Feeding Wax worms to Bearded dragons

Wax worms are the larvae of one of the two related wax moth species, the Lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella) or the Greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella). Wax worms, also known as web worms, wax millers or bee millers, are pests of bee hives used for honey production, but makes great food for pet Bearded dragons.

Wax worms are soft-bodies larvae and grows to about 2.5 cm / 1 ” in length. Due to their size they can be fed to most sizes of Bearded dragons. In some countries they are readily available from breeders and specialised pet shops and online retailers (Buy live wax worms from Amazon.com ).

Wax worm nutritional values*

Wax worms are one of the favourites among pet Bearded dragons, but is also has a very high content of fat with relative low levels of proteins, which limits their use as staple diet:

• Moisture 61% ^{(5) (8)}
• Total protein 39% ^{(4) (5) (18)}
• Total fat 52% ^{(7) (8) (18)}
• Calcium:Phosphorus ratio 1:15 ^{(8) (18)}

* Values are averages calculated from sources. Expressed as %DM except moisture.

When comparing Wax worms with other crawling foods such as Mealworms (T. molitor), they have less protein (39% ^{(4) (5) (18)} vs. 54% ^{(1) (2) (4) (5) (6) (8) (9) (14)} ), the same amount of fat (52% ^{(7) (8) (18)} vs. 54% ^{(1) (2) (4) (5) (6) (8) (9) (14)} ), and a poorer Ca:P ratio (1:15 ^{(8) (18)} vs. 1:2 ⁽¹³⁾ ).

Feeding Wax worms to Bearded dragons

Overfeeding can cause obesity in adult Bearded dragons and growing problems in youngsters. While feeding Wax worms, more balanced foods such as crickets and cockroaches should make up the bulk of a Bearded dragon’s food.

Although high in calcium, Wax worms have a poor calcium to phosphorus ratio (1:7) and should be offered in a shallow escape proof dish with suitable calcium supplementation.

As larvae, Wax worms do not eat any nutrition and will be suitable for feeding for about a month when kept at room temperatures. They are however sensitive to moisture and dark larvae should be discarded.

Wax worm life cycle

Adult females wax moths lay eggs in protected crevices near a food source. The eggs are creamy white and spherical and, albeit variable depending on the temperature, typically takes five to eight days to hatch into larvae. Larval development can take between one and five months (average of six to seven weeks at 29 to 32°C / 84 to 90°F ). The larvae undergo seven molts. Mature larvae will pupate and can take up to two months to mature, but the average time to adult emergence is about 37 days.