Silkworm Keeping

So to preface I have a dubia colony, purchase BSFL(phonix worms), superworms for treats, and add the occasional hornworm (grow much to fast to keep many on hand.

Feeding six beardies ranging from 5 months to over 2 years of age, of course with different salad to live feeder ratios respective to age. With that said the dubia are easy with a good colony but I don't want to overdo them with the higher UA. While BSFL are great i find that i'm either running out or if i purchase more they are pupating and well... flies. And while i've seen many times they can still eat the flies my enclosure ventilation is open enough that flies could easily get out so not a great idea. And we have all seen that to may superworms can make a beardie hold out for them all the time which is not good.

For silkworms, I am finding so many places out of stock or very limited in what they have other than the option for eggs. So I turned to the idea of raising them much like a dubia colony altered for their care needs. I do have an incubator to maintain temps for hatching and the first few weeks and living space after (still with maintained temps) for growing out wont be any issue.

Is there anyone here with either breeding or at least raising from eggs? While I am more than willing to put in the effort and provide the right conditions, it will be a bit of a leap as at http://www.mulberryfarms.com/ where I am looking to buy from as reputable and recommended the lowest egg count is 2000 and with 10 lbs of powdered food (do not have a mulberry tree) and petri dishes for hatching it totals over $140 but the shipping is a killer at over $60 bringing the total over $200. Don't get me wrong I am not trying to be cheap with feeders here, but that could be put toward many feeders and I don't want it to be wasted because I was not properly prepared.

Anyone with any experience they can share would be greatly appreciated.

There are a couple of us here who have raised silks. I have never actually bred them (always just bought eggs) but i've wanted to, and might try the next time I'm into it.

I also have a full house at 5 dragons, so understand your issue ha.

Mulberryfarms is where i've always gotten my eggs too. but 2000 eggs is a lot of eggs to start off with.

Honestly, I'd start with 200 eggs if I were to go back to the very first time I tried
500 eggs is only like 3 or 4 bucks more, so I understand going with 500. But 500 is a bit much to handle IMO for the first time. Although with 6 dragons, maybe you can make 500 work.

But definitely don't go with 2000.

as far as the chow goes, I'd go with 2 or 3 of the half lb dry bags. Better to have more than enough has opposed to running out and your silks dying because you have no food. They basically need a constant unending supply of food.

Be warned though, cooking the chow will make your whole house stink. Especially your microwave. Every time I do it I swear the next time I will buy the premade chow. But my wallet says otherwise.

My dubias are in a closet with a heat mat. And because of that, the whole closet stays around 75-85. This allows me to not need to incubate the eggs at all. Just them being in the closet is good enough to get them to hatch and to keep them happy.

Just watch out for mold and too much moisture. It's not an exaggeration when people say that mold and too much moisture will wipe a whole colony out overnight.

-Brandon

They also offer a prepaid shipping package.
http://www.mulberryfarms.com/-FONT-COLOR-BLACK-b-POSTAGE-PAID-PAGES-SHIPPING-INCLUDED-b-/-FONT-COLOR-BLACK-B-Postpaid-b-Silkworm-Eggs/Silkworm-Eggs-Powdered-Chow-Combos-POSTPAID-p315.html
$26 dollars for 200 eggs and half a lb of dry chow, shipping price included.
They have options for the 500 and 1000 egg quantities too, but you'd need to add more chow, which unfortunately I believe ships separately..

IME, 1/2lb dry chow will raise 500 silks to almost full grown. Even more so if you start feeding them off sooner.
So the 1/2lb dry should be enough to get all 200 full grown I believe.

-Brandon

Ok well I am apparently blind as I found the bulk first at 2000 minimum and while that equals the 1000 non bulk price does not include the petri dishes to hatch ( i do want those as since i have the incubator I would prefer that extra layer of safety in maintaining temps.

As for the food i was going on their projections that 1 lb of powdered chow would only feed 100 to full cocoon size ( i would only try to take a small portion that far to attempt breeding as its my understanding 1 female on average lays about 600 eggs).

Thank you especially for the link for the shipping included packages. I was apparently lazy and just went straight to the silkworms thinking that would include all options but everything shipping included is in its own section.

Looking for some help from anyone who has ordered silk work eggs and chow from http://www.mulberryfarms.com/ before. To begin this is not in any way meant to be a negative review or rant against the company, I have reached out to them about the issue and this would be the first business day for them to respond.

So I ordered a postpaid package of eggs which was to include chow as well on the 22nd of May and received a USPS tracking number setup to hold at post office as requested. This packaged arrived on the 30th of May and I picked up immediately upon being ready (post office only 2 blocks away and they are good on calling to advise package is ready).

So upon opening I find that no chow was included in this shipment at all. And of the 2 petri dishes of eggs, 1 had opened (rubber band holding it closed had come loose and the smaller container within's tape had failed not doubt to handling in travel) the contents of which were all over the box and packing peanuts. I did my best to collect those and keep them separate from the unaffected petri dish in hopes they will still hatch and not have issues.

For anyone that has ordered with them in the past is the chow sent in a separate package? And if so should I have received a second tracking number for that? And has anyone else had a similar issue with the packaging failing?

As I stated at the beginning, I have contacted the company and advised of the issues. This is not intended to be reflecting negatively on them, things do happen with shipping and I fully expect they will correct the issue. Just looking for some information as I am admittedly nervous that due to the error I am going to be set back on the expected time frame to have this feeder source, the eggs are incubating as they should but if I don't have a food source in time they may be lost.

Any information from those who have experience with this type of order from the company would be greatly appreciated while I wait to hear back from them.

Honestly I've never ordered their prepaid option, I always just buy normally since I typically buy other items too.

But i'd imagine that the chow was supposed to be in the package too. Did you inform them of the lack of chow?

I'd hesitate on trying to hatch them right now, they will die pretty quickly without food, especially right after hatching.

-Brandon

Yes I contacted them right away when I opened the box by e-mail as suggested by the website for the quickest response time, but it was a Saturday so I wasn't expecting any reply till today. Hoping to hear from them soon as its about mid day there now. Their phone seems to be strictly an answering machine that says to email for faster response time as well. I will update the thread with any new info in regards to what anyone ordering should expect to receive (1 package or separate chow package) and overall resolution. I have heard good things about them previously so I do expect it to be taken care of, just frustrating as a first experience with them.

An update for anyone following as to if things are made right with the order. I did get a reply from Mulberry Farms today, and showing excellent customer service they jumped straight to replacing my full order for me. This does go to show that they have earned their good reviews and reputation. And on top of that requested some pictures and information on the ones I did receive as they have started to hatch so that they could try to help me salvage what did arrive.

While its not the first experience I had hoped for, as long as everything arrives with the replacement as indicated it is customer service that will make me a long time customer.