starting on silkworms...many questions

[warpdrive]

Hi everyone,

well, I've never used silkworms before so I have no idea about a few things...

first, let me start by talking about Splat my baby panther.
he's slightly over 10 weeks old.
he has grown from 2" NTV to 2 1/2" NTV, mesured last week...about 1/4" growth since then. total 2 3/4" aprox size right now.
have him now about 4 weeks...got him at 6 weeks old.

eats 3 to 4 week old crickets (1/4"-3/8")...nothing smaller.
ate a true 1/2", or almost 3/4" cricket two days ago....no joke. then went after the 3 extra crickets I put into his feeding cup.

ate only 3 phoenix worms total of all the times I've tryed.
never out of the cup (would try 3, 6, 10 at a time), nothing helped.
always from a leaf in his cage, but it drops so many times before he finaly gos after it,it's pointless to keep trying.
they seem to not move enough for him to like them, if that makes sence.

has eaten two hownworms that were about 1" long, on two different days.
first one right away, the next day, shortly after I left the cage.
seems to like them,even if they don't move much once they attach themselves to the plant.

LOVES houseflys...they never last long in the cage.
he will stop resting to go on the hunt once he sees the first one fly or crawl.
havent feed houseflys in a while, but might order more soon as he loves them.



OK, OK, my silkworm questions...
never used them for reptiles before, so I got plenty of questions.

1)do they move alot in feeding cups?

2) if they do, do they grow fast when feed chow?
how fast? like how long would it take for 1" worms to reach 1 1/2" ?

3) they look FAT compared to supers, so would you think a 1" worm would be too big for my baby Splat?
if not, how about a 1 1/2"...too big?

4) how long does it take for them to want to go into the pupa stage?
do I need to take the extra large ones out and give them a branch to crawl up so they can attach themselves and cacoon on the branch?
how long do they last in this stage before turnning into a moth?


yes, I will test out a cup of silkworms to see if splat eats them first, but if he does, then I want to buy them in bulk and have then at all times for my little one.

thanks to all who respond,
Harry

 

[Malicious]

OK, OK, my silkworm questions...
never used them for reptiles before, so I got plenty of questions.

1)do they move alot in feeding cups? Free range them, make it fun for him to hunt. You could use a cup, yet they will just attach themselves together and make it hard for him to eat.

2) if they do, do they grow fast when feed chow? They grow very quick. They will increase their body size by 10,000 times within their one-month larval life.
how fast? like how long would it take for 1" worms to reach 1 1/2" ? Hard to say exactly, 3-4 days. They will gain length and girth.

3) they look FAT compared to supers, so would you think a 1" worm would be too big for my baby Splat? They have a high moisture content and are soft bodied, he can consume small worms with ease.
if not, how about a 1 1/2"...too big?As its not wider then the space between his eyes, your ok. Length really isn't the issue with worms as much as body texture (soft/hard exo skeleton) and girth. Like I said, smalls and more then likely mediums would be fine.

4) how long does it take for them to want to go into the pupa stage? About a month or so, 5 instars, 4-5 days each.
do I need to take the extra large ones out and give them a branch to crawl up so they can attach themselves and cacoon on the branch?They will become kinda restless and start spinning more silk then usual, they will cacoon soon, place a few toilet paper rolls in the bin allowing them to cacoon.
how long do they last in this stage before turnning into a moth? Cacoon-moth 2-3 weeks, allow them to mate and lay and start the process all over again!

 

[YogiGirl]

You said "allow them to free range"... how would you free range silk worms? Do they just crawl around on the floor of the cage or will they crawl up the sides and on the plants? I have an order of 100 coming and have never used silks before... :O

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

Good info about silkworms: http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=56

 

[panthercham]

I free range my silkworms by just gently placing them on a leaf or branch on the opposite side of the cage to my chams. They dont last long they pratically fall over themselves to get them. The great thing about them is they dont move fast at all so they are found very easily and fast