Which hornworm is more nutritious?

[donprec]

I used to buy a whole cup of hornworms so I'd have food for them but it's too many at once. Now I just buy a couple and use Repashy Veggie Burger for their food.
I can't find anything that mentions what exactly is in hornworm food, or it's nutritional value. But it seems that a hornworm raised on the veggie burger is pretty good nutrition...and they seem plumper, although their color changes.
So which has better nutrition?

The one on the right had been eating veggie burger for about a week before this pic was taken

 

[PatsyB]

I've always fed my hornworms the hornworm chow that they come with and some veggies right before I feed them off. The hornworm on the right is older and getting ready to pulpate. If you put it in a bowl of dirt it would probably dig to the bottom and begin the process

 

[PatsyB]

They are both okay to eat... the one on the right just might be more juicier!

 

[river-7]

I always just bought a few and feed them off right away- and use calcium before feeding them off sometimes if I bought a bunch I would use paper towels and feed them all kinds of veggies that I wanted my dragon to eat as well as my gecko's. hope this helps-river-7

 

[donprec]

I took that pic about 2 weeks ago and wanted to ask the question then but got caught up and didn't ask until now. The one on the right was eaten after the pic was taken. Had I known this then, I would've put it in dirt to try to see what happens. The other one was just bought from the pet store that day and was eaten a few days later.
I never tried feeding them anything other than the hornworm food and veggie burger but I do what Patsy had mentioned some time ago...if I have a veggie Precious isn't crazy about, I put the hornworm on it and wait until it's got a good hold on it so when Precious eats the worm, she gets the veggie too...and I had seen them look like they were nibbling on the veggie then. I'll have to try getting them to eat veggies before they're eaten.

Precious has officially given up on powdered calcium, she just will not do it anymore. I even thought with a waxworm, how's she going to notice if the powder is on them...but she still knew and refused. Now I give her liquid calcium twice a week, I think we've been doing this for about a month. She loves it, gives me no problems about lapping it up. I don't think there's anything wrong with the powder I have, Tequila has been raised on it and has had amazing growth with it and I still have so much more left!

 

[jarich]

Their colour changes based on what you feed them, yes. And yes, the one on the right is technically more nutritious since the bug burger is a more complete meal nutritionally. Hornworm chow is basically wheat germ, dry milk, sugar and a few other additives. They require a high sugar, high phosphorous diet to grow as quickly as they do, so thats mostly what hornworm chow is, with some vitamins added often times.