Ok. this goes out to anyone that have raised and/or bred silkworms. After alot of research I decided that silkworms would be the best bet for me to try to raise and breed to keep a steady supply of food for my reptiles.
So I bought 1,000 eggs. When they hatched I started them on silkworm chow. I washed my hands and anything the chow came in contact with. When they were almost one inch long I swicthed them to mulberry leaves, as I have a huge mulberry tree outside my place. They were doing awesome. In a month most of them grew to about two and a half inches. The temps were around 81 the whole time. I consistantly checked for any mosture and/or mold from the poop. I cleaned the huge rubbermaid tub a few times. i would just lift up the left over leave stems, which they held on to, and vaccumed the poop on up. Well, the last time I went to move them completely into a new tub, I noticed that a few of them had turned brown and died. Some of them were dried up, and some of them looked almost gooey. So I put all the alive ones in the new tub with fresh leaves. The next day, alot of them were dead. I removed the dead ones (with rubber gloves). The next day, all about 30 were dead and there was a bunch of little fruit fly nats in there. I fed off all but 7 of them and put them into a little bug keeper container. I noticed two of the silkies had a brown tint, but they were alive, and eating so I left them. The next day they were dead. So now im left with 5...they seem to be healthy and I just wanna see if they'll caccoon.
I'm just annoyed that I went from 1,000 to five. And I didnt see one dead for the first month! I know what I wrote was a ton, just being as detailed as I can be.
Can anyone tell me what I might have done wrong?
Thanks...
