Silkworms vs Crickets: Which Is the Better Feeder?
All Angles Creatures
Silkworms and crickets are the two most commonly recommended supplemental feeders for pet reptiles, and they pull in opposite directions. Crickets are cheap, calorie-dense, and stimulate the most aggressive feeding response. Silkworms are expensive, lean, and unusually well-balanced nutritionally. Most experienced keepers run both — but if you have to pick one for a specific role, the right answer depends on the animal you're feeding and what role the feeder is playing in the diet.
Nutritional comparison at a glance
By dry weight, the two feeders compare like this:
| Metric | Silkworms (Bombyx mori) | Crickets (Acheta domesticus) |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | ~64% | ~65% |
| Fat | ~10% | ~22% |
| Calcium : Phosphorus | ~1 : 1.4 | ~1 : 9 |
| Moisture (live) | ~76% | ~73% |
| Chitin (exoskeleton) | Low (soft body) | Moderate to high |
The two big differences: silkworms have less than half the fat content, and a calcium-to-phosphorus ratio that is roughly six times closer to the 2:1 reptiles need.
When silkworms are the right choice
For young, growing reptiles building bone
Hatchlings and juveniles need a lot of calcium relative to phosphorus to lay down healthy bone, and the standard cricket diet — even with calcium dusting — can fall short of that ratio. Silkworms close most of the gap before any supplementation. For a hatchling bearded dragon, leopard gecko, or chameleon eating multiple meals a day, mixing silkworms in 2–3× per week meaningfully reduces the risk of metabolic bone disease.
For animals prone to obesity
Adult leopard geckos, established bearded dragons, and senior reptiles in general gain weight easily on cricket-heavy diets. Silkworms deliver real meal volume without the fat load — a 5-gram silkworm meal is roughly 0.5g of fat, where a 5-gram cricket meal is 1.1g. For weight management, silkworms are the cleaner choice.
For animals recovering from stress or illness
Soft-bodied, easy-to-digest, and naturally low in pathogen load (silkworms produce antimicrobial peptides as part of their immune system), they put less strain on a recovering digestive tract than crickets do.
For chameleons specifically
Chameleons are notoriously prone to gout from chronically high-protein diets, and silkworms' lower-purine profile is gentler on their kidneys over time. They are a staple in serious chameleon-keeping rotations.
When crickets are the right choice
For triggering a strong feeding response
Crickets jump and chirp. They activate the strike instinct in almost every insectivorous reptile, which makes them the right feeder for any animal that has been off food, is being newly introduced to an enclosure, or is otherwise reluctant to eat. A silkworm sitting still in a feeder dish will not provoke the same response.
For calorie density and growth rate
If you are trying to put weight on an underweight animal — a rescue, a recovering breeder, a fast-growing juvenile — crickets deliver more calories per gram. Silkworms keep weight steady; crickets build it.
For cost-per-feeder operations
Crickets are roughly 4–6× cheaper per gram than silkworms, and the cost gap is largest at scale. For a multi-animal collection, an all-silkworm feeding rotation is impractical purely on the budget side.
For animals that need chitin
Some chitin in the diet is genuinely useful — it supports gut motility and provides a moderate calorie-density check. Silkworms lack a meaningful exoskeleton, so a 100% silkworm diet leaves the gut underexercised. Crickets fill that role.
The most common keeper mistake
Choosing one feeder and sticking with it. Variety is the single most consistent predictor of long-term reptile health, and any sentence that starts with "I just feed my [reptile] crickets" or "I only feed silkworms" is a setup for the same nutritional gaps no matter which feeder is the staple.
The high-quality compromise: crickets as the calorie-dense staple, silkworms as the calcium/leanness corrective. A typical rotation for a juvenile bearded dragon might run crickets 4 days a week, silkworms 1–2 days, with discoid roaches filling another day and hornworms in a hydration role. The point is that no single feeder is the answer.
What about cost over time?
The pricier silkworms look on a per-gram basis, but their value per nutritional outcome changes the math. A keeper who reduces calcium dusting frequency, avoids vet bills for MBD, and keeps an adult reptile at healthy weight is getting a return on the silkworm premium. Treat them as a strategic supplement, not a luxury.
Practical recommendations by reptile
- Bearded dragons: Crickets staple, silkworms 1–2× weekly. See our full guide on silkworms for bearded dragons.
- Leopard geckos: Crickets and discoid roaches staples, silkworms 1× weekly. See silkworms for leopard geckos.
- Chameleons: Silkworms can be a staple; crickets used as a strike-response trigger and variety. See silkworms for chameleons.
- Anoles, dart frogs, small lizards: Crickets for size and strike response; silkworms only when they're small enough.
Bottom line
This is not a binary. Crickets are the better budget-conscious calorie-dense staple; silkworms are the better lean, calcium-rich corrective. Most healthy reptile diets include both. If forced to pick one for a specific role: crickets for strike response and growth, silkworms for ongoing health maintenance and bone development. Run them both in rotation and you avoid the trade-off entirely.
Browse our nutritionally complete feeder insect lineup or the Creature Insights blog for species-specific feeding charts.
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