Silkworm eggs not hatching

Arsonisms

New Member
Hi, first time on these forums! Came here looking for some help with some silkworm eggs I bought.
I got them on August 9th (it's currently September 9th for me), I've tried to keep them at a stable 28°C, but with a sudden and pretty severe heatwave they got overheated for a while (highest it got to was ~34°C)
None of them have hatched yet, can I assume they're dead? The seller said they should hatch within 2 weeks or so, but they were also pretty heavily discounted, so I don't know if I just got bad eggs in the first place, or if it's just my fault.
Pic included below
Thanks in advance for the help!
 

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Hi. I’d keep trying for another week or two, but the heat they were exposed to probably was too much for them. A healthy egg will be round with a gentle indent in the middle…a lot like a red blood cell looks. Right before hatching they turn lighter and plump up. A ‘dead’ egg will look desiccated and have a sharp indent in the center, often triangular shaped.
Here’s some pics of ‘dead’ eggs. It’s easiest to see on the infertile ones.
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Hi. I’d keep trying for another week or two, but the heat they were exposed to probably was too much for them. A healthy egg will be round with a gentle indent in the middle…a lot like a red blood cell looks. Right before hatching they turn lighter and plump up. A ‘dead’ egg will look desiccated and have a sharp indent in the center, often triangular shaped.
Here’s some pics of ‘dead’ eggs. It’s easiest to see on the infertile ones.
View attachment 328713View attachment 328714
Yeah, there's a lot of deflated ones unfortunately. I tried my best keeping them cool, but without AC in the house it was near impossible.
There are still a decent amount of plump ones though! Would it be worth it to pick out the dead ones? I'd say out of the 1k at least 250 still look alive to my untrained eyes. I'm just raising them for fun, not as feeders, so it's not a big issue if they don't all make it
 
Hi. I’d keep trying for another week or two, but the heat they were exposed to probably was too much for them. A healthy egg will be round with a gentle indent in the middle…a lot like a red blood cell looks. Right before hatching they turn lighter and plump up. A ‘dead’ egg will look desiccated and have a sharp indent in the center, often triangular shaped.
Here’s some pics of ‘dead’ eggs. It’s easiest to see on the infertile ones.
View attachment 328713View attachment 328714
OK so I started sorting through the eggs to remove the dead ones, and I'm not entirely sure what I'm seeing. Lots of eggs as of this morning have turned mostly black and partially translucent, and on one of them I saw a small round hole. Trying not to get my hopes up of course, but it does make me excited
I'll attach a picture of one of the eggs, some help would be greatly appreciated!
 

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Just a note for the future you may have to boost the humidity while you incubate them. i just use a damp paper towel in the incubation box.
I have holes in the top of the lid, and a damp paper towel in the bigger box I'm keeping it in, and it's also pretty humid here in general. But that was also just hard to keep up with the super high temps
 
Yeah, there's a lot of deflated ones unfortunately. I tried my best keeping them cool, but without AC in the house it was near impossible.
There are still a decent amount of plump ones though! Would it be worth it to pick out the dead ones? I'd say out of the 1k at least 250 still look alive to my untrained eyes. I'm just raising them for fun, not as feeders, so it's not a big issue if they don't all make it
I just leave all of the eggs together. Even with the healthiest of eggs, there are always some that just won’t make it.
 
The egg in your last picture doesn't look good, either. I wouldn't "keep them cool", they need at least room temperature to hatch. I don't think they're going to hatch seeing as how there's not even one baby after over a month. I'm sorry 😢
 
this is fascinating, I live in the UK and have yet to find a seller who actually sells silkworms and hornworms fully grown but I’ve seen multiple sellers selling eggs of these, I’d be inclined to try this at some point, I’ll have to do my research!
 
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