Lorilyn":n9e89o0h said:Just received my first order of silkworm eggs. Gonna try to hatch my own to hopefully save some $$$ I purchased the silkworm egg kit from Coastal silkworms. It comes with their housing, 2 bags off food, grater, and a Petri dish with 250 eggs. The directions are on the Petri dish but I still have a few questions.
1. Do you need to open the Petri dish for them to hatch? (can they even breath?) <<<< no , only remove any sticky tape holding the top dish on the bottom dish to allow access to deposit some chow shavings in WHEN THE BABY WORMS start hatching - might be up to 4 weeks before you see baby worms.
I keep my prepaid chow wrapped in clingwrap in the door the fridge.
I find taking a thin sliver of chow off the prepared chow , you wont need more than a few shavings as long as a BIQ biro and maybe a couple of mm thick .
Don't let the chow start to go moldy ---- this will kill the worms.
Once the worms get to about 5mm long , use a soft art brush or even a toothpick to gently lift the worms out and deposit in a sealable 600mm plastic tub (like what Chinese meals are delivered), I place an offcut of paper towel in the tub and deposit some slivers of chow on the paper , and gently deposit the worms on the paper near the chow slivers.
My tubs are old cricket tubs (like what crickets are sold in at pet shops) so the lids have holes in them , I seal the tub by placing some clingwrap under the lid
- keeps the baby roaches and any tiny spiders and ants out,
- keeps the worms in,
- help stop the chow from drying. …. if you can get fresh mulberry leaves , the tender ones are best for baby silkworms and a leave will keep the worms happy for up to a week (they will skeletize it , again if you see any mold forming , replace the chow or leaf immediately.
Don't leave the worm fras in the tub …. it will go moldy , and increase humidity , and kill the worms.
2. Best advice on keeping them warm?
I simply sit my silkworms' tubs (a few sizes) on my coffee table, my home never gets colder than 24 degC year round , so I don't both provide any special heating to my insects.
Something like this
viewtopic.php?f=75&t=224976&p=1746469&hilit=safe+way+to+use+heatpads#p1746469
placed under the keeper / rearing tub ,I'd set the thermostat to keep them at 24 degC - 26 degC.
Anyone who has any advice/success with silkworm eggs who can help a slow learner (cause this bug business is all new to me) would be greatly appreciated!
Lorilyn":3cyj4l7z said:Thank you so much. Some of the eggs look almost white. I hope I didn’t kill them. I just finished reading all your posts. Hopefully I can have some yummy survivors. Was gonna keep the dish on top of Biggs cage but she did not like that idea at all. My house is usually kept around 70 with my sewing room aka the bug room now (hahaha Biggs comes first now) is usually kept warmer so I will keep them there. I will hold off on making the chow just in case.
In some of what I read it sounds like the Beardie can eat the moth. Is that true?
Lorilyn":1l3lzl0i said:My silk worm eggs hatched. I’m so excited. I put a few small slivers of chow in the Petri dish. They are so tiny. I hope they grow nice and big. But I think I might feel bad feeding them to Biggs.
kingofnobbys":1oufjyim said:Lorilyn":1oufjyim said:My silk worm eggs hatched. I’m so excited. I put a few small slivers of chow in the Petri dish. They are so tiny. I hope they grow nice and big. But I think I might feel bad feeding them to Biggs.
Remember to keep them in the petri dish for now …. then in a couple of weeks you can place the petri-dish in a 600ml or 1L food tub on a clean piece of paper towel , the petridish goes in the tub with the lid off , the worms will mostly climb out to get to the fresh food of their own accord , you might need to use a fine artbrush or a toothpick to move the ones who don't -- very gently.
Peppa polished off 4 large silkworms this afternoon + 6 medium gut loaded crickets, George and Mildred polished off 2 large silkworms each ….
With Peppa the last two never even touched the edges …. they went in her mouth and a couple of head flicks and they were gone.
If I had a male beardie (adult size) I'm sure Peppa would become more active …. she was very active for her first 2 years , she 3 now and is mega lazy and smoogy and pampered and knows she rules the roost.Lorilyn":fdoauvkf said:LOL nice to know my Biggs isn’t the only lazy one. I think she has decided moving is done only out of necessities and only when I’m not around. She was never a great explorer but I think she could use some exercise and she thinks she could use more snuggles and naps. .
Lorilyn":1xc47n7i said:Ok I will change the paper towel first thing when I get home. I was changing every three days. Maybe now that they are bigger I will def be changing more often.
I don't think mine would tolerate another beardie in the same house as her. She is getting very spoiled and only wants me to handle her. If anyone else holds her she turns completely black (beard, body, tail...everything) and then hides (when she is put back in her cage) for days till I can convince her that its safe to come out. She is ok with the people who lives in the house holding and touching her for short periods as long as I am near and take her but not outsiders. However she is ok with outsiders looking at her but no touching! LOL
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