maybe breed silkworms ??
- Thread starter Fate X
- Start date
Will Hayward
New Member
A Bag or two of mulberry leaves, would only last a day really. A friend of mine who owns a business supplying silks decided to do an experiment with the leaves. He said 'never again', because of how fast they ate it compared to the chow. Its also NOT as healthy for them as the chow.
Will Hayward
New Member
Nicer cocoons? maybe... The Mulberry Farms site states: "They are easier to raise to the cocoon stage using mulberry leaves" but they also admit that people rarely have trouble on the chow. I personally have never had troubles getting them to cocoon on chow. I don't know how that rumour started... or Who had trouble but I can't understand why they did.
The chow food is not "Just" leaves. It has added nutrients, vitamins, minerals. These are both beneficial to the worms, but more importantly to your chameleon. Feed the worms leaves and you feed them, feed the worms the chow and you are gutloading them with all the nutrients that your reptiles benefit from.
I have a very good friend who breeds silkworms for the reptile market. But all the generations before him (Italians) bred them for the Silk industry. Growing the worms, Harvesting the the cocoons and finally, Transforming into silk. He is a good honest source for info and his knowledge is generations old.
The chow food is not "Just" leaves. It has added nutrients, vitamins, minerals. These are both beneficial to the worms, but more importantly to your chameleon. Feed the worms leaves and you feed them, feed the worms the chow and you are gutloading them with all the nutrients that your reptiles benefit from.
I have a very good friend who breeds silkworms for the reptile market. But all the generations before him (Italians) bred them for the Silk industry. Growing the worms, Harvesting the the cocoons and finally, Transforming into silk. He is a good honest source for info and his knowledge is generations old.
Will Hayward
New Member
Check out this article for more info on silkworms, http://www.chameleonnews.com/silkworms.html
lowendfrequency
New Member
I purchase my silkworms from http://www.mulberryfarms.com I've been mixing WER gutload in with my chow to raise the nutrition level. It raises the potential for mold though, so I keep it refridgerated until use, and only feed what can be consumed in 24hours at a time.
westcoastchameleons
New Member
Will Hayward said:
Also it seem will will is right, in that your chams also get the vitamins from the chow.Both of you guys have a point.
westcoastchameleons
New Member
Will Hayward said:
Even though i dint ask this question i find the answer useful, because i am thinking of breeding silkworms.
So thanks much Willh
I always assumed the silkworm chow was mostly mulberry without any added nutrients. I have never seen it marketed as having added vitamins/minerals. It has also been my understanding that silkworms do better with fresh mulberry leaves when compared to the chow. However, the amount of leaves required for this is impractical for most chameleon keepers. Lele's silkworm article at Chameleon News is fantastic: article link.
That is an interesting idea. How long have you been doing this?
Fate X
New Member
i meant 2 plastic trashbags full , and im talking about heavy bags ,compacted leaves , and i could always use the leaves to make the chow theres recipes for that silkworm chow , even if i decide to attempt to breed them it wont be till after my chameleons succesfully make hatchlings.
i already have 2 insect breeding projects going on now and i want to get these wired first.
i mean im talking about a entire tree worth of leaves here that would seem enough to me to raise at least 2000 silkworms
i already have 2 insect breeding projects going on now and i want to get these wired first.
i mean im talking about a entire tree worth of leaves here that would seem enough to me to raise at least 2000 silkworms
Last edited:
Heika
New Member
If I had a tree, there would be no way I would mess with the chow. I really dislike keeping silks because of the chow. It molds, it is messy, the worms take more time than my chams. If I could figure out how the companies are making the pods (as in, how do they keep the chow from molding? mold inhibitor?) I would make some and raise some. As it is, I have had eggs in my fridge for a few months now that I just can't bring myself to hatch out. I really like keeping my other bugs.. but not silk worms.
Heika
Heika
Will Hayward
New Member
So, I was talking to my pal again from the silk company. You asked for info and opinions so I'll let you in on what he said;
Daniel says: I had about 10,000 worms go through a single garbage bag in a single day. I have a large tree at my grandfathers that is about 15' high and 25' diameter. I'll pruning it in the fall and collect the leaves and taking basically the whole tree, bags and bags stuffed full, but even then I dont see it lasting more then a week.
Will says: yeah eh?
Daniel says: 2000 worms will eat you out of house and home if fed leaves
Will says: I see.
Daniel says: To not kill the tree they are talking about they would need about 30 or more trees to be constantly feeding 2000 worms.
Then Daniel linked me to this site:
Daniel says: I had about 10,000 worms go through a single garbage bag in a single day. I have a large tree at my grandfathers that is about 15' high and 25' diameter. I'll pruning it in the fall and collect the leaves and taking basically the whole tree, bags and bags stuffed full, but even then I dont see it lasting more then a week.
Will says: yeah eh?
Daniel says: 2000 worms will eat you out of house and home if fed leaves
Will says: I see.
Daniel says: To not kill the tree they are talking about they would need about 30 or more trees to be constantly feeding 2000 worms.
Then Daniel linked me to this site:
www.treenwaysilks.com said:
Similar threads
