Re: Some silkworm pictures
nice, i used to raise silkies when i had my leos, lots of work but it was actually quite fun to watch them go through the different stages.
Re: Some silkworm pictures
That's awesome, I always wanted to raise silkworms when I kept lizards. They are so frikkin cute especially with their "sticky-pads" for feet!
How do you deal with the moths?
Re: Some silkworm pictures
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pwilliams58
nice, i used to raise silkies when i had my leos, lots of work but it was actually quite fun to watch them go through the different stages.
I know! For me they really are not that much work, i got them two weeks ago and have not cleaned once, and my only die offs were the ones my sav got for dinner and the ones that went into precoon and failed to find a good spot to 'coon in:) Now ive been working with sexable morphs which is a blast!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
icygirl
That's awesome, I always wanted to raise silkworms when I kept lizards. They are so frikkin cute especially with their "sticky-pads" for feet!
How do you deal with the moths?
The moths? Once everyone has cocooned, I take out all the cocoons and stick them in a clean tub with some wax paper down. Once they come out, they find their mates, breed, and lay eggs which can all happen in a day so these are by far the easiest bug to breed. They do not fly either which is good. The only time ive ever had trouble with silks is when I forgot to check the incubator so 500 babys died, and once a silkworm went so far to find a good place to cocoon, I later found a cocoon hanging from the bar pole in my closet! lol that was a unexpected funny surprise.
Oh yeah, introducing... the black silkworm morph GOLDEN cocoon!
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/DSC01453.jpg
hehe, I love them and they are sooooo fun to work with. btw, if you look at my first picture, the brown babys are females, and the yellowish ones are males. You cant do that with many other bugs at a day old! The only problem with zebra silks is that almost all of them come out as females!(older silk) Females are white with those black stripes, and the males are solid white almost like normal silkworms.
Also, sadly the silkworm above failed to cocoon in time and fell sick, you can see her in the above photo...
Right now I think i have a good 30+ cocoons.
Re: Some silkworm pictures
Man do these things grow
Look at two day olds next to one day olds
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/DSC01472.jpg
Re: Some silkworm pictures
Wow! These are awesome. So leos eat them. How about bearded dragons? <-- we are thinking of getting one soon. I really want to provide my animals with food I produce myself so raising silkworms might be interesting. Where do you get starter insects?
Re: Some silkworm pictures
Yup, beardies eat them. I get mine from mulberryfarms.com
Re: Some silkworm pictures
Can you feed them anything other than the pre-made food? It seems a bit expensive. How long will the chow last if you have a decent sized colony?
