Silkworm colony? Thinking of trying one...

[Heisei]

Anyone raise silkworms? I.E.,raise the worms, then breed the moths? It is something I would like to try as there is NO WAY my family will let a roach of any kind even close to the house. I would rather not deal with crickets so before I get a dragon I would like to attempt a colony of silkworms. Anyone have any useful info, or know who I could contact for some help? If I get a dragon it would probably be a juvenile so superworms are out of the question for a few months, at least (although I guess I could try a colony of those for future use if silkies don't work out). Any info would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Aaron

 

[dawnki]

silks are cool to raise but you have to me meticulous in their care---they are VERY prone to bacterial infections which can---in a matter of hours------kill off all of them. are you thinking of starting with eggs? do you have mulberry trees growing close by? chow can get expensive to buy as they eat TONS!

i use a rubbermaid tub and put a paper towel floor covering on the bottom. next, i layer some mulberry branches------2x a day i collect branches and add them to the tub-------as they eat and grow they work their way up to eat the fresher leaves and their frass(poop) falls to the bottom. i don't put a lid on top of my bin------- they silks stay in the tub until they hatch out as moths OR get fed to my beardie :mrgreen: ......

check around on this forum---there is PLENTY of info around here.....


good luck!

 

[Heisei]

Thanks dawnki! I am in the finishing stages of an "enclosure" I built with some wood and mesh screening to house them. I'll post pics when it's done. I was thinking of starting with eggs purely because they are cheaper; but would I have more success just starting with worms later on in development?

There are more mulberry trees around here than the silks would know what to do with. I work at a campground with lots of wooded land and dozens of mulberrys to choose from (and many of those being white mulberry). There are also some growing in my yard, and all the neighboring yards. They are basically like weeds around here. Feeding should not be a problem in the spring and summer; though I do wonder what I would do in the winter... Is there any way to preserve the leaves to build a winter stockpile?

What is the best way to prevent infection? What kind of conditions lead to infection? There is a lot about silk worm development and how to house them, but not much in the way of infection prevention.

Sorry about all the Q's.

Many thanks!

Aaron

 

[dawnki]

yay for the mulberry trees!!! be prepared to collect lots of small branches...... these guys can REALLY eat. The more they eat, the faster and larger they grow. last summer i started with 250 eggs and had silks all summer long----i collected from 3 different trees-----BIG trees. how many beardies are you planning on feeding?

when i start with eggs i use an incubator and keep them at a set temp of 85--------they are weeeee little things when they hatch----black in color---look smaller than rice. if you feed leaves you MUST feed hatchlings the youngest, tenderest leaf you can find. they have teeenie-tiny jaws and cannot break down the older adult leaves. OR you can use chow-------you can either buy it pre-made or buy dry ingredients and make it yourself. it's easy to make. i use a butter knife to slice off bits of chow to feed-----i always sterilize the knife with alcohol---for some reason alcohol does not seem to harm them.

they MUST be kept as dry as possible------any kind of moisture can produce bacteria/mold which is lethal to silks. you never want to really handle them either as their skin is ~very~ delicate and can bruise easily-----thus, causing bacterial infections which spread like wildfire to all the others. if you take one out to feed to a beardie and it doesn't eat it you don't want to put it back in with the others.

i would recommend starting with a batch of 100 small worms or so to help you learn about what to expect.

i don't keep silks in the winter because the chow is too expensive and like i've said they will amaze you w how much they can eat..... i don't know of any way to keep mulberry leaves------i think there was a recipe going around about how to dry them an pound them into to powder to make chow. ????? i dunno.

i hope i've answered your questions------lemme know if you have any more. silkworms are really awesome to care for-----going though all their cycles is very cool.

post some pic of your enclosure!

good luck!

 

[dawnki]

that's too bad about the roaches------they are by far the best feeder IMHO--------they are very cool to keep as well and lots easier than silkworms plus w a y cheaper. the roaches that are used as feeders are not the infesting species and if one should go awol it usually ends up dead somewhere---they need very high heat to survive. tropical guys. i keep blaptica dubia and they look more like beetles or even big isopods than a roachy roach.

cheers~

 

[Heisei]

Thanks again for all the info! I am only planning on one beardie. It will either be one or none (I am going to try as hard as possible to hold myself to that ). Whether I get one kinda hinges on this silkworm experiment. I guess I could do crix in the winter; but would rather not deal with them all year round.

they MUST be kept as dry as possible

I read that somewhere and it's why I made the enclosure out of wood and screen; gives as little place as possible for condensation to form, plus good air flow through it. I knew moisture was not good but wasn't sure why. Now I know!

What is your incubator setup? Did you buy one or make one? How do you collect the eggs from the rubbermaid tub? Or do you just let any eggs laid hatch in the tub? What temp do you keep the worms at after they hatch, and as they mature?

Maybe at some point I will be able to sneak roaches into the house. If I get a colony of silks going now no one will wonder what I'm feeding the beardie. Then maybe I can setup a roach tank and hide it or something... Oh well, raising silks actually sounds like fun. Kinda like when we raised Monarch butterflies way back in middle school (without the milkweed allergies). Anyway...

Your help is much appreciated!

Aaron

 

[Heisei]

And here is the enclosure. Just gotta make a bottom and top, that opens, and it will be done. It is aprox 20x20x18in.

Aaron

 

[dawnki]

N I C E enclosure!




here's the incubator i have----->

http://www.bigappleherp.com/Hovabator-Incubators;jsessionid=0a01025a1f43340becdb602f4218bc80a612156aae8a.e3eSbNySbxiNe34Pa38Ta38QaNr0?sc=2&category=28

i got the air flow one that was about $30 bucks. it works very well and i'm using it now to keep my baby tarantulas warm.

the baby silks need to be kept at a steady 80-88 degrees. i keep them in the incubator until they reach about 3/4 - inch in size.

temps should be 78-88 all the time. the adults can handle room temps.

i also bought a bunch of large petri dishes and would layer them with paper towels--------collect mating pairs of moths and put them into the dishes without a lid------they mate, the female lays her eggs on the paper towels....

crickets are SO nasty--------they stink. REALLY bad.

check out mulberryfarms.com----they've got lots of good info

also try silkwormshop

i'll post some photos of my set up later if you'd like?

 

[Heisei]

Hmmm, so I gotta spend some money on an incubator? Well, that one in your link is 54$, and I'm paying that much! There is a store near here that specializes in all things chicken (raising of, breeding, hatching, ect...) so I'll go check out what they have when I get a chance. I'd like to keep the total under 30$.

I would love to see some pics of your setup when you get a chance!

Aaron

 

[dawnki]

these are some photos of the silks i got yesterday----100 of very small ones.

they started out in the petri dish sent with them------i put them in the tub and gently laid mulberry branches with tender leaves on top-------you can see how they've taken to the leaves!

and today

 

[dawnki]

here's some pics of last years silkies

 

[dawnki]

if it's warm in your area you could prolly get by without getting an incubator---------i like mine because it also creates somewhat more of a sterile environment for the hatchlings----

 

[Heisei]

I also like the idea of an incubator as I would be able to more accurately and precisely control the environment. I really want to give this the best chance for success.

Thanks for the pics! It seems like silkies escaping out the top is not much of an issue. I have yet to make a top for my enclosure, and maybe I just won't make one at all as it seems they will just stay where the food is.

Again, I really do appreciate all your help! Hopefully I'll be able to help you out with something at some point! I think I may try to dry and crush some leaves for the winter, if I get this colony up and running, and make some chow out of it. That way I'll be able to keep them all winter (if I stockpile an ENORMOUS amount of leaves). Even though that is a long way off, I'll let you know how it works out. I'm sure I'll have more Q's before I get the worms (which won't be until after my vacation in a week), so I'll post em' as I think of em'.

Aaron

 

[Heisei]

Boy I can see why silkworm chow is soo expensive. For the heck of it I gathered some mulberry leaves, dried them, crushed them, then formed them into a "food disk". From over 40 leaves I got a disk with a diameter of about 2 1/2 inches at about 1/2 and inch high: From almost 50 leaves I got something smaller than a hockey puck! I imagine I could freeze it then use it in the winter. I would just have to collect A LOT of leaves now to keep the silkies fed all winter...

Aaron

 

[dawnki]

there is more you have to do to make the chow-----it's not just a matter of crushing leaves and drying them----i'll see if i can find the recipe for the mix. plus, i don't think leaves can be frozen.....