Can Savannah Monitors Eat Silkworms?

Can a Savannah Monitor Eat Silkworms?

Yes — silkworms are one of the better feeders you can offer a savannah monitor, and they can be a regular part of the diet rather than a treat.

Silkworms (Bombyx mori) are one of the few feeders that are genuinely good rather than merely convenient: roughly 64% protein and only 10% fat by dry weight, over 80% moisture, and a calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of about 1:1. Most feeder insects are badly inverted on that last one and need dusting to correct it. Silkworms mostly do not.

They are also soft-bodied and highly digestible, which matters for a young animal, a recovering one, or anything that struggles with hard-shelled prey.

How Many, and How Often

4–6 silkworms in a mixed feed, twice a week.

Why Silkworms Suit a Savannah Monitor

This is the species where lean matters most. Obesity and fatty liver are the leading causes of early death in captive savannah monitors, and silkworms are one of the few feeders that add bulk and protein without adding fat.

What Else to Feed

Silkworms are excellent but they have no real exoskeleton, and a diet of nothing but soft prey leaves the gut underworked. Run them alongside discoid roaches and lean whole prey rather than instead of them.

One Thing That Kills More Silkworms Than Anything Else

Never refrigerate them. Cold is the single most common cause of a whole cup dying at once. Silkworms are not crickets or waxworms — they want room temperature, and putting them in the fridge to "keep them fresh" is what kills them.

More detail in the complete silkworm raising and care guide.