They are cocooning!

shaunaroxanne

shaunaroxanne

Avid Member
Yay, I finally have a silkworm beginning to cocoon, and about 6 more that should be any day!

Thanks to all the forum members who helped me out!

2 weeks ago I bought 200 eggs, 50 mediums, and 100 small silkworms. My eggs hatched, and all are thriving. I got 5 to a huge size, but they died just before spinning. With some coaching from a forum member, I learned that I probably didn't have enough chow in there for the big guys. I had a LOT, but apparently they eat a LOT MORE and they can't run out of food at that stage, even for a few hours. I also learned that they eat 95% of their food in the 5th instar, and they should be about 3.5 grams when they are close to spinning.

So I hope I have the whole silkworm thing figured out now. I guess I won't really know until I get some moths, then eggs, then babies from those eggs. From what I understand, I need to wait till they turn grey, then put in fridge for at least 25 days, after which I can take out, put in my incubator, and they should hatch within 2 weeks or so.

If anyone notices that I have any of my facts wrong, please let me know so I can make sure I am doing things correctly. Thanks!
 
Sounds about right. There are strains of silkworms that don't need to be put in the fridge, but I don't think we have any in the US. They would have to be imported.
 
I shall be watching this thread as my silk eggs hatched just before Christmas. I have quite a few quite big ones now so the tip about constant food at that size was useful!
 
pssh said:
Sounds about right. There are strains of silkworms that don't need to be put in the fridge, but I don't think we have any in the US. They would have to be imported.
Click to expand...

I wish I knew where to get some of those, it would be very convenient to not put them in the fridge!
 
Miss Lily said:
I shall be watching this thread as my silk eggs hatched just before Christmas. I have quite a few quite big ones now so the tip about constant food at that size was useful!
Click to expand...

Oh Good! Yes, my first guys that died were only without chow for a few hours. that's OK for the smaller ones, but from what I understand, once they get to the 5th instar they can never be without food. I also learned that immediately before spinning, they will appear to be about 1/3 of their largest body weight, and the back of their bodies will be a darker tannish color. I guess that's because of the gut-dumping thing.
 
Where did you read that the reverse strain doesn't need to be cooled down as eggs?
 
I don't have any personal experience with them, my curiosity struck when I some them when placing an order with mulberry farms so I did a lot of in depth reading about them and I read that they don't require the normal refrigeration period like normal silk worm I'll try to find the link about it and post it but I'll have to hunt it down again
 
i found a silkworm vendor claiming to have nondiapause eggs, but apparently they were not accepting new clients at the time. i am on their waitlist, and will let you guys know if anything comes out of it.
 
I have 3 more cocooning! If you can see the difference in size, the one that is just now looking for a place to spin is considerably smaller than the one in the center. They were both the same size earlier today, but the big guy hasn't emptied his guts yet.

They seem to like these cut paper towel rolls. After they finish their cocoon, I vary carefully move the rolls to a hatchery that I set up.
 
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Haha, looks like you under estimated the size of their poops with the canvas! They get gigantic.
 
One more thing I noticed. I have two groups for cocooning. One group was in a box at room temperature, the other group in an incubator at 82 degrees. The ones in the box went in first, and they are still there, just eating and growing. The ones in the incubator went in their "big guy" container 4 days AFTER the box guys, and they are now all in cocoons. So incubation=much faster.
 
It is so interesting! I have mine on plastic canvas like that - I can see the pulse on quite a few and they are huge now! Tonight I am going to feed them again and put them into a different size tub that will allow me to place about 6 or so small tubes along one side! It's quite exciting! I have never had this many get to this huge size before! Free food is on it's way! One mine have cocooned I will remove the tubes and place in a new tub ready for the moths to hatch. I saw online that someone had places a small glass over a mating pair of moths so that the eggs would be laid in a contained space! I might just try that too! My friends and family think I am odd, but I find it all rather exciting! :D
 
Miss Lily said:
It is so interesting! I have mine on plastic canvas like that - I can see the pulse on quite a few and they are huge now! Tonight I am going to feed them again and put them into a different size tub that will allow me to place about 6 or so small tubes along one side! It's quite exciting! I have never had this many get to this huge size before! Free food is on it's way! One mine have cocooned I will remove the tubes and place in a new tub ready for the moths to hatch. I saw online that someone had places a small glass over a mating pair of moths so that the eggs would be laid in a contained space! I might just try that too! My friends and family think I am odd, but I find it all rather exciting! :D
Click to expand...

I have 5 now in cocoons. The room temperature guys are STILL not ready. Temps make a HUGE difference. Yes, I saw the glass cup thing too, I am going to try that. I need bigger mesh for the big ones for sure.
 
How long are the ones that are cocooning? Mine are taking forever because they are just at room temps! I think some are almost ready to spin, but I don't remember from last time, they just spun along the side of the tub as I didn't know about the tubes back then,lol! I looked at buying some plastic 'shot glasses' this morning but didn't think the diameter was quite large enough. I think I have some clear disposable cups in the cupboard somewhere that I will cut down and use instead!
 
Miss Lily said:
How long are the ones that are cocooning? Mine are taking forever because they are just at room temps! I think some are almost ready to spin, but I don't remember from last time, they just spun along the side of the tub as I didn't know about the tubes back then,lol! I looked at buying some plastic 'shot glasses' this morning but didn't think the diameter was quite large enough. I think I have some clear disposable cups in the cupboard somewhere that I will cut down and use instead!
Click to expand...

I got some medium sided ones two weeks ago. The incubated ones got to full size in a week. The room temp ones are still hanging out in the box. My first one cocooned whatever day I began this thread. So they are ahead by a good 5 days at least.
 
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