Fighting Grasserie

[JoshCrane1]

man!!, im so frustrated with this batch of silkworms. seems like everyday im losing another dozen. grasserie is getting the best of me.

What can i do to stop this? or at least minimize the spread of this disgusting nuissance?

im using mulberry's silkie keeper, and also made my own larger one. using the plastic canvas and all.feeding grated mulberry mix.

 

[Dean Pulcini]

I hate silks such a wast of money and my chameleons don't really like them. Try separating into small groups using wax paper as a substrate.

 

[JoshCrane1]

what does the wax paper do? at least the plastic canvas lets the frass drop below.

 

[dodolah]

you can tell immediately when a silkie is infected with adv grasserie disease.
their segment become overly pronounced like a swollen bamboo.
or if they have start leaving a milky trail.
Once you have seen that, take the worm away and dump it.
get a new silkie keeper and remove all the remaining healthy one.

Use 10% bleach and clean the old box, merge it in 30 minutes.
Wash all the solution away and let it sundry for couple of hours.

Meantime, just wish that the infection is not too advanced yet.
If you start seeing another dying one by one, you might as well throw all of them away.

Sorry..

 

[JoshCrane1]

yeah, just went home and noticed another 6 dead from this morning, its pretty bad.
i used very hot water to clean the containers, but i guess thats not enough, ill try bleach.
ive only had this batch for a couple of days,
anyway i can salvage the healthy "looking" ones?

any tips on keeping this disease at bay next time?

 

[JoshCrane1]

note: ive had the mulberry mash for about 3weeks in the fridge, still using it; is maybe that what killing them?
i finally found a mulberry tree, should i just throw out 1lb container of mash from 3 weeks ago? and just use mulberry leaves? i heard grasserie is less prevalent in leaf fed silkies.

 

[desultadox]

Think the mash is supposed to last a month in the fridge... you're getting there, but they shouldn't be dying from 3 week old mash.

 

[JoshCrane1]

THINK i should trash it? since its getting close, and i have access to mulberry leaves.
any other tips? im gonna try the netting technique too.

i really appreciate the help, my last batch lasted a while until the disease hit, this batch got hit almost instantly, the cup they came in had a couple dead.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

My guess is that your chow is fine and you got a group of silkworms that were already infected.
Have you notified the supplier?
I have never experienced this problem with silkworms.
I have kept dry chow in the refrigerator for up to a year and used it with no issues.

-Brad

 

[JoshCrane1]

didnt think of notifying mulberry, but i disregarded the deaths as shipping mishaps, since it was only like 6-8 outa 100.

 

[chamlover]

I had a batch like that once from Mulberry and when i notified them they told me they had quite a few complaints and that they had 1 room where all the worms were infected and replaced them all without a problem. Contact them, they have always stood by their product with me. Also, are you touching them? Everything that touches them has to be sterilzed, they have no immune system. And you HAVE to use bleach to kill that stuff or it will just continue to spread. Sometimes the more you play around with them the more chance you have of them getting it. The best thing you can do is leave them alone as much as possible. In the beginning i was cleaning out the cage everyday to keep it clean and was losing them all the time. You have to kinda learn to live witht the frass a little bit, it doesn't seem to bother them as much as it did me.

Debby

 

[JoshCrane1]

thanks
good stuff.

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

didnt think of notifying mulberry, but i disregarded the deaths as shipping mishaps, since it was only like 6-8 outa 100.

Josh, 6 to 8 dead and infected silkies out of 100 is way too many! I could just imagine those 6 to 8 infected ones were crawling all over the healthy ones and further spreading the disease during shipment. Sounds to me as if they were shipped with the grasserie disease and there was absolutely nothing you could do to stop it.

I'd contact them and I bet they will replace the whole batch.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

I had a batch like that once from Mulberry and when i notified them they told me they had quite a few complaints and that they had 1 room where all the worms were infected and replaced them all without a problem. Contact them, they have always stood by their product with me. Also, are you touching them? Everything that touches them has to be sterilzed, they have no immune system. And you HAVE to use bleach to kill that stuff or it will just continue to spread. Sometimes the more you play around with them the more chance you have of them getting it. The best thing you can do is leave them alone as much as possible. In the beginning i was cleaning out the cage everyday to keep it clean and was losing them all the time. You have to kinda learn to live witht the frass a little bit, it doesn't seem to bother them as much as it did me.

Debby

I experienced the exact same thing some time ago. And, yes, they told me the same thing and replaced them right away.

There is a method of dealing with these sick silkworms- called "netting up". It's a pain in the neck, but it works. If you have a large expensive batch it is worth it. Here is the link:
http://www.wormspit.com/netting.htm