Silkworm journey

[bbyoda]

I diapause my eggs at least 2 months. Have found that they don’t hatch otherwise.

Wasn't planning to do this...guess I need to! A rookie mistake I made was not putting my sole female on TP rolls so she laid her eggs on the inside of a bug bin...now I've gotta devote a huge amount of space in my fridge for that thing.

 

[redhorse]

Less space for food but you will save money both ways.. Save on human food and make animal food. win win

I think the TP idea was looking at Sonny13 silkworm thread (from a few years ago before mine were even cocooning. And other shared how they do it. WOW! win win again.. Time to hit the casino.. J/k

ME?? constantly making rookie mistakes.
Thanks for sharing and a picture of your bug container would be pretty cool. Hint hint

 

[Firewallx]

@redhorse, ok so about diapause; Eggs are already pre-determined to diapause, or not. Those that will diapause usually turn solid black / dark brown three days after the mother lays them. This is when they are ready for cold storage.
However, some silkworms have become multivoltine, meaning they have several generations in a year. These eggs may not go into diapause. What happens is that they won't turn dark on day 3, instead they (in my experience) turn orange-yellow where the baby is and will have a yellow center. Some days later, a black spot (the head) becomes visible. They hatch soon after.

Whether or not they will diapause is determined by the conditions their mother experienced in her own egg,.

I do not know if never putting diapaused eggs in the fridge would cause them to come out of diapause or not.

Some of your have a bluish color and if you are seeing an opening as well, I think that means they will hatch.

 

[bbyoda]

Less space for food but you will save money both ways.. Save on human food and make animal food. win win

I think the TP idea was looking at Sonny13 silkworm thread (from a few years ago before mine were even cocooning. And other shared how they do it. WOW! win win again.. Time to hit the casino.. J/k

ME?? constantly making rookie mistakes.
Thanks for sharing and a picture of your bug container would be pretty cool. Hint hint

Cleaned out my fridge today! Woot. Here are the pics of the eggs on the bug bin wall.

 

[redhorse]

@redhorse, ok so about diapause; Eggs are already pre-determined to diapause, or not. Those that will diapause usually turn solid black / dark brown three days after the mother lays them. This is when they are ready for cold storage.
However, some silkworms have become multivoltine, meaning they have several generations in a year. These eggs may not go into diapause. What happens is that they won't turn dark on day 3, instead they (in my experience) turn orange-yellow where the baby is and will have a yellow center. Some days later, a black spot (the head) becomes visible. They hatch soon after.

Whether or not they will diapause is determined by the conditions their mother experienced in her own egg,.

I do not know if never putting diapaused eggs in the fridge would cause them to come out of diapause or not.

Some of your have a bluish color and if you are seeing an opening as well, I think that means they will hatch.

You lost me at "ok".. ha ha
Always great to learn from others at different levels of knowledge and understanding.


My lack of knowledge is displayed by the new observations. All is good. Thanks
So when the eggs are laid it is like ----- who knows and good luck. Just kidding.
Very interesting and complicated at the same time for such a small creature.

 

[redhorse]

Cleaned out my fridge today! Woot. Here are the pics of the eggs on the bug bin wall.

View attachment 302327View attachment 302326

WOW! She was all over the place.. Thanks for the pic
Others can give advice too.. Silkworm 101

 

[Firewallx]

You lost me at "ok".. ha ha
Always great to learn from others at different levels of knowledge and understanding.


My lack of knowledge is displayed by the new observations. All is good. Thanks
So when the eggs are laid it is like ----- who knows and good luck. Just kidding.
Very interesting and complicated at the same time for such a small creature.

Lol! I had to learn about that the hard way! I remember waiting for the eggs to turn dark so I could put them in the fridge, but instead they went orange-yellow. A few days later, I found an unexpected hatchling, and noticed all the little dark heads appearing. I knew I was in trouble.

 

[Crossingtami]

I was going to try some eucalyptus leaves mixed in with the mulberry mix (to see). I had veiled (to many years to remember) that like eucalyptus leaves, so figured if the Num nums <----- (stolen from Klyde O'Scope) like it why not? Many of the feeder stick insects eat eucalyptus.

 

[Crossingtami]

Quick question about feeding silkies. I read on the internet that figs are in the mulberry family. Can fig leaves be used for feeding silkworms?

 

[redhorse]

Yeah- This was all new to me and if I were to ask that question it would be to:
Firewallx, MissSkittles, or one of the others with more experience and knowledge.
Sorry I could not give you a better answer. This little journey was happening so fast and if I were to add foods, so fare carrots seemed to work pretty good. I wanted to try more but ran out of time.
For those that reflect: Enjoy your Memorial Day.

 

[Firewallx]

Quick question about feeding silkies. I read on the internet that figs are in the mulberry family. Can fig leaves be used for feeding silkworms?

I have never come across anything mentioning figs or fig trees. I have read that they can eat white mulberry, black mulberry and Osage Orange. They do not like Red mulberry because it is too acidic
I can't say no to fig leaves 100% because I haven't seen it mentioned either way.

 

[redhorse]

We have babies--- And you were exactly right with advice. 2 months and 2 days for these little ones (probably because I did not follow direction from the beginning).

So so so tiny-

Thanks for the instructions with the Diapause... The eggs that did not go in refrigerator (expected by many) did not hatch yet.

 

[Sonny13]

congrats and now it begins all over again

I´m getting eggs right now, the 3th moth has laid her eggs and I got 2 more mating at the moment.

 

[redhorse]

Congrats!!!!!

 

[Sonny13]

Already see black dots inside the half of the eggs

 

[summerseeking]

I have been noticing they’re growing in absolute different rates. 1/3 is noticeable bigger (really fat and long) in one week, 1/3 grows in a steady pace and 1/3 hasn’t grow much. There with I suffer from daily fatalities, 1 or 2, can’t figure out what kills them. 90% they’re not or near food.

View attachment 296555

I know this is an old thread but bacteria is a huge killer for silks. It could be the substrate. Humidity is also a big issue. This could also be linked to the substrate.

 

[Sonny13]

I know this is an old thread but bacteria is a huge killer for silks. It could be the substrate. Humidity is also a big issue. This could also be linked to the substrate.

No props, all the info is welcomed. They’re absolutely vulnerable for bacteria’s etc. It’s one batch for the other. My last batch had 99% survivors from which I’m now getting eggs, from +/- 20 moths.

 

[Crossingtami]

My 1st venture with eggs didn't work out. Got the worms to about 1/2 in then bammm all dead

 

[summerseeking]

Silkworms are SO hard. I really want to get them right tho. They are my fav feeders. I'm building a special containers for them to see if it helps with cleanliness and survival rates.

 

[Firewallx]

Congratulations Redhorse!