contridicting info on breeding horn worms

[jamjam]

So i have read Piglett's blog about rearing and breeding horns and silks where it says once they have cocooned and burrowed to keep the substrate damp or else stunted wing growth may occur. So i had one moth come out with not so good wings was misted here and there not very consistently. today at the expo i went too the guy my brother buys his jumbo's from said to keep the substrate completely dry! or else they will die. something he mentioned was to give them a stick or something so when the moth emerges from the dirt they can climb it, hang and do whatever with their wings so they grow fully. what had worked for you guys?

I currently have 3 pupated went into the dirt aug 30. and bout 3 jumbo ones today specifically to pupate.

 

[rshewfel]

Sounds like your problem was just that you did not have something for the moth to climb up on. They all emerge with seemingly short wings. They need to be able to stretch their wings. I personally use screen wrapped around their container. I also use slightly damp coconut coir for them to burrow in, but I think whatever you used was probably just fine.

 

[jamjam]

yeah i use eco earth, and with these new ones i have gutter guard over the containers like a rainbow, or might put it flat across in one section

 

[rshewfel]

A rainbow might work but gutter gaurd sags pretty easy. I would personally just wrap it around the edges of whatever container you are using.

 

[pigglett79]

Yes you have to have something for them to climb up on to or else hey cannot puff out their wings, and if they dont do it right away then they pretty much cant do it. I put the gutter guard in the dirt so they can climb up it.

 

[ridgebax1]

I had an accidental moth come out of the dirt from Omar's old cage; I have no idea when or how it got there or how long it took for it to emerge. I do know that the soil was kept very moist by the automated misting system and before the moth emerged the soil had been left to dry out as I was breaking down the cages. It did have a stick to climb on and it took several hours for it to fully expand its wings. I put it outside on a tree before it was ready to fly around because moths fly so erratically and it creeps me out.

 

[jamjam]

lol they def are super creppy and those guys are huge and make lots of noise when they fly. my brother with some of his pets has had accidental moths here and there and now have decided to actually attempt breeding them and of course when i mean to form a moth its fails. by end of the week should have 7 in cocoons and we'll see what happens