Silk Worm Colony

[BigTex]

i was just wondering if someone with some experience could tell me how to start up a silk worm colony. im sick of crickets even though they are cheap. anyway all advice is welcome

 

[SuperRad]

I just started mine and don't have much experience with them either. I ordered 500 eggs. and last night i looked in the petri dish they came in, they started hatching. so today i got to start feeding them. Seems like alot of work though man. Feeding, watching out for mold, and then wh en they do breed and lay eggs, you got to simulate winter by putting them in the fridge for a month.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

i was just wondering if someone with some experience could tell me how to start up a silk worm colony. im sick of crickets even though they are cheap. anyway all advice is welcome

Here is a very useful link:

http://www.chameleonnews.com/silkworms.html

 

[lonomac]

If you do a search in the forums for "Silkworm" there are a gazillion threads on it

 

[Scotty]

I just started mine and don't have much experience with them either. I ordered 500 eggs. and last night i looked in the petri dish they came in, they started hatching. so today i got to start feeding them. Seems like alot of work though man. Feeding, watching out for mold, and then wh en they do breed and lay eggs, you got to simulate winter by putting them in the fridge for a month.

500 eggs all hatching at once...

That's going to be pretty heavy going dude...depending on how many animals you have to feed of course.
In my experience, you need to stagger your breeding/feeding cycle, but it is experience and without knowing your situation, it's hard to comment.
I have 3 animals to feed silkies and have adjusted to suit...
500 mouths to feed is scary....
Good luck..SuperRad
Cheers
scott

 

[lonomac]

I just started mine and don't have much experience with them either. I ordered 500 eggs. and last night i looked in the petri dish they came in, they started hatching. so today i got to start feeding them. Seems like alot of work though man. Feeding, watching out for mold, and then wh en they do breed and lay eggs, you got to simulate winter by putting them in the fridge for a month.

Mold shouldn't be much an issue, just dont get any water near them and dont touch them without washing your hands. The cool thing about refrigerating the eggs is you can keep them in there for up to a year. so if you need more, just hatch more eggs.

 

[Scotty]

I just started mine and don't have much experience with them either. I ordered 500 eggs. and last night i looked in the petri dish they came in, they started hatching. so today i got to start feeding them. Seems like alot of work though man. Feeding, watching out for mold, and then wh en they do breed and lay eggs, you got to simulate winter by putting them in the fridge for a month.

Mold usually occurs when you have too much mulberry leaves that are almost eaten, then you top it up again with fresh ones and so on, it's like a compost, sits there breaking down, produces mold. Also if there is not enough ventilation/air circulation, that also keeps things moist enough to produce mold.
They must be cleaned every other day, well ventilated and have fresh food...they are a labour of love, but i reckon the best feeders around!
Cheers
Scott

 

[Fate X]

they are easy to raise even 3000 of them is easy the trouble is finding the eggs at a fair price.