Butterworms

( http://www.butterworms.com/ )

I've heard they're great food, but i'm concerned about the fact that they can't be cultured- suppliers harvest them in the wild in chile and ship them in the us. this sounds quite unsustainable.

any ideas/opinions/other info?

thanks, elisheba

(Message edited by vortle on April 19, 2005)

I recently acquired some from the baitshop. My animals love them, but as they're so expensive and unable to be cultured (they're irradiated prior to shipping to keep them from pupating and turning into their beetle form), I figure I'll just use them as occasional treat. I've noticed overall they're kind of fattening, in addition to the increased calcium. But I've been feeding them to my female axolotls in hopes that they'll give into the male advances and have babies

i did some reseach and found out that they're moth larve and only eat the leaves of the Trevoa trinervis, or tevo bush, and the reason u can't culture them ( besides lack of food) is because their larvae stage can last up to 6 years (wow!)



P.S. I hope this doesn't sound snobby

This is an ancient thread, but... I just thought I would point out that the supplier has not yet provided any nutritional analysis of butterworms to support their claim that these worms are high in calcium.

To give this ancient thread even more life I thought that I would add my own recent experience. Years ago I used to feed butterworwms on occasion to my herps as a treat. As already mentioned they cannot be cultured and are expensive when compared to the other commonly available feeder insects. Recently I ordered some to try on the salamanders. In general most individuals accepted them with relish, particularly the Paramesotriton. There were individuals out of each group however that refused them after an initial investigation (this was also true with the lizards that I used to feed them to). I suppose that their scent does not have universal appeal. Pound for pound they have more bulk than waxworms and the exoskeleton seems tougher. As a matter of fact, after the first feeding I later found exoskeletons in several enclosures that had been passed relatively undigested. When I fed them out again I cut a small slit into each catepillar before offering it and this seemed to help. As a side note they also make a wonderful fish bait.
Chip