Silkworms for Bearded Dragons

Silkworms for bearded dragons are one of the best staple feeders available. They have a soft body, high moisture content, and strong protein value. Bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) can eat silkworms at every life stage, from hatchling to adult.

The worm just needs to be sized to the animal. This guide covers nutrition, portions by age, the size rule, gut loading, storage, and the few risks to watch.

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Silkworms for Bearded Dragons: Are They Good?

Yes, silkworms are a recognized staple feeder for Pogona vitticeps. They lack the hard, chitin heavy exoskeleton of crickets or roaches. That makes them easier for young or recovering dragons to digest.

Bearded dragons are opportunistic omnivores. Their wild diet already includes a wide range of soft and hard bodied invertebrates. A soft bodied worm fits naturally into that rotation.

Silkworms also carry more water in their bodies than dry feeders like mealworms. That helps support hydration in an animal that gets much of its fluid intake from food. Easy digestion plus hydration is why many keepers list silkworms among the preferred rotation feeders.

Silkworm Nutrition: Protein, Fat, and Calcium

A peer reviewed nutrition review reports specific numbers for Bombyx mori larvae: roughly 54 percent protein, 8 percent fat, 6 percent fiber, and 6 percent ash. That protein share sits at the high end of the wider 25 to 75 percent dry matter range for insects generally. The fat share is low next to many feeder insects.

Calcium has one silkworm specific figure. A 2024 analysis in Frontiers in Nutrition of raw powder made from whole Bombyx mori larvae measured 578 mg of calcium per 100 g of dry powder. That study did not measure phosphorus, so no calcium to phosphorus ratio for silkworms can be stated here.

The Frontiers review of silkworm nutrition adds that phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium are the major minerals in pupae, without giving per 100 g values for larvae. A precise ratio for the larvae keepers actually feed remains unpublished in an open source.

The safe assumption is that silkworms, like nearly all feeder insects, need calcium added. Mealworms, a different feeder species, run below 0.3 percent calcium by dry matter, with phosphorus well above calcium, per the Journal of Insects as Food and Feed review. Silkworm powder’s 0.58 percent calcium is higher, but without a phosphorus figure it does not prove a favorable ratio.

That imbalance is why gut loading and dusting matter for every insect feeder, not just silkworms. A poor calcium to phosphorus ratio in the overall diet is a named cause of secondary hyperparathyroidism in reptiles.

How Many Silkworms Can a Bearded Dragon Eat

There is no single verified count for silkworms specifically. Amounts are best set by the dragon’s age and appetite, not a fixed number. A useful working rule is to offer sized worms until the dragon stops eating with enthusiasm, then stop.

For frequency by age, a veterinary teaching hospital gives the schedule below for insect feeding in general. Silkworms fit into that schedule as one rotation item.

Can bearded dragons eat silkworms every day? They can, but a daily diet of one feeder species is not ideal. Rotation reduces the risk of a single nutrient gap.

Two to three silkworm feedings a week is a common keeper standard, alongside other staples from the full feeder insects list.

Silkworm Size: The Eye Width Rule

The standard sizing rule for any feeder insect is simple: never offer one wider than the space between the bearded dragon’s eyes. This prevents impaction and choking. It applies at every life stage, since a hatchling’s eye spacing is much smaller than an adult’s.

Silkworms grow through several instars before pupating, so a single culture can offer a range of sizes. A mixed age batch makes it easier to match size to a specific dragon without ordering several separate batches.

Feeding, Gut Loading, and Dusting

Silkworms are typically raised on fresh mulberry leaves or a prepared silkworm chow. Either diet works as a gut load base. Both keep the worm actively feeding right up to feeding time.

A veterinary hospital’s feeding guidance recommends gut loading insects for 24 to 72 hours on a calcium rich diet. That step is the main route calcium reaches the reptile.

Dust silkworms with a calcium supplement that lacks vitamin D3 and phosphorus. Use the same frequency as the rest of the rotation: calcium two to three times a week, multivitamin two to three times a month. Dusting supplements gut loading; it does not replace it.

Offer silkworms with feeding tongs. That keeps the soft bodied worm off the substrate.

A shallow, sided dish also works well for silkworms. Their smooth body climbs out of an open bowl more easily than a cricket or roach. An escape proof feeder dish keeps them in place until eaten.

Storage and Shelf Life

Silkworms have a short shelf life compared with hardier feeders like crickets or dubia roaches. They do best at cool room temperature with a fresh supply of mulberry leaves or chow, not refrigerated.

Feed silkworms out within days of arrival rather than stockpiling them. A starved or dehydrated worm loses much of the value that makes it a good feeder.

Because they are delicate in storage, many keepers buy silkworms in smaller, more frequent batches. Timing purchases to the feeding schedule already in use for the dragon works well.

Risks and What to Watch

Silkworms carry few of the risks tied to wild caught or firmer bodied feeders. They have no sting, no defensive spray, and no hard exoskeleton to cause impaction.

That puts them well ahead of riskier wild caught feeders such as spiders, which should never be offered. The same caution applies to other wild insects sometimes offered as free feeders.

Ants carry formic acid and defensive stings that make them unsuitable no matter how convenient they seem. Stink bugs belong on the same avoid list. Their defensive secretions are a documented irritant in mammals, with no safety record in reptiles.

The main practical risk with silkworms for bearded dragons is a dragon losing interest in firmer feeders once it tastes the soft, easy worm. Keep offering a full rotation instead. Watch a first feeding for normal swallowing and normal stool the next day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can bearded dragons eat silkworms?

Yes, at every life stage from hatchling through adult. Each worm just needs to be no wider than the space between the dragon’s eyes, with the same gut loading and dusting used for other feeder insects.

Are silkworms good for bearded dragons compared with crickets?

Silkworms carry more moisture and a softer body than crickets. Some keepers favor them for hatchlings or dragons prone to impaction. Crickets remain a fine staple too, so the two work best as rotation partners.

How many silkworms can a bearded dragon eat in one sitting?

There is no fixed verified count. The practical approach is to offer sized worms until the dragon loses interest, then remove any leftovers. Two to three silkworm feedings a week is a common keeper standard.

Can bearded dragons eat silkworms every day?

They can tolerate silkworms daily, but rotating with dubia roaches or crickets is better for overall diet variety. A single feeder species offered every day raises the odds of missing a nutrient.

Do silkworms need gut loading and dusting like other feeders?

Yes. Raise or buy silkworms fed on mulberry leaves or chow. Then dust them with calcium two to three times a week, the same schedule used for the rest of the insect rotation.

What is the calcium content of silkworms?

One peer reviewed analysis measured 578 mg of calcium per 100 g of dry whole larva powder, but no open source pairs that with a phosphorus figure, so the ratio is unknown. Treat silkworms as needing added calcium, the same assumption used for other feeder insects. Rely on gut loading and dusting rather than the worm’s natural mineral content.