Silkworms and UVB ??

[wildlife]

Does anyone use UVB while raising their silkworms? And if so, what %?
I am not sure about the lighting but I use a compact 5.0 about 10" above. I have read that in the silkworm factories they expose them to 14-16 hours of light per day. But this, from what I understand, helps mainly with the quality of the silk but no mention of their overall health. They did live outside at one point in the wild, so it would make sense that natural sunlight aids in their health, but to what degree?
I raised one colony w/ out lights and they appeared to grow just fine, the size varied quite a bit throughout the colony but that seems normal (different hatching times). I have 3 colonies that I am raising now, all hatched relatively at the same time, under a repti glo 5.0. I'm using that bulb b/c I feel it's not a good bulb to use on my beardies.

I'm still researching this...any ideas???

 

[invictusrules]

Sounds intriguing! Even if the "wild" silkies fed underneath the leaves, they'd still get some UV. At the very least, the UV might reduce/kill bacteria in the frass. Very good thing!

 

[wildlife]

Another observation: The Pic above is under the UVB light. When taken out from under this light, they all become quite active. They seem to "bow up" or rear up the front portion of their bodies and wave about like their all "drunk." lol I'm pretty sure mulberry doesn't ferment like that. haha

It's the same posturing when they are getting ready to "shed", except when in shed they are still like tiny statues.

 

[wildlife]

Sounds intriguing! Even if the "wild" silkies fed underneath the leaves, they'd still get some UV. At the very least, the UV might reduce/kill bacteria in the frass. Very good thing!

I like the sound of that, right on! What do you think the % would need to be to impact the bacteria?

I can't believe we're the only people interested in this right?

C'mon people this could help all of us out. Take a stab at this....

 

[invictusrules]

Silkworm researchers unite!!!

Can you do a comparison - with UV and without - using the same batch of eggs? (sounds all science-fairish, but it's good technique!) I'd be interested in trying it, but I had grasserie run through my guys several years ago, and I've never had the will to start over.

 

[GoFast]

Sounds intriguing! Even if the "wild" silkies fed underneath the leaves, they'd still get some UV. At the very least, the UV might reduce/kill bacteria in the frass. Very good thing!

The UVA and UVB isn't going to kill much, if anything. Actually, it may help it thrive. To kill or disinfect with UV, you UVC

 

[invictusrules]

To kill or disinfect with UV, you UVC

This is great info! I'd heard about disinfecting units, but I always assumed it was just extra-powerful UV. This stuff sounds deadly! :shock:

 

[wildlife]

GoFast: Do you think the UV is then unimportant and possibly harmful to the chawkie?
Also, do you use UVC to disinfect your silkworm rearing containers and/or your BD's enclosure?

 

[wildlife]

invictusrules: I was thinking about using one colony as a control (no uvb), another w/ the 5.0 14 hrs a day, and the 3rd maybe only 7hrs? Any suggestions?

Also, were there any symptoms of Grasserie that you noticed before it wiped you out?
- Were any of the sick silkies fed to your BD before you realized they were diseased? And if so, did it cause any health problems to your BD's?
- I read about this disease and it seems as though there are no "signs" to indicate sickness until their bodily fluids are pouring out and yellow spots and something about their skin being shiny? and a lack of moulting.
- Did you notice anything before they all died? Any pointers would be great!

 

[GoFast]

GoFast: Do you think the UV is then unimportant and possibly harmful to the chawkie?
Also, do you use UVC to disinfect your silkworm rearing containers and/or your BD's enclosure?

I wouldn't say it is "unimportant". The fact of the matter is that unless you keep the silkworms in the dark at all times, them they will be exposed to some uv wavelength(s). The question is how much and what wavelengths is beneficial or harmful. Here is a study on it...

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a906726508

If you notice, there was a negative impact after a couple of hours of UV exposure. What I can say is that in order to have an effect of parasitic and bacteria, you will need UVC to disinfect. Do I use it? nope Good old denatured alcohol and bleach for me.

 

[wildlife]

I was hoping to be able to view the entire article w/o paying but no such luck. How were you able to view all of it?

But I did read enough abstracts/Intros to see that indeed the UV was harmful to body weight, etc. at 250nm. Does that number seem high?

But on the other hand some sericulture sites said they needed light 14-16hrs. hmmmmmmmm

I only use bleach/H20 to disinfect but was curious. It seems like too much of a fuss to disinfect w/ UVC not to mention $$.

 

[GoFast]

uvc disinfecting is something that I have looked into for filtering, cleaning, and disinfecting water from the chameleons cage in order to make a bin of water last longer. I have found that most of the water evaporates before it can even drain so it just wont work. To use it outside of that, I really haven't done the research.

 

[invictusrules]

Also, were there any symptoms of Grasserie that you noticed before it wiped you out?

Sorry about the delay - just got back from a conference.
I didn't notice any problems at all until I bought a new batch of silkies and suddenly, only a few were getting big enough to cocoon. They'd quit eating and get... gooey.

I never fed any noticeably sick ones to Invictus or to the Veiled I had at the time.

Then I started getting less emergence from the cocoons. The moths were weak - couldn't get out of the cocoons - and didn't lay many eggs. Up to that point, breeding had worked like clockwork through several generations. I'm pretty sure it wasn't an inbreeding problem, considering how long these critters have been in domestication.

I never had anything tested to confirm grasserie, but the symptoms were consistent. A lot of other people were having problems, too. Wish I'd known before I "improved" my stock with new silks.