Success!

[Miss Lily]

WHOOPPEE!!!!!! Today I have had my first silkworm eggs start to hatch! They were laid late last year and have spent the last 5 months or so in diapause in the fridge. So far I have 12 hatched out of the 235 eggs that were laid. Yes, I did count them as I didn't think thre were that many! I am so excited, especially as I ordered some mediums last week and all but 5 arrived dead. They are not cheap over here in the UK - 25 cost me £5.99GBP. It will be great to have my own supply of silkworms as they are the only thing other than locusts and waxworms that Tommy will eat. They will also be a welcome addition to the crestie's diets too as I really don't like crix! Franie (FroggtheCham) has been so helpful answering my seemingly endless questions about hatching them and their subsequent care.

 

[Leroux2008]

hey congrats!! I think its so neat when you can take care of something for so long and watch it transform and thrive!

 

[KatCham]

Nice one Tiff!!!

The one's I get from silkwormstore always arrive alive and well. And they've started doing starter colonies. You buy 250 with all that u need to care for them and kind of 'grow ur own' i suppose.

Nice one!! They're such a pain in the butt to keep tho!!!

 

[Miss Lily]

That's where I got mine from. They have brilliant customer services though - I snet an email to complain and requested some eggs rather than replacement worms and they have sent some out today! Mine have arrived ok from there in the past - I think Royal Mail were quite rough with the box because they are packed so well, as you know!

The only thing to bear in mind is that everything you use to touch them has to be clean. I have been transferring the babies on the end of a cocktail stick today! Once they have been touched by a hand they cannot be put back into the tub with the others - they have no resistance to disease. That's why I offer Tommy his first and if he doesn't eat it I know that Amy will so I don't have to put it back inthe tub!

 

[KatCham]

That's where I got mine from. They have brilliant customer services though - I snet an email to complain and requested some eggs rather than replacement worms and they have sent some out today! Mine have arrived ok from there in the past - I think Royal Mail were quite rough with the box because they are packed so well, as you know!

The only thing to bear in mind is that everything you use to touch them has to be clean. I have been transferring the babies on the end of a cocktail stick today! Once they have been touched by a hand they cannot be put back into the tub with the others - they have no resistance to disease. That's why I offer Tommy his first and if he doesn't eat it I know that Amy will so I don't have to put it back inthe tub!

Yeah I know, I have a separate tub in case they aren't eaten. They normally all are now he's bigger and not afraid of them. The prob I'm having is that the chow is really sloppy. I can't grate it by any stretch of the imagination so I just have to put a blob of it in the tub to feed.

Then they get all their silk n chow all messed up and tangled.

 

[Leroux2008]

man I cant wait until mine come in today! I hope I can keep them clean enough and what not not.... The mulberry chow i keep my hornworms in get moldy FAST so I normally use a qtip to get it out of there and I wipe off the container with a napkin every time I see dew

 

[Miss Lily]

Yeah I know, I have a separate tub in case they aren't eaten. They normally all are now he's bigger and not afraid of them. The prob I'm having is that the chow is really sloppy. I can't grate it by any stretch of the imagination so I just have to put a blob of it in the tub to feed.

Then they get all their silk n chow all messed up and tangled.

The only thing you could do is buy the powdered form and mix up enough for a week or whatever to a harder consistency. It's so expensive though! I managed to buy some mulberry leaves off of ebay last year to feed mine. I also found my own small mulberry tree in a local garden centre so hopefully it'll grow and grow! They are apparently an invasive specis I remember reading, but that's fine by me! The mroe mulberry leaves the better, lol!

 

[laurie]

Tiff your fun has just began. I swear tiny slikworms take more time than chameleons' or gecko's. Block off a good couple of hours & have fun. i am thrilled for you.

 

[Kansascity]

AWESOME WORK, I ALWAYS FIND DOING THINGS YOURSELF WETHER THEY BE SIMPLE OR DIFFICULT is always more rewarding in the end. I am so thrilled for you!

 

[Sweetcorn]

Well done Tiff I'm going to order some at the end of the month and see if I can tempt the little one with those.

 

[shanksfaml]

Okay, you are the queen. For this alone your chamois shouldnlove you, silk worms are the best, my chamois eat them like cotton candy

 

[bigcappa]

Congrats Tiff, and good luck!

 

[Miss Lily]

An update!

Well, I have had even more hatch today! It's taken me a while to transfer all the hatchlings onto some chow using a very steady hand and a cocktail stick! I haven't squished any yet either! The ones that hatched yesterday are already twice the size in just a day! This is so exciting - I tried to breed waxworms before but didn't have any luck with those. These are even more special to me as it costs me £5.99 GBP for 25 mediums that are about an inch long! I'll post some pics in a bit - they are so tiny!

 

[suzi]

Congratulations Miss Lilly! That is very exciting! I am glad you got mulberry leaves, my experience with the chow is that it is expensive and a pain in the (_)(_). Like someone else stated it molded quickly and when I grated the mush on top it was like huge missiles bombing down on them! I killed liKe 980 worms out of 1000! Not my most successful project! Good news is I kept 5 which cocooned and my first moth hatched today! So I if you have any pointers for me Miss Lilly please share them as I will be following your thread! I had 2 hawk moths out of 7 hatch this morning also. Happy days! Like Kansas City said, it is so fun and rewarding when doing it yourself. Congrats again on your success!