Silk worms

HELP HELP! Anybody with experience breeding silk worms? They've started hatching. When do i do the first feed? There's still many more to hatch. Do i wait for the rest to hatch? Do i feed them in the petri dish they're hatching in? If not how do i pick them up without squishing?

If you post this in the feeders section you'll get more replies by people who know about silkworms. You might also check to see if there is anything on Youtube.

Here you are , this is how I do it , start feeding as soon as they start hatching .

viewtopic.php?f=76&t=222193

If you have access to fresh mulberry leaves , these are your best food for baby silkworms for the first 2 - 3 weeks at which time you can swap over to chow if leaves are in short supply.

Place the petri-dish into a 600ml food tub , no lid on the petri-dish and place a smaller sized tender mulberry leaf next to it, the worms will crawl out to feed on the leaf and skeletonize it over the next 4-7 days.

If you see any sign of white or yellow fuzzy mould remove it immediately - the mould will kill the worms very fast.

I put a lid on the tub to make it air tight (keeps the worms in, helps maintain a stable microclimate, watch for condensation (I wipe it away to avoid mould formation), and it helps keep the micro-predators (ants, spider, roaches, etc out)).

No extra heat, everything happens on the coffee table at room temperature. Cleaniness is the key to success with raising and breeding silkworms.

Thanks king. So the worms can crawl out of the petri dish? Cuz i put small pieces of silk worm chow (when do i know the food needs to be replenished/ replaced/ removed?) in the petri dish where space was available, but the worms are so scattered in the dish, i don't know where to put fresh food. But your saying i can put it outside the dish? Also, mulberry farms said i should place wax paper over the food and worms for the first 7 or so hours after fresh food is given to keep it moist while they feed

Using greaseproof paper ??? never occurred to me to try that, but my chow sits on paper toweling and seems OK , takes about 4 days to either become too dry to use or start showing signs of mould (white) , and I only put enough chow in to last a day or two.

My baby silkworms are in a small plastic food tub (the kind you get Chinese food deliveries in) and airtight, so everything stays "moist" while the lid stays on and the tub remains sealed.

I prefer to use fresh leaves for the babies , will use a tiny sliver of chow if I have no leaves.

Yes , the baby silkworms will crawl/climb out to get to the food, they move surprisingly fast.