--- SILKWORMS --- What's the secret for sucess??? --- THREAD ---

T

ttshibby

Member
Hello everyone, I really need help here from all you experts in the Silkworm department. I can't seem to keep them for the life of me. After hours and hours of research, building setup after setup. I cant keep them alive!!!
And yes i have read silkworms 101 over and over, however it is hard to find beacuse "101" is not included in the search.

ANY ADVISE, LINKS, PHOTOS, ETC is appreciated.



Here is my curent bug room setup.

10x6 foot room heated to 85 degrees. it maintians a 1 degree differential.

humidity is a little low at 30% (its winter here)


I buy silkworms from my ONLY available source and within one day, they start turning black and dying one by one. By day three they are all dead.



SILKWORMS

I had 20 silkworms in a 4 X 8 inch tub, 3 inches high, with 1/4 size metal mesh lifting the food and worms off of the tub.

I have tied both with the lid on with several holes as well as no lid



EGGS

Eggs are in a 1.5 x 2.5 tub 1.5 inches high also with a 1/4 size mesh raising the food off of the tub.

After 3 days the worms hatch. After the first are seen, i give them 24 hours and then add a little bit of chow, about 6 pea sized balls.

They were all over it 3 hrs later.

2 days fom thier hatch date they now seem to by dying, well, a least not moving.....

This container has a lid on it with several holes, i only remove it daily for feeding.



I know another method is to grate the chow, but it seems a little too mushy for me to do this without wasting half of the amt i use.

The chow was made 4 days ago so it is fresh.



Can someone please help me out!

I have alot of hungry mouths to feed!




Thanks!

Troy
 
Mine did really good at first, I bought a massive batch of like 200+ smalls and mediums.

At first I was super vigilant with the hand washing. Complete hand wash before and after. Dry hands, no residue of soap.
During the time I did massive hand scrubbing, I didn't lose one silkworm. They flourished, grew, stayed active, and smell free.

Eventually a couple weeks later I got lazy, washing my hands sometimes before grabbing a worm out. This was the start of a downturn.

About a week after that (couple days ago), I was forced to throw out about 100+ silk worms. Even though I changed out their frass and food, they just kept dying from what I assume was infection and the smell was ungodly.

Moral of the story, wash your hands, all the time, always.


I am sure people have alot better tips though, I would sure love reading them for next time.
 
Good tip, however, i did not touch any of them, however, The girl at the store where i got them did pick them up by hand and toss them in a deli dish.

---Buying a box of latex gloves next week. ---- problem 1 solved----

I would really like to get a hanle on these creatures, i feel that they would be an added benefit to my Cricket, Roach and superworm, farms. They look tasty ....lol
 
ttshibby said:
Good tip, however, i did not touch any of them, however, The girl at the store where i got them did pick them up by hand and toss them in a deli dish.

---Buying a box of latex gloves next week. ---- problem 1 solved----

I would really like to get a hanle on these insects, i feel that they would be an added benefit to my Cricket, Roach and superworm, farms. lol
Click to expand...

Well that could be the source of the problem right there, the store.
You could try raising from eggs or mail ordering them from a trustworthy resource.

Not trying to say the girl at the store is nasty, but the retail world is full of bacteria. Between the animals she probably handles, the money, and the cleaning, her hands probably aren't exactly the safest thing to be touching a worm with no immune system with.

Someone with more experience can offer some better tips though I am sure.
 
Latex gloves might not be a good idea.. don't most of them have powders and nasty gunk on them? It might not be good for the bug or chameleon.. Not sure if this is true but maybe someone can chime in on this.
 
ttshibby said:
Hello everyone, I really need help here from all you experts in the Silkworm department. I can't seem to keep them for the life of me. After hours and hours of research, building setup after setup. I cant keep them alive!!!
And yes i have read silkworms 101 over and over, however it is hard to find beacuse "101" is not included in the search.

ANY ADVISE, LINKS, PHOTOS, ETC is appreciated.


Here is my curent bug room setup.

10x6 foot room heated to 85 degrees. it maintians a 1 degree differential.

humidity is a little low at 30% (its winter here)

I buy silkworms from my ONLY available source and within one day, they start turning black and dying one by one. By day three they are all dead.

SILKWORMS

I had 20 silkworms in a 4 X 8 inch tub, 3 inches high, with 1/4 size metal mesh lifting the food and worms off of the tub.

I have tied both with the lid on with several holes as well as no lid

EGGS

Eggs are in a 1.5 x 2.5 tub 1.5 inches high also with a 1/4 size mesh raising the food off of the tub.

After 3 days the worms hatch. After the first are seen, i give them 24 hours and then add a little bit of chow, about 6 pea sized balls.

They were all over it 3 hrs later.

2 days fom thier hatch date they now seem to by dying, well, a least not moving.....

This container has a lid on it with several holes, i only remove it daily for feeding.

I know another method is to grate the chow, but it seems a little too mushy for me to do this without wasting half of the amt i use.

The chow was made 4 days ago so it is fresh.

Can someone please help me out!

I have alot of hungry mouths to feed!

Thanks!

Troy
Click to expand...

So you have read this whole thread and it doesnt work? https://www.chameleonforums.com/silkworms-101-a-7906/

because it worked for me :p
 
Syn said:
Latex gloves might not be a good idea.. don't most of them have powders and nasty gunk on them? It might not be good for the bug or chameleon.. Not sure if this is true but maybe someone can chime in on this.
Click to expand...

Yeah i wouldnt reccomend this at all. Why latex? why not just thoroughly wash your hands before and after you handle them / supplies?
 
I am like veiledchamguy.....silkworms101 works for me to but only after a bit of practice and trial and error.

The only real difference is I dont touch them at all. I pick them up with clean, sanitized plastic tweezers. My first couple of batches did die from over humidity and not being aware enough to get rid of the poop. When I got dilligent with that and put them in a slightly more ventilated part of the house they were fine. :)
 
I agree with the sanitation being the main reason silkworms die, and that would include human contamination, and food that stays too long that begins to mold/harden, and frass (poop) not being removed. The younger silkworms seem more sensitive to contamination, so 1 solution is to buy 3/4 inch worms. I also think that using no lid(or use a screen) will reduce the chance of high humidity, which will be noticed collecting on the lid.
Whatever you do, silkworms will take considerable time before you reap your crop!:D
Hope this helps.
 
ttshibby said:
yep, ive went over it and several others.... that's why i dont know whats happening...
Click to expand...
Iwas talking to Mulberry Farms, and they are not offering large amounts of silkworms very often because they found the more you had in a container, the more "mass die-offs"seemed to happen, and the faster the disease traveled through the colonies. Their solution is to raise smaller quantities in each bin.
I guess if Mulberry Farms has problems, raising silkworms may be a non-perfect science!:D
 
thanks for the advice... My chow is not that wet, I am able to form it. It is a little thicker than tooth paste but not hard.

As for contamination, I dont know.... I never touched any parts of the container after it was sterilized with rubbing alcohol...

maybe ill just buy 3 or 4 next time to see if it helps..

As far as the babies i have no idea, i still have 600 eggs in the fridge....

is it possible that the chow powder i bought is bad???? i just bought it 3 mths ago,
 
I've hung onto left over powder for months, then used it - no issues

If you put a lump of your cooked chow on a papertowel and leave it there for a few seconds, does it leave a wet mark?
It should be a thick, dry paste.
 
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