Silkworm food

[ridgebax1]

I got my baby silkworms all set up in their little house. I have changed their food every day, it is silkworm chow that I mixed up and cooked in the microwave. They are all entangled on the food. I put new food in thinking they would leave the dried up food and move over to the new food which they did not. I removed them by hand and threw out the old food and then they migrated to the new. Is this what I am supposed to do or am I missing something?

 

[Kate]

Silkworms need to be moved to fresh food they won't move themselves. Make sure you keep everything scrupulously clean. If they are big enough move them with sterile tweezers. If they are very small I use a cocktail stick or a fine paint brush. Silkworms are all farmed and now have no immune system.

 

[SMCNARY]

I got my baby silkworms all set up in their little house. I have changed their food every day, it is silkworm chow that I mixed up and cooked in the microwave. They are all entangled on the food. I put new food in thinking they would leave the dried up food and move over to the new food which they did not. I removed them by hand and threw out the old food and then they migrated to the new. Is this what I am supposed to do or am I missing something?

Everytime you touch them you will probably loose 20% plus!!! Use the fine cheese grater and grate the food over the top of them, they will find the way to the new food and do fine. The more you mess with them the more you will lose

 

[SMCNARY]

Follow the directions from coastal silkworms,look at pigglett79 or Sandrachams pages on rearing and breeding silkworms if you have any questions, I have been raising silkworms by the thousands and find the more you mess with them the worse they do!!!!! JMHO
Steve

 

[pigglett79]

For baby silks its best to grade small amounts over them. As they get bigger they will start to migrate to food more. Definitely touch them as little as possible.

 

[ridgebax1]

So its ok to leave the old food in box or should I take it out when they move to the new food?

 

[pigglett79]

I take it out if they aren't on it. If they are still on it, I leave it in there.

 

[ridgebax1]

Thanks for the info I hope I did not mess things up by touching them. Somehow I missed that part in the blog but live and learn!

 

[Kate]

Thanks for the info I hope I did not mess things up by touching them. Somehow I missed that part in the blog but live and learn!

If you are anything like me you will have far to many, so loosing a few won't be too much of a loss.

 

[nick barta]

You may be making the food too moist if the silks are getting stuck in it. Each microwave cooks differently, for 8 ounces I cook 3 minutes and then 6 minutes. The chow should be the consistency of Gouda cheese.

Nick

 

[pssh]

I like to put a bit of the food into a piping bag (like for frosting) so then I can squirt a little on top of the baby worms as needed. Start off making a hole that makes a chow about 1/8" wide or less, and then cut the hole bigger as the worms get bigger. It also makes a jungle gym for them to crawl around on and the poop to fall through. I used to have a little bit of trouble with the grated chow not drying out fast enough (so it would mold sometimes) but with the piping bags I havent had any issues.

 

[junglefries]

I love the smell of silkworm chow in the morning (uuummmm good!)

 

[Lathis]

I love the smell of silkworm chow in the morning (uuummmm good!)

You've GOT to be kidding me! Worst smell ever. Now, Bug Burger smells like cookies

 

[Andee]

Hornworm chow smells way worse >.>

 

[ridgebax1]

You may be making the food too moist if the silks are getting stuck in it. Each microwave cooks differently, for 8 ounces I cook 3 minutes and then 6 minutes. The chow should be the consistency of Gouda cheese.

Nick

It is that. They weren't stuck but just did not move to new food.