maybe breed silkworms ??

Fate X

New Member
i happen to be in a situation where i might be able to get a bag or two of muhlberry leaves ,cause theres a tree behind my moms house. if i were to breed these does anyone know if its difficult ?
 
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 said:
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.

Huh.. I have read that the leaves actually produce stronger worms that make nicer cacoons. Just so I can read up on it, where are you getting the info that the chow is better for them, Will?

Heika
 
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.
 
I'm sort of toying with the idea of attempting to raise/breed silkworms to feed my meru but don't really have any info about what would be involved or the type of setup I would need. Know any good websites or info from you friend that could be helpful for me?:)
 
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.
 
Will Hayward said:
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.

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.
 
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.

I've been mixing WER gutload in with my chow to raise the nutrition level.
That is an interesting idea. How long have you been doing this?
 
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
 
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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
 
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:

www.treenwaysilks.com said:
8,000 silkworms will eat the leaves of between 12 and 14 trees, each approximately 12 feet tall. (too become cocoons)

http://www.treenwaysilks.com/secrets_silk.html
 
i could believe the silkworms eat that much leaves cause they are thin leaves ,i thought about this thing i saw once on tv was these bugs are something eating lots of foliage, but isnt the chow made from the leaves then cut with other ingredients?
 
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