Breeding horns?

[KarmaChameleon1337]

My hornworms have turned brown and hard, which I'm assuming they're not dead and just getting ready to moth up. What do I do with them so they lay eggs and how do I get those to hatch? Waiting for my silkies to make their coccoons.

 

[Trillian]

What shape are they? Breeding them is pretty easy, I put the cocoons in a laundry hamper and when they emerged I gave them a hummingbird feeder with nectar mix. I stole a sprig of tomato vine from my neighbours and put it in a glass next to the enclosure. Took a week or so, but I found little green eggs all over the sides of the hamper. Ended up feeding off the moths to Ivy after a pile of eggs, she loved them!

 

[Trillian]

These were my chrysalises. Got some chubby worms settling down to take after their parents at the moment.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Yea they are turning into those. Assume a mesh LLLreptile cage could work? Where can I get a nectar mix? How long should they take to hatch?

 

[Trillian]

Yep, one of those cages prob better! I got mine from the garden section at my local drug store, but you can probably still get it in harden centres or online. They took a good few weeks to emerge. I also found that about half emerged with crumpled wings and died within a few days, which a couple of other members said they experienced too.

The moths are awesome, you'll love them. They are nocturnal and if you shine a light on them at night, their eyes glow! And if one escapes at night it will loom at you out of the dark, eyes blazing and wings throbbing like a helicopter, while you're watching TV and you'll never sleep again.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Yep, one of those cages prob better! I got mine from the garden section at my local drug store, but you can probably still get it in harden centres or online. They took a good few weeks to emerge. I also found that about half emerged with crumpled wings and died within a few days, which a couple of other members said they experienced too.

The moths are awesome, you'll love them. They are nocturnal and if you shine a light on them at night, their eyes glow! And if one escapes at night it will loom at you out of the dark, eyes blazing and wings throbbing like a helicopter, while you're watching TV and you'll never sleep again.

Heheh I like creepy things, but if one escapes I'll be sure to lure it to my nextdoor room, my sister's.

Any advice on the silks? Watched a few vids on them but none have coccooned yet.

 

[Trillian]

Heheh I like creepy things, but if one escapes I'll be sure to lure it to my nextdoor room, my sister's.

Any advice on the silks? Watched a few vids on them but none have coccooned yet.

I think I got about 6-8 of my last batch to cocoon, but they all emerged a few days apart so no successful pairings. Plus about 3-4 of them didn't emerge at all. I ordered 1000 silk eggs this time, and figured that I was so clumsy and scatty that they wouldn't all hatch after being left in the fridge and forgotten about. So now I have 1000 hungry baby silks nomming me out of house and home.

Mine are in roasting tins with plastic lids with paper towel along the bottom. Once they get big enough, I change out the towel when it starts to look gross, every week or so. Feed chow whenever they have run out, and that's about it. Once they get big enough (a little smaller than fully-grown horns) they wander off and start to spin, then I put them in a box with toilet roll tubes or similar, and they spin in there, or along the corners of the box.

I'm not good with timings I'm afraid, they just sit in a kitchen cupboard and get looked in on when I'm cooking.

 

[Trillian]

Heheh I like creepy things, but if one escapes I'll be sure to lure it to my nextdoor room, my sister's.

One of my girls wanted to be a hawkmoth for Halloween, but then she changed her mind and wanted to be a T-Rex. Went to a costume store and she's torn between zombie cheerleader, Boba Fett and Jack Sparrow. The youngest one is being a frilled lizard. No, wait, now she wants to be Bumblebee.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

My little bro changes his mind all the time. I made him sign a contract on what he wants me to make him.

 

[Trillian]

I still haven't decided either. Was quite tempted by the Sexy Freddie Kreuger costume at the store though.

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

Lol I have a halloween party to go to and am having trouble finding a costume because unlike most teen girls, I don't want a slutty costume.

 

[pigglett79]

I added 4 blog entries on my profile that will help you with raising and breeding hornworms. I was only allowed 5 pictures per entry so that is why there are 4. I am not familiar with the blog entries so that was the only way I could seem to do it.

 

[pigglett79]

I did figure out how to link them all on the first entry. The first entry is "Which came first, the hornworm or the egg?" Or you can click the link in my signature.