• ◆Very low fat. Silkworms run around 1–3% fat — far leaner than waxworms (~25%) or even mealworms. That matters for tree frogs, many of which (White's tree frogs especially) are prone to obesity. A lean staple lets you feed regularly without packing on weight.
• ◆Soft-bodied, no chitin. Silkworms have no hard exoskeleton. For an animal that swallows prey whole, a soft feeder is easy to digest and gentle on the gut, with none of the impaction risk that hard-shelled feeders can carry.
• ◆The right kind of movement. Silkworms move with a slow, deliberate crawl that triggers a tree frog's feeding strike reliably. They're active enough to get noticed but too slow to escape.

Put together, that's a feeder that's nutritious, easy on digestion, and readily taken — exactly what you want in a frog feeder. All Angles Creatures stocks live silkworms in a range of sizes for amphibians.

How silkworms compare to other tree frog feeders

It helps to see where silkworms sit against the feeders you've probably already got on hand. Treat these as approximate, as-fed figures — actual values shift with diet and life stage — but the relationships are reliable and they're what should drive your rotation.

The takeaway for a tree frog keeper: silkworms and crickets make the backbone of a good rotation, hornworms and BSFL each fill a specific job (hydration and calcium), and waxworms stay an occasional treat because of that high fat load. A frog fed only one feeder — even a good one — does worse than a frog fed a rotation, so silkworms are best thought of as a strong staple within variety, not the whole diet.

Raising silkworms up to size

One thing that makes silkworms more flexible than they first appear: you can buy them small and grow them up to the size you need. Silkworms eat a mulberry-based chow (mulberry is the only thing Bombyx mori naturally eats), and on fresh chow at room temperature they grow quickly, molting through several stages before they're ready to spin a cocoon.

A few practical rearing notes:

• ◆Feed fresh chow and keep it dry. Replace chow before it dries out or molds, and never let condensation build up in the container — wet conditions are what kill a batch.
• ◆Don't overcrowd. Give them room as they grow; crowded, dirty containers crash fast.
• ◆Use them before they pupate. Silkworms eventually stop eating, turn translucent and restless, and spin cocoons to become silk moths. Feed them off while they're still actively growing larvae — that's when they're at their nutritional best and the right shape for your frog.

Buying small and growing them out means one order can feed a range of frog sizes over a couple of weeks, which is genuinely economical compared with re-ordering a fixed size every time.

Which tree frogs do best on silkworms

Silkworms suit the larger, prey-swallowing tree frogs especially well — White's (dumpy) tree frogs, gray tree frogs, American green tree frogs, and similar species all take them readily. For White's tree frogs in particular, the low fat content is a real asset, because that species is notoriously prone to obesity and the dreaded "rolls" of fat around the eyes that come from overfeeding rich feeders. A lean staple like silkworms lets you feed a satisfying meal without piling on weight.

For the smallest tree frog species — and for juveniles of any species — the smallest silkworms may still be too large. In that case, drop down to tinier feeders (small crickets, fruit flies, or bean beetles) and bring silkworms back into the rotation once the frog has grown.

Sizing them to your frog

The golden rule of feeding any frog applies here: never feed prey that's too big. A feeder should be no wider than the space between the frog's eyes, and no longer than about the width of the frog's head. Oversized prey is the classic cause of choking and gut impaction.

• ◆Adult White's tree frogs and similar large species: medium to large silkworms.
• ◆Smaller tree frog species and juveniles: small silkworms — or, if even small silkworms are too big, switch to tinier feeders like appropriately sized crickets or fruit flies for the littlest frogs.

When in doubt, size down. A slightly small feeder is always safer than a slightly large one.

Supplementation: still dust them

Silkworms are nutritious, but I want to clear up a common myth: they are not so calcium-rich that you can skip supplementation. Like nearly every feeder insect, silkworms are phosphorus-heavy, so a light calcium dusting keeps the calcium-to-phosphorus balance where it needs to be and prevents metabolic bone disease over time. The one feeder genuinely rich enough in calcium to skip dusting is black soldier fly larvae — silkworms aren't in that category, so dust them like you would crickets. The MSD/Merck Veterinary Manual's amphibian husbandry section is a good non-commercial reference on amphibian nutrition and the diseases poor supplementation causes.

Storing silkworms

Silkworms are a little more delicate than roaches or worms, but they're easy once you know the rules:

• ◆Keep them at room temperature with their mulberry-based chow. Cold kills them, so don't refrigerate.
• ◆Keep them dry and ventilated. Excess moisture causes them to mold and die off quickly — this is the number-one reason silkworms crash. A ventilated container and dry bedding are key.
• ◆Use them within a week or two for best condition, or keep them growing on fresh chow if you want larger feeders.

Feeding them off

Offer silkworms by hand, with feeding tongs, or in a shallow dish the frog can target. Most tree frogs will strike them readily off the substrate or right off the tongs. Because silkworms are lean, you can use them as a regular rotational staple — but the healthiest approach for any tree frog is variety: rotate silkworms with other appropriately sized, dusted feeders so your frog gets a fuller nutritional profile than any single insect provides.

Gut-loading silkworms

Whatever a feeder has eaten is what your frog ultimately eats, so a well-fed silkworm is a better silkworm. Because silkworms are reared on mulberry-based chow, they're already eating a clean, consistent diet — one of their quiet advantages over feeders that might have been fed unknown filler. Keep them on fresh chow right up until you feed them off, and they'll arrive in your frog's stomach full of nutrition rather than empty. Pair that with a light calcium dusting at feeding time and you've covered both halves of the equation: good internal nutrition plus the calcium top-up that the dusting provides.

Common mistakes with silkworms

• ◆Letting them get wet. Moisture and condensation are the number-one silkworm killer — keep the container dry and ventilated.
• ◆Refrigerating them. Cold kills silkworms; store at room temperature.
• ◆Feeding oversized worms. A silkworm that's too long or wide for the frog is a choking and impaction risk. Size down when unsure.
• ◆Assuming they don't need supplementing. Silkworms are nutritious but still phosphorus-heavy — dust them like any other feeder.
• ◆Relying on them alone. Even a great feeder shouldn't be the entire diet; rotate for variety.
• ◆Buying more than you can use. Silkworms are best fed fresh and growing — order an amount you'll get through within a week or two rather than a huge batch that pupates before your frogs can eat it.

The short version

Silkworms are low-fat, soft-bodied, easy to digest, and the right speed to trigger a strike — a near-ideal feeder for tree frogs as long as you size them correctly, dust them with calcium, keep them dry and at room temperature, and rotate them with other feeders for variety. If you've only ever fed crickets, adding silkworms to the rotation is one of the easiest upgrades you can make to a tree frog's diet.

Keeping White's tree frogs specifically? See my complete White's tree frog care guide, or read up on silkworms for other reptiles and amphibians. Browse the full exotic animal care library for more feeders.