Silkworm moths - now what?

[mons00n]

I got a bunch of Silkworms a few weeks back from mulberry farms. Unfortunately my cham wasn't quick enough to eat all of them and I ended up with about ~7 cacoons that just started to emerge. I now have 4 beautiful white moths...now what do I do with them!? I've read that they don't eat...is this true?

Two of them seem conjoined at the butt - so I can only assume that they're in the process of mating. What shall I do to prepare a proper place for her to lay eggs?

And afterwards can I feed the moths to my cham?

 

[Miss Lily]

Silkmoths have no mouth parts and do not eat. They will stay joined for about a day and then the female will lay her eggs - putting her onto kitchen paper towel or something similar will be ok. They will only live for about a week and, yes, your chameleon will love to eat them when they've finished mating and laying. I think they are far too pretty to feed them to the chams though, but I need to toughen up as I have 40+ cocoons and it would seem a waste to just let them die.

 

[Whatcamo]

Agreed with the above here's my vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFtqTagh2IY
Once the eggs turn a grey-ish brown put them in the fridge door in a zip lock bag with a slightly moist small ball of paper towel in the corner of the bag for the keeping the humidity up a little wait a month remove from fridge hatch out start process again

 

[patrickfraser]

How long will the eggs keep for in the fridge and what will you do with soooo many eggs produced? Let alone feeding them all when hatched.

 

[Whatcamo]

I've heard the eggs will keep from anywhere from a few months to a year so I just plan on hatching out what I can use / breed out a few extras just to keep my eggs fresh oh and also sell some off so I can afford more chow haha!

 

[shaunaroxanne]

When mine are mating I cut toilet paper rolls into thirds. I put the female in the roll with a piece of cardstock on the top. She lays her eggs neatly all along the inside of the roll. Then I can just put it in the fridge in a baggie.

 

[mons00n]

from what I can tell I only have a single female. She seems to be connected to this male and they have yet to disconnect - is this ok? Or should I do something crazy like rip em apart?


WARNING, MOTH PORN BELOW [NSFW!]

 

[Robyrango]

Agreed with the above here's my vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFtqTagh2IY
Once the eggs turn a grey-ish brown put them in the fridge door in a zip lock bag with a slightly moist small ball of paper towel in the corner of the bag for the keeping the humidity up a little wait a month remove from fridge hatch out start process again

This fridge part is confusing! Why should they stay in the fridge for a month?

 

[Miss Lily]

It's because where they come from in the wild they lay there eggs at the start of winter, and they then hatch the following spring when the weather warms up. By putting them into the fridge for at least 4 weeks it recreates what would happen in the wild. You need to wait for them to turn grey (fertile) before putting them into the fridge. I have heard in the past that there are two types - some that require forced diapause in the fridge, and some that will hatch anyway without. I can't remember any more than that though I'm afraid!

 

[Miss Lily]

from what I can tell I only have a single female. She seems to be connected to this male and they have yet to disconnect - is this ok? Or should I do something crazy like rip em apart?


WARNING, MOTH PORN BELOW [NSFW!]

I think you can twist them apart, but you need to be careful that the female's ovipositor (egg laying tube) doesn't get damaged in the process. The females have bigger, fatter bodies than the males. The moths do not eat - they have no mouth parts. They just mate, lay eggs and die. I have had a single male moth live for 9 days.

 

[Whatcamo]

Just let them be they'll mate for 12-36 hours

 

[RunCode3]

Just let them be they'll mate for 12-36 hours

R u talking about me or the moths



But on a serious note, I'm hoping to get into silk worms very soon here.

 

[Whatcamo]

Well if your up for it

But yeah patience grasshopper just think the longer they mate the more fertile eggs she'll lay

 

[mons00n]

Just let them be they'll mate for 12-36 hours

What if they've been stuck together for at least 72 hours?

 

[shaunaroxanne]

What if they've been stuck together for at least 72 hours?

Just pull them apart, I had to do that to several of mine.

 

[Whatcamo]

Yeah you can annoy them to and they'll split it up

 

[mons00n]

Just pull them apart, I had to do that to several of mine.

Ok I'll try that when I get home.

Yeah you can annoy them to and they'll split it up

I poke her all the time to make sure she's still alive....but all she does is move her arms a bit!

 

[mons00n]

after separation - she immediately started laying eggs! this is exciting!

 

[mons00n]

Ok 4+ weeks have passed since putting the eggs in the fridge....I got some silkworm chow from mullberry as well.

Do I simply remove them from the fridge and stick em in with the food? Or is there some other things I should do first? Thanks!

 

[Whatcamo]

Well here what I do I get to go boxes plastic ones with the lids I like the ones from Applebee's because they have a vent hole and all then put a wet paper towel in one corner then the eggs in the other then put in a place around 75-80f and wait till you start seeing hatchlings about 10-14 days put a very thin strip of food around the eggs