Why can't I keep silkworms

Jewel

New Member
Twice now I have purchased silkworms and twice now they keep dying. The first time within a week they were all dead. So I thought I would try again and I just received some today and I put them in a large plastic container and I just came home from work, 8 hours later and already about 8 of them had turned black and went real mushy and gross. What is the trick to keeping them alive? My chameleons really love them but at this rate it is to expensive if I keep killing them.
 
Keep them warm and dry. Don't expose the chow for too long or it will spoil.
They are in the room with all the lizards so it is nice and warm and they are dry as far as I know. I haven't even given them any more chow, just what they came packed in. I just have no luck with them for some reason.
 
Do not use an airtight lid on the plastic container. I ordered my plastic container from Coastal Silkworms and it has a hinged lid that seems to keep the right balance of airflow in the container as to not dry out the food but to not let things get stagnant. I always wash my hands before handling them and I clean out their container about every 5 days by dumping the worms on a paper towel, dumping out the worm poo, putting new food in, and putting the worms in top of the food. They need to be kept very clean. None of mine have died yet-first 50 grew so fast I had to give most of them away. Second 25 I ordered all got fed to my Veiled. I just hatched 250 worms and they are all thriving. I had 8 coccoons from the first 50 that are now hatching into moths, breeding, and laying eggs. Maybe whereever you are ordering them from is giving you bad batches. They almost seem to be dieing too fast for you to be killing them. Good luck!
 
I have them in a open rubbermaid container with no lid on at all. I always wash my hands with antibacterial soap before I touch them because I had heard they are very weak. The first batch I had I dumped out the poo everyday. This is a mystery to me.
 
i have the same problem.. i give them a leaf aeveryday i keep less than 20. dry warm i live in hawaii.. i just dotget it
 
They thrive and live better at around 85*F - 90*F. At that temp they will eat like crazy and grow really fast. This is important when they are small. Once they get bigger, it is easier to take care of them.
 
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