ENRICHMENT IDEAS

Livefood lowdown – Calci-worms

A varied diet is extremely important to almost all captive reptiles. An appropriate selection of live foods can certainly enrich the lives of our animals whilst providing major nutritional benefits.

Calci-worms are the new superfood of the reptile world. Across the globe, they have adorned various names including phoenix worms, repti-worms and black soldier fly larvae. They are the grub of Hermetia illucens, which is a type of fly (though they do look like small wasps) that can be found across North America. Their UK name of ‘calciworm’ is extremely fitting as they can contain over 20X the amount of calcium of a similar-sized cricket. Their calcium to phosphorous ratio is also near perfect (1.5:1), meaning that they can be fed without additional supplements. Although variety is key to an enriched diet, feeding larger volumes of calci-worms, particularly to hatchling reptiles, can be extremely beneficial to their development rates. Calci-worms also contain large amounts of lauric acid. This compound is extremely beneficial to reptiles, as its antimicrobial properties can even flush out nasty parasites.

Calci-worms are reasonably small (4-8mm), making them ideal for small reptiles, fish, birds and some insectivorous mammals. They are soft-bodied in the earlier days of development, before hardening up and becoming darker in colouration after about one week of age. Once they dig into the substrate they will fully pupate and eventually emerge as flies. Keepers should select the life stage most appropriate for their animal. For example, small geckos will want soft-bodied 4mm worms. Larger lizards will happily take worms of any age. Fish will benefit from live prey, but even pupating worms can give them a tasty snack.

Birds will also happily feast on calci-worms live, dried or pupating. The development cycle can be slowed down by keeping the worms cool but be careful not to refrigerate calci-worms as they will likely die. Adult flies can still be fed to pets, but their fast, aerial movements mean they are only really suitable for chameleons and arboreal geckos that can catch them. Therefore, tong-feeding or using a feeding dish is recommended for terrestrial species such as leopard geckos, bearded dragons, blue tongue skinks and more.

Although prey items are likely to vary depending on age and breeder. Calci-worms, on average, have the following nutrient content:

Calci-worm composition

Moisture: 61.2

Protein: 17.5%

Fat: 14%

Ash: 3.5%

Fibre: 3%

Calcium: 9,340 MG/KG

Phosphorous: 3,560 MG/KG