Help with silkworm eggs

[shrink9]

Ok, so I followed the advice Malicious gave on previous post (see below) and have been successful at keeping silkworms alive. HOORAY!!! I have tried other strategies in the past to no avail. Thank you very much, Malicious.

My question now is this: In light of the coming hot weather, I would like to successfully hatch silkworm eggs and raise them. I have tried this a few times but the closest I get is to have them hatch and live approximately 3 or 4 days. I kept them in the petri dishes and fed small bits of silkworm food. I kept the dish on top of one of my aquariums where the water temp is 80 degrees F. Any suggestions?

Here is the post from Malicious that worked for me per above:

04-24-2009, 04:51 PM




Easy way to raise them, and what I do:


-sweater bin 24"x14"6"
-wax paper on the bottom
-narrow strips of chow on the bottom 1" wide x 1/8" thick
-add worms
-gently cover worms with a piece of wax paper (keeps chow moist/yet still allows excess moisture to escape)
-allow 1-2 days covered
-day 3, remove top wax paper, allow chow and droppings to dry completly
-with clean hands, remove worms from dried chow and droppings. This will be easy and clean, the dried droppings and dried chow will fall off the worms and make for a clean transfer to another prepaired sheet of wax paper/chow.
-repeat process till silks are desired size.

The reason that they are a pita to remove and keep clean, is due to the fact that many do not allow the chow to dry out between cleanings, which makes it a sticky silky mess. In other words you can have great results without using plastic grid or netting.


Any help in getting them from egg to 3/4 inch size will be appreciated. Malicious, If you read this, thanks a lot for the ideas!

Allen Newkirk

 

[Chameleonboy]

P.M. sent Give me a call ill help you out.

-Clemonde

 

[Malicious]

P.M. sent Give me a call ill help you out.

-Clemonde

"The Silk Guru" has spoken!


Your very welcome Allen, I have had great success with that method, and don't need any fancy goods to do so. Clemonde should be able to help you get those eggs started off right. Good luck

-Jay

 

[Chameleonboy]

"The Silk Guru" has spoken!


Your very welcome Allen, I have had great success with that method, and don't need any fancy goods to do so. Clemonde should be able to help you get those eggs started off right. Good luck

-Jay

HaHa Jay that was a good one. I think you just came up with my new forum name.

-Clemonde

 

[siz]

I was told that you can not touch silkworms because the oils on your hands is like acid to them. How much truth is in that statement? I see you recommend using 'clean hands'...do you just wash the oils off?

 

[Chameleonboy]

I have not herd anything about the oils doing any harm to the silkworms but I do clean my hands before and after feeding them.

-Clemonde

 

[nick barta]

Oils on the hands are NOT a problem. Silks are very sensitive to any bacteria, viruses, or molds. You will loose them all if you are not basically sterile in your husbandry. You can have clean hands, and not have a sterile knife to cut the food with, and kill 'em all. Mold on the food or on a dead silkworm carcass will easily wipe out a colony.

Interestingly, the larger the colony, the easier it is to kill 'em.

Keep your temps up so that they don't go into a lethargic state, and only put enough food so that when you put your next batch of food in, you are basically out of the first batch you put in.

Silks take more time and frustration than most feeders IMHO.

Nick