Posting my silkworm experience

[snitz427]

What a great thread - thanks to everyone who contributed!
So, once the moths emerge (and, do they always need help?) do they stay in the lined bin and mate (hopefully) right there? After that, you collect the eggs and chill until you (or they) are ready? Feed off the moths? (Thats gonna suck- they are the CUTEness)
Do you hatch them out in the small container (not a petri dish) and just at a warmish room temp?

They will stay in the bin. We move them into a different bin lined with wax paper, or if there arent many, let them hatch in the wax paper bin and just remove the cocoons (so they dont lay the eggs on them).

I woke up to this this morning. We need to move them or we’ll have a mess with the eggs!

 

[cham_urchin]

They will stay in the bin. We move them into a different bin lined with wax paper, or if there arent many, let them hatch in the wax paper bin and just remove the cocoons (so they dont lay the eggs on them).

I woke up to this this morning. We need to move them or we’ll have a mess with the eggs!

View attachment 237321

wow! Hope your chams are hungry I'm looking forward to the next installment of this saga. I have just 2 cocoons (maybe a third soon)...I'll await emergence in about 8-9 weeks (?) Room temp storage ok? Thx for your patience with any repetitious questions..

 

[snitz427]

wow! Hope your chams are hungry I'm looking forward to the next installment of this saga. I have just 2 cocoons (maybe a third soon)...I'll await emergence in about 8-9 weeks (?) Room temp storage ok? Thx for your patience with any repetitious questions..

Moths typically emerge in 1-2 weeks at room temp. The "black" silkworm moths started emerging in a week! zebras took a few days longer, and the regular silkworms took about 2 weeks to emerge.

 

[cham_urchin]

Moths typically emerge in 1-2 weeks at room temp. The "black" silkworm moths started emerging in a week! zebras took a few days longer, and the regular silkworms took about 2 weeks to emerge.

Ah, that sounds more like it! I used to foster Monarchs and they took about 7-10 days...but at least with them the chrysalis turns dark before they emerge

 

[Tony_S]

Lots of great information in this thread. I'm planning on raising silks for my one cham, but this thread shows that the total amount of worms can get out of hand very quickly.

I was thinking of just taking so many eggs out of the fridge every week to keep a constant supply of silks getting to feeding size and having just a few to produce more eggs every so often.

Is there a ratio of how many eggs to hatch to feed a cham and have ones left over to keep the life cycle going?

 

[snitz427]

The moths will produce a lot of eggs. I tihnk letting 1-2 dozen worms pupate will fill your silkworm needs for several months (with some to spare). I wouldn't recommend hatching 1000 at a time unless you are a reseller or have a bunch of babies to feed... but you can certainly pace your self and only hatch what you need. That's our goal after this set of moths. We'll repeat the moth/egg laying process maybe every 3-4 months.

 

[Beman]

What a great thread - thanks to everyone who contributed!
So, once the moths emerge (and, do they always need help?) do they stay in the lined bin and mate (hopefully) right there? After that, you collect the eggs and chill until you (or they) are ready? Feed off the moths? (Thats gonna suck- they are the CUTEness)
Do you hatch them out in the small container (not a petri dish) and just at a warmish room temp?

I had 8 moths... only one made it out on its own. 3 I had to cut out.. The others died in their cocoon because I had no idea they were trying to get out

 

[cham_urchin]

I had 8 moths... only one made it out on its own. 3 I had to cut out.. The others died in their cocoon because I had no idea they were trying to get out

How did you eventually decide it was time to help? Did you say earlier that you could hear them trying to emerge?

 

[Beman]

How did you eventually decide it was time to help? Did you say earlier that you could hear them trying to emerge?

They like squirt this brown stuff... I guess it helps them chew their way out. after 24 hours they still had not made it so I very very carefully used a razor and cut it then tore it away so they could get out. The ones that died I did not see the brown stuff so I did not know they were ready. Honestly this was my only experience with it. I have no idea how to actually know to be more successful LOL>

 

[Rst_Cham]

If you listen closely, you can hear them in there, scratching to get out. I've had to help all of mine emerge so far. Sometimes the cocoons will slightly rock back and forth when they're trying to get out. So when I have some I think are close, I just watch and listen and then cut holes if I think they're ready.

 

[Daesie11]

If you listen closely, you can hear them in there, scratching to get out.

Did I just walk in to a horror movie?

 

[snitz427]

We have been using wax paper to line the moth bins and its worked great. Eggs stick to it, its easy to cut, and it dries very quickly. Definitely recommend it over paper towels!



We cut out thousands of eggs and put them in the fridge. I also held a few hundred out to see if they hatch without “overwintering” in the fridge, and they started to hatch today!

 

[snitz427]

Oh, and if you can, put a dixie cup or something similiar over mating pairs to get nice clean circles of eggs. We had way too many moths to do that some its hard to seperate fresh eggs from the older, and cutting them out is not quite as uniform.

 

[Rst_Cham]

OK, I'm going to try wax paper too. I have moths emerging now, and was using paper towels. Thanks

 

[Daesie11]

OK, I'm going to try wax paper too. I have moths emerging now, and was using paper towels. Thanks

I lost all of my silks except for that one that had already spun, I told you I wouldnt get as far as eggs

 

[Rst_Cham]

I lost all of my silks except for that one that had already spun, I told you I wouldnt get as far as eggs

Ah, bummer! Sorry!

 

[cham_urchin]

wow! dats alot of EGGS!
thanks for the update and tips .... niether of my two cocoons emerged, despite cutting tiny slits in the tops. I shall try again.

 

[44gsus]

First silk worm breeding attempt. So, what if the moths do lay eggs on the actual cocoons? They hatched and immediately started conjugating on their cocoons and I didn't want to rip them apart, so I left them. Next thing I know, they've laid eggs on their cocoons! What to do!? When should I move the eggs to the fridge and for how long? I have about 30 moths conjugating. Thanks.

 

[snitz427]

First silk worm breeding attempt. So, what if the moths do lay eggs on the actual cocoons? They hatched and immediately started conjugating on their cocoons and I didn't want to rip them apart, so I left them. Next thing I know, they've laid eggs on their cocoons! What to do!? When should I move the eggs to the fridge and for how long? I have about 30 moths conjugating. Thanks.

We had a few of these. My husband pulled them off and soaked them in water to remove the silk. No idea how this might affect vitality. Or you can leave them on there and place food nearby when they start to hatch to see how it goes. You’d be surprised how far a kego will travel!

As for fridge - 2-3 months is the usual recommendation.

 

[carbyville]

Incredibly informative. I tried my hand with some silkworm eggs but didn’t have any success.