How to store these bugs?(Discord and Silkworm)

[ThatOneDisease]

Hello! I'm a new owner still and I've been buying my discords from pet stores and gutloading them myself but, I wanna get more for lower and store them for longer.

I also would like to get another feeder! And as well as some hornworm keeping tricks!

I want to buy silkworms and I'm curious on how you store them, or if there's a place where I can order them and they come in something to store?

Please feel free to recommend stuff or ask any questions!

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. For some great buggies at reasonable prices here in Florida, try https://www.lindasgonebuggie.com/page/397479218 She doesn’t ship her silkies with much food though, so you either need to buy some elsewhere or buy your silkies elsewhere. https://framschams.com/collections/silkworms Is a great place for silkies and I see they also sell some chow for them. Silkies can be a bit difficult to keep for some and often depending on the time of year. They have almost no immune systems so everything needs to be be kept clean. They eat only mulberry, either fresh leaves or chow from a mix. They are always a favorite and besides being quite nutritious, they are also hydrating.
Discoids are very similar to dubia, and being roaches, really easy to keep. Also easy to breed your own. I keep my breeding adults in a big clear plastic bin. They are shy and like to climb, so provide some egg flats for them. I don’t provide water as they do get enough hydration from their food. I feed them the same fresh organic greens and veggies that I feed my bearded dragons, plus a bit of Repashy Bug Burger. I keep the feeder nymphs in a much smaller bin (currently a plastic show bin), with the egg flats and fresh food. Every week or so I clean out the frass (poop). Whatever you keep them in, the sides should be slick plastic as they are poor climbers. Make sure they do have plenty of ventilation. Since it’s been so cold lately, I do have a heat mat on the side of the adult roach bin. They like it around 90F to breed.
Hornworms come in a tall deli cup with enough of their special chow mix to grow them huge, They do grow amazingly quickly, so only get what you want/need for a couple of days at a time. You can slow down their growth by placing them in a fridge overnight. When you order them, make sure it is specified that they will come small. Here’s the feeder and gutloading graphics to help guide you. Grasshoppers are a great feeder choice, but there are only two sources that I know of - Kai Phan on Facebook and https://dragonhoppers.com/ Whether we like it or not, crickets are a convenient feeder. Domestic crickets are nasty. Try banded crickets instead - less stink and much hardier. Hope this has helped,a bit.

 

[nightanole]

discords... I cant, i just cant right now... is it just a chat room full of roaches swapping gut load recipes?

But as for silkies. Find a local mulberry bush/tree. Buy the silk worm eggs. Make sure the eggs are the non fancy kind, they have the highest survival rate. Good ole black and whites.

Then just leave the eggs to hatch at room temp (70-75f) and put some shredded leaves in the bin. Never take out the old leaves, just pile new leaves in every few days, they will worm their way to the top.

Bonus if you get some starsan that is meant for cleaning beer brewing things. You can keep a bowl next to the worms to dunk your phalanges in so you dont give the silk worm hive a cold.

Finally dont put the uneaten silkies back, once they are out of bin, they are out forever. You can put them on a leaf and try again feeding to the cham another day.

 

[ThatOneDisease]

https://framschams.com/collections/silkworms Is a great place for silkies and I see they also sell some chow for them. Silkies can be a bit difficult to keep for some and often depending on the time of year. They have almost no immune systems so everything needs to be be kept clean.
"Repashy Bug Burger"
Hornworms come in a tall deli cup with enough of their special chow mix

Thank.you so much! I knew you'd pry know about the silkies most definitely!

I was considering on....switching with crickets again. They are much more inexpensive (to give some context, I am a college student and have a part time job- I'm not trying to spend a huge amount every week )

I did check out both sellers! I think Linda probably will be my best person for my hornworms (and does she sell the banded crickets?). I've just had way to many close incidents with pet store hornworms and sometimes they just hand me a bag of them-? No cup or anything... and I am aware their poop is toxic(?). And correct me, the cup is stored upside down? To prevent poop contamination?

Also what like container do you keep your silkes in? I'm looking at some pictures and it looks fairly simple to the horn worm ones? And I will be purchasing the chow from Frams.

 

[MissSkittles]

I think Linda’s crickets are banded.
You might want to start a small colony of roaches to save some money. It takes a few months to get it going, but is well worth it. If you have a friend who also has an insectivore, maybe you can split the costs and buy your feeders at the same time from the same vendor to at least save a little on shipping. Or you each breed a different feeder and you share the bounty.
Yes, you want to keep the hornworms container upside down, so they eat at the top and the poop falls down. Just make sure that they aren’t on a solid surface so they get some air. I keep their containers on a wire rack. They don’t last long for me though. I have 10 insectivores, so go thru a lot of feeders. To save money, I have learned how to breed many of my own bugs (plus it’s kind of fun). Maybe once a year or so I but some silkworm eggs, raise them all the way through their life cycle and collect eggs from them that I hatch out later as needed. It’s been a challenge finding a way to keep them, and I’ve improvised my own way. From the dollar store I got some food storage containers. Cut the bottoms out of two. Placed a sheet of plastic canvas between them and hot glued them together. Made a ventilated cover for one side and voila’. The itty bitty ones will fall thru the holes, so I only move them once they are a bit too big to fit. (I need to find some plastic canvas with smaller holes) Poo falls down and silkies and their food stay relatively clean. Pics below of one of the little things I made with silkies I just fussed over earlier today. I have found the more shallow containers work better. Unfortunately, I don’t have a mulberry tree. My attempt to grow one failed, so I use chow mix. I do get my eggs and chow from https://www.coastalsilkworms.com/
Btw, these are zebra silkworms. I just lucked out when the eggs were available last year. They do seem to be hardier than the traditional all white silkies.
*yes, I do have some of my bugs in my living room currently. It’s too cold in the garage for them.