Silk worm project!!
- Thread starter Whatcamo
- Start date
Miss Lily
Chameleon Enthusiast
Cool! I love silk moths, they are so pretty! 300 cocoons?!?! Wo, that's a LOT!! I have about 10 cocoons I think, possibly more but I have left them alone since they started spinning. I will separate them tomorrow and get set up ready for the next stage! I gave a friend some at the weekend along with some silkworms as I am fed up with them now, lol! They take far more looking after than the chameleons, lol!
kingsleysandoval
New Member
hi! after going through your post, im thinking of raising silkies as well! 
they look great! what do you feed them? do they turn into moths when they fully mature?
they look great! what do you feed them? do they turn into moths when they fully mature?
reptileman
Avid Member
jeeze 300 cocoons, how much chow did it take to raise up so many worms to cocoon? I have been thinking of raising silks myself and depending on the cost I might start
Whatcamo
New Member
hi! after going through your post, im thinking of raising silkies as well!
You feed them silkworm chow or mulberry leaves I'd say do much more research they're fairly easy though just remember to keep them clean!
Whatcamo
New Member
I went through about a 1/3 of a 10lbs bag of chow and I started with 600 small and medium worms overall the chow is the expensive part so I'm planning on not hatching these out thill the leaves start to come on around here well I might hatch out 200 or so at a time but I'm not doing any more than that at anytime or was a lot of work to keep everything clean and wowza I had about 250 decide all to spin the same night and made a big silky mess haha it was very rewarding though and me and a couple of biology guys are working on making another form of chow so the cost can be less
I would say get at it they are very good for your Cham and I actually mixed in repashy super load into the chow for about 10 worms with no ill effects and I continued to do that for the ones I was feeding off
Miss Lily
Chameleon Enthusiast
I went through about a 1/3 of a 10lbs bag of chow and I started with 600 small and medium worms overall the chow is the expensive part so I'm planning on not hatching these out thill the leaves start to come on around here well I might hatch out 200 or so at a time but I'm not doing any more than that at anytime or was a lot of work to keep everything clean and wowza I had about 250 decide all to spin the same night and made a big silky mess haha it was very rewarding though and me and a couple of biology guys are working on making another form of chow so the cost can be less
I would say get at it they are very good for your Cham and I actually mixed in repashy super load into the chow for about 10 worms with no ill effects and I continued to do that for the ones I was feeding off
Feeding them is really expensive! I have had to order a second bag of chow as mine are eating so much! When you find an alternative please be sure to share the info with us! I must have about 15 cocoons now. It'll be much easier when I can control how many I hatch at one time! 250 all at once has been far more work than looking after he lizards, lol! I think 100 at a time will be much moer manageable. I have now run out of tubs so I need to remove those cocoons that are ready so I can re-use the tubs! The next stage is the best bit - I can't wait for lots of pretty Moffies!!
Whatcamo
New Member
Whatcamo
New Member
Nice! I'll definitely follow your project! I got silkworms fever too!
I ordered 250 eggs hopefully they'll hatch, and just to be sure I ordered 50 silk as well now that they're available! So exciting!!
That'll be nice because you'll have them at different stages to feed off
Miss Lily
Chameleon Enthusiast
Cool! The cup trick works then! I can't wait for mine to start emerging now! Did you separate them into male and female pairs at some point?
Edit - I just found some info in this blog that I have linked for you. The eggs turn dark grey if fertile and can then be put into the fridge.
http://www.wormspit.com/bombyxsilkworms.htm
Edit - I just found some info in this blog that I have linked for you. The eggs turn dark grey if fertile and can then be put into the fridge.
http://www.wormspit.com/bombyxsilkworms.htm
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Whatcamo
New Member
Hey thanks! I didn't pair them off at any point they do that themselves, not sure if I'm a fan of the cup trick yet when I put the cup around one of the females last night she stopped laying then I took it off this morning and it was like turning on a light switch right back to laying! So?
Miss Lily
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hmmm! I cut my cups in half so I have a top half and bottom half both with the same diameter. I hope that works! Last time the eggs were just laid randomly on a toilet roll tube! This time around they will be put on kitchen paper towel to make storage in the fridge mush easier!
