I made an "incubator" with a plastic container, heat mat, and a thermostat set to 82 (the probe is attached to the petri dish). I raised the petri dish off the mat by an inch or so by using a small tupperware lid between the mat and petri dish. I also have damp paper towels in the bin off to the side, to maintain some humidity.They've been incubating for around 2 weeks I think. They are so tiny (MUCH smaller than small BSFL) I almost didn't notice them this morning, I can barely see them. I added in a bit of silkworm chow near the hatched ones and they immediately crawled over to it. I'm going to run home on my lunch break to check on them!
From what I've read, I keep them in the petri dish for a week or two until they are big enough to transfer. I have a great bin with gutter guard and removeable bottom that works well for bigger worms but I'll need a different bin for the smaller worms. I still have to figure that out. So in the end, I think I'll have the incubator/hatching bin, the small worm bin, the big worm bin and spinnery, and the cocoon bin for moth breeding/egg laying. (I need to buy a shelf unit for my laundry room I think! I'm running out of room!)
I haven't had any luck yet getting my massive hornworms to pupate. They just keep eating and getting bigger. I have a bin of damp eco earth in their habitat with them, and they are heated by ceramic heater, but they are entirely uninterested in it. I'm getting tired of feeding them if they are just going to keep growing indefinitely!
I'm having luck pupating the blue bottle flies and having them turn into flies, but not much luck with the BSFL yet, I've only had two turn to flies so far. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I have them in coconut coir and I gutload them with tons of stuff and they eat well. But then they seem to die eventually...
