Do silkworm eggs need to be kept in the fridge?

[MamatoElvis]

I just unpacked my silkworm eggs. Are they supposed to be kept in the refrigerator? Also the instructions say they need to be kept 78 to 82 degrees for hatching. Do you guys use incubators? How are you maintaining that temp?

 

[ChameleonCrazy]

In order to hatch your silkworm eggs efficiently, keep them at temperatures of 78-82 degrees and they will hatch in aprox 5-10 days. They only need to be refrigerated if you plan to put the eggs into a diapause to slow down development. In that case, they would have had to have been shipped with a cool pack. If they were shipped without a cool pack, you can't put them into the refrigerator now as they are already preparing to hatch.

 

[Wowbango]

Yeah if they were shipped without the cool pack, you can't put them in the fridge. What I do, is I put them on the top of my Cham's cage, and it keeps them around 80 degrees or so, They hatch usually in 1-2 weeks depending on if they were cooled or not.

 

[MamatoElvis]

Great, wish I'd known that. Now I'm going to have 1000 silkworms for my one 9 month old Panther.

 

[Moxie]

Wish you lived closer! I'd buy some from you.

 

[MelissaB]

You could let some of the worms, when they hatch, complete the growth cycle and turn into moths. Then let them mate and collect the eggs. You can store those eggs in the fridge. Keep in mind, the longer in the fridge the lower the hatch rate. I think Piglett has a tutorial on her blog page here.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Great, wish I'd known that. Now I'm going to have 1000 silkworms for my one 9 month old Panther.

You can start feeding them when they are very small. You can slow their growth by feeding a little on the light side. I like silkworms as a staple but some of mine only eat a few. Others would be happy to eat only silk worms. They are a cheap food and my favorite. Find another reptile person in your area or even someone with backyard chickens for the excess.

 

[Dro B]

If they came with a cold pack they can be refridgerated, otherwise they need to be hatched. Humidity is more important than temp, I've hatched at 72 degrees with almost perfect hatch rate but have lost a whole batch because of humidity issues.