Posting my silkworm experience
- Thread starter snitz427
- Start date
snitz427
Chameleon Enthusiast
SO. MUCH. POOP.
I absolutely must come up with a better system for poop patrol. I've got some larger containers from Ikea and I plan to cut out the bottoms and add a screen floor. The netting technique has worked well, but it is still a pain to move babies around as there are always stragglers in the dried/drying food... so I'm going to test out a new setup next week or so to hopefully simplify the process of cleaning poop and replacing food.
Out of the 250 eggs that hatched about 6 weeks ago, about 70 are left. Half have cocooned and the other half should in the next day or two. Instead of putting the paper towel rolls in the feeding enclosure, like I did the last time, I've been watching for silkies that seem to be wandering or visibly spitting silk and moving them into a different enclosure. This has cut down on the half-formed cocoons and those spinning on the corners and lid. There have been a few false positives that weren't ready to cocoon that I had to move back, but for the most part its easy to pick out who is ready. I did leave a few cardboard rolls in the regular enclosure in case any start to spin before I notice... but these guys almost always get interrupted, so if I see them spinning I carefully move that roll into the other container or block it off. I've also placed paper towels over the top of the rolls to encourage them to stay put and spin vs. wander to other rolls... that seems to have worked well.
250 adult silkies have been a bit of work... they create a lot of poop at this stage, and eat massive amounts of food. I'm not looking forward to doing this again with 1000 of the black and zebras, but it must be done. It really is not a huge ordeal, but the more silkies, the more poop / food, which means more cleanings. Once I get a large amount of fertilized eggs I should only need to repeat this process every few months, as I only plan to hatch what I think my guys will eat (and maybe some extras).
I would have to concede that silkworms are definitely the highest maintenance feeder we are raising, but I do not think they are the hardest. Higher maintenance doesn't mean harder work. I've just resigned to the fact that I'll need to spend 5-10 mins a day on them. They're my favorite to raise, but man, at the adult stage dat's alotta poop!
I absolutely must come up with a better system for poop patrol. I've got some larger containers from Ikea and I plan to cut out the bottoms and add a screen floor. The netting technique has worked well, but it is still a pain to move babies around as there are always stragglers in the dried/drying food... so I'm going to test out a new setup next week or so to hopefully simplify the process of cleaning poop and replacing food.
Out of the 250 eggs that hatched about 6 weeks ago, about 70 are left. Half have cocooned and the other half should in the next day or two. Instead of putting the paper towel rolls in the feeding enclosure, like I did the last time, I've been watching for silkies that seem to be wandering or visibly spitting silk and moving them into a different enclosure. This has cut down on the half-formed cocoons and those spinning on the corners and lid. There have been a few false positives that weren't ready to cocoon that I had to move back, but for the most part its easy to pick out who is ready. I did leave a few cardboard rolls in the regular enclosure in case any start to spin before I notice... but these guys almost always get interrupted, so if I see them spinning I carefully move that roll into the other container or block it off. I've also placed paper towels over the top of the rolls to encourage them to stay put and spin vs. wander to other rolls... that seems to have worked well.
250 adult silkies have been a bit of work... they create a lot of poop at this stage, and eat massive amounts of food. I'm not looking forward to doing this again with 1000 of the black and zebras, but it must be done. It really is not a huge ordeal, but the more silkies, the more poop / food, which means more cleanings. Once I get a large amount of fertilized eggs I should only need to repeat this process every few months, as I only plan to hatch what I think my guys will eat (and maybe some extras).
I would have to concede that silkworms are definitely the highest maintenance feeder we are raising, but I do not think they are the hardest. Higher maintenance doesn't mean harder work. I've just resigned to the fact that I'll need to spend 5-10 mins a day on them. They're my favorite to raise, but man, at the adult stage dat's alotta poop!
snitz427
Chameleon Enthusiast
I've never had matcha but the chow STINKS when its cooking! I was just wondering in the car this morning what they are adding to the chow. I highly doubt it is 100% mulberry leaves. I'm sure agar is in it or something to solidify it.
JoXie411
Chameleon Enthusiast
Yes I’m cooking some right now and it’s stinky when cooked but b4 I cook it I kinda like the smell and it reminds me of matcha
snitz427
Chameleon Enthusiast
Nice! I think I have maybe 3-4 that successfully pupated. I hope I get a mating pair! (i think... kinda terrified at the prospect of thousands of eggs that cant be refridgerated)
Spyro
Avid Member
Where do you get your chow from? The stuff that OregonSilks and Mulberry Farms has is awful. Coastal or the stuff I have smells much better and tends to come through much more smooth.
It definitely has agar agar, same with hornworm chow.
JoXie411
Chameleon Enthusiast
I’m using coastal now. I tried oregonsilks and it was horrible. Do you know why it’s so different?
Spyro
Avid Member
Their suppliers.
snitz427
Chameleon Enthusiast
I bought a bulk pack from coastal silkworms. No issues and no complaints. I dont think it stinks beyond the initial cooking process.
Spyro
Avid Member
Yes, coastal chow doesn't smell bad at all. The only complaint I had is the mold seems to develop faster with their chow. Our own can last for 10+ days with no mold with needing to clean poop out. Much less waste.
snitz427
Chameleon Enthusiast
Didn’t realize you make your own chow! Whats the price on bulk (although I’m good for a while)? I do notice mold if I put out too much food - but that was partly due to poor air flow, too.
JoXie411
Chameleon Enthusiast
Ok my room has horrible air flow so I’m having fans going all the time or else the air in here gets toxic really fast
snitz427
Chameleon Enthusiast
I had a lid on the eggs without many airholes. It took a bit longer to transfer the hatchlings with netting as there were so many so i think the lid encouraged mold on the eggs. Once thete’s a little mold its hard to get rid of it.
GoodKarma19
Chameleon Enthusiast
I wonder if a handful of springtails could be kept with the silks to take care of mold? 
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