MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Roaches are super easy to breed. Get more females than males. Put them in a decently sized bin with slick sides (so they can’t climb out), add ventilation screening to the bin. They do best in a bioactive set up - organic soil mix with some small isopods and springtails, leaf litter and cork half rounds for them to climb and hide under. (They are shy). Keep them at least 90F and in a few months you’ll see itty bitty bebes hiding in the soil. Periodically mist some soil for the isopods who need some humidity to breathe.
Silkworms are a bit more of a challenge, but doable if you are patient and stubborn. You can start with either some eggs to hatch (you’ll need plenty of chow mix for raising them). Keep them somewhat warm - around at least 75-80 of indirect heat. A little humidity seems to help too. Check daily - is best to use a magnifier as the bebes are super tiny. Once you see the first Bebe, get to making some chow. For babies, I make it only 1/4 lb at a time. Provide them fresh tiny bits of food at least daily. It dries out fast and they can’t eat it then.
So itty bitty!
I don’t know why but the babies make me so happy. 
I gave them far too much food here. I will place fresh food right next to the old dried out to make sure they find it. They aren’t the smartest of critters.
While they do grow pretty quickly, it does take about 2-3 weeks or more for them to reach feeding size. I feed them similarly like this, in separate little areas. Makes it easier to place fresh food in there. The less you move or touch them, the better. These are zebra morph. They can be a bit hardier. Not always available.
I think they’re kind of cute…for bugs.
These are when they become eating machines and work on getting fat and bloated.
Once fat enough, they stop eating, purge (vomit) and then start spinning their cocoon. Best not to disturb them. They only have a limited amount of silk. I give them toilet paper tubes cut in half.
I can never remember how long before they emerge from their cocoons as moths. It’s at least a couple of weeks. They secret this iodine like substance which softens the silk so they can escape. Once out, they immediately want to mate. They will squirt their pheromones and the males will go crazy, flapping their wings super fast and spinning around, looking for a mate. They aim their butts until they find one to connect with and then make their magic. This is one of their icky messy stages, with their pheromones and iodine stuff everywhere. Putting them on wax or parchment paper will help the fluids to evaporate quicker.
The females are much rounder and plump and usually their cocoons are much larger too. I separate the mating pairs under Dixie cups. After about a day, hopefully they’ve separated on their own and the girl can get to laying her eggs. If they are still joined, I carefully separate them. Hard to explain, but there are videos on YouTube about it. I remove the males so the females are undisturbed. As moths, their sole job and purpose is to join and mate and they will remain joined until they die sometimes. The females can’t lay her eggs if that happens. Often before she lays her eggs, she will squirt out some liquid, so be careful.
I don’t remove the eggs from whatever they were laid on. In a few days the eggs turn black and I put in the fridge to diapause for about months.
Cleanliness is very important. We’ve basically bred their immune systems out of them, so they can’t easily become sick and die. I’ve had some batches catch one of the silkworm diseases and all die off. This is where being patient and stubborn comes in. I just keep trying. I have found it harder to raise them during late fall and winter. Not sure why as I’m in Florida.
