Silk worms and their chow. yay or nay?

[mybabymojo]

I was thinking about ordering silkworms in box of 100 because none on the pet stores in my area sell them, but then i heard that their chow (which apparently they HAVE to eat, if i want them to live lol ) smell something awful.

so my question is, is it tolerable? or is the smell just not worth it?

 

[Benedict]

Smell is pretty bad (to me), but it's tolerable enough, and ya get used to it. My Dragon loves them, and I understand they're quite good for them.

While we're on the subject, I'd actually like to know what the largest size is that I can allow them to grow for my 9 inch dragon? I was thinking of using them as a regular food source in conjunction with crickets.

 

[Neromom39]

The rule is "no bigger than the space between the eyes", however silkies are super soft with no outer shell. You could probably give a bit bigger but I wouldn't overdo it.

The other thing with silkies is that they tend to "clump" together. I always take the time to separate my silkies prior to feeding that way the dragons aren't eating a big ball of worms. I'm not sure if this would cause impaction or not, but I'm not willing to chance it :wink:

 

[Benedict]

Thanks, and yeah, I try not to break that rule, and the softness of the silkworms is the precise reason I want to use them. As for clumping together, I always get my silkworms out with tweezers and drop them onto his veggie plate one at a time.

The main reason I ask is because I plan to buy in bulk, and ya can't refrigerate silkworms.

 

[Neromom39]

Well they need warmth and lots of food to grow. But you have to be careful with the mixture of the two. Too much heat and they die..too little food and they die.

I know if you order from Mulberry Farms, they have instructions on how to get the worms to the size you want. Fortunately for me, I have 4 different sized dragons, so I benefit from all sizes of the worms. I can even let them grow to 2 inches if I want :mrgreen:

 

[mybabymojo]

when you order from mulberry farms they have pre packed tub with a combination of diff sizes too. thos come is lesser quantities, i belive 20 and on up. but to get the teeny tiny one like i need i have to buy 100

the tubs have food in them too! :wink:

http://mulberryfarms.com/

ALSO! for anyone who has done silkworms, do you think i can feed 100 small silk worms with 1 bag of powdered chow (makes 2lbs.)????