SHBailey":3hdjo8nr said:I've been thinking about ordering some silkworms for our beardie, since we don't do superworms anymore and he seems to be having a heck of a time catching his crickets and roaches lately. It sounds like you guys have had pretty good luck with the silkworms and would recommend them? :?
SHBailey":31somhkg said:Yes, I figured I'd get the eggs because they probably travel better than the live worms, and I understand you can refrigerate them for a while and hatch them a few at a time, since we only have one beardie. Not to mention the lower cost per worm, and I'm in no big hurry.
<<<< rechilling the eggs after they arrive will kill them.
Fresh mulberry leaves are an issue -- it doesn't grow in this climate. Too far north. So I'd probably have to use the chow until and unless I could find a way to get some blanched and frozen mulberry leaves shipped, or else get some seeds and try to "bonsai" a miniature mulberry tree or two that we could keep in the house. :?
<<<< I buy my leaves (can travel as far as 2000km in the express post (overnight)) and arrive in good condition
I'm sure if you ask around you'll find some mulberry trees even as far north as 50deg Latitude.
See .https://books.google.com.au/books?id=3FBGjbbMjpAC&pg=PA67&lpg=PA67&dq=latitude+range+for+mulberry+trees&source=bl&ots=Ua3moHElfR&sig=C0LVeqzDb-WUkKwRCVjqZcyeYGQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjg_8fJlKPUAhUEG5QKHSjiARYQ6AEISjAJ#v=onepage&q=latitude%20range%20for%20mulberry%20trees&f=false
Still trying to work out the logistics, but feeling the need to get some more variety for the beardie now that we're not doing superworms anymore. Crickets and roaches seem to be the only other suitable feeder insects that we can get at the local stores, and he's been having a heck of a time catching them lately, so I'm trying to figure out something else. He has always liked worms -- they move just enough for him to realize that they're edible, but they don't run away fast enough for him to give up on trying to catch them. :roll:
SHBailey":2s5hxc8h said:Thanks. That explains why one of the websites I was looking at said to order a cold pack if you wanted to keep the eggs refrigerated. I guess the idea is that they're designed to survive one winter and then hatch the next spring, but not repeated chilling and warming up? :?
We're at 61 deg latitude here in Anchorage Alaska, so the only chance for fresh mulberry (without having to deal with trying to ship it some long distance and pay enough to get it here fast enough to still be in decent condition) would be if someone is growing them in a greenhouse somewhere in the area. After discussing the options with my husband (reality check), we decided that trying to get silkworms and/or keep them around just isn't a feasible option for us right now.
<<< I'm 33degrees S lat, and right on the coast, never seen snow, and have to travel a hundred km inland to see frost overnight..
>>> I've kept fresh picked mulberry leaves in the crisper for up to a month very successfully.
<<< plenty of people, myself included have raised silkworms entirely on silkworm chow for their entire life cycle, you only really need fresh leaves for when they are really tiny , first few weeks , then can swap over to blanched frozen then thawed leaves or chow, if leaves are impossible, leaves are not entirely necessary.
At least our beardie seems to like Repashy Grub Pie, so we've got something with a longer shelf life to keep around just in case we get into a situation (huge snow dump, earthquake, etc) where we can't get live bugs for him for a while -- he wouldn't have to go hungry.
BTW, I keep having to remind myself that Australia is not as far south as I tend to think it is, and that the northern part is actually up in the tropics. When I look at one of these map projections of the world, top heavy in terms of land mass and looks like the equator ought to be farther north than it really is, not to mention they usually do it by "cutting it open" down the middle of the Pacific Ocean and spreading it out in an oval, so it ends up looking like Australia is way down there halfway to Antarctica even though that's not really the case, so it makes perfect sense that bearded dragons need so much heat and light.
I grew up in this weird place called Southern California where it never snows, and I remember that we raised silkworms as a class project somewhere around 2nd or 3rd grade, and the kids got to watch them grow and make their cocoons and everything, but my husband grew up in Alaska and says they didn't do that in any of his classes when he was a little kid. Mulberry leaves were easy to get in California -- we probably had some growing right on the school grounds.
>>>> here is one that grows at your latitude http://www.justfruitsandexotics.com/JFE/product/ranger-kens-mulberry-tree/
Oh well. I guess you just have to go with what's doable in the environment you live in. :roll:
CooperDragon":19nb0x2i said:Are you guys following Masterchef this year? George just said something was "smack, bang, limeball" or "smack, bang, lineball". What does that mean? It seemed like a good thing. Is it a cricket reference? It sounds like line out from rugby which (I think) is bad.
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