Reptile & Amphibian Forums

If you're going to put silkworm eggs in the fridge, do you really have to have them shipped in the cold box? I'm thinking about ordering some and as cheap as the eggs are it would be smart to get alot, but if I remember right the cold box was expensive. Thanks in advance.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
1.2 Nosy Be Panthers
2.2 Sambava Panthers
1.0 Tamatave Panther
1.0 Nosy Be X Unknown Cross
1.1 Veiled Chameleons
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0.0.1 Sulcatta Tortoise

I am guessing that the reason you want silkworm eggs shipped in a cold box is that if they are shipped without it, they continue their developement process and if you refrigerate them again interrupting the process, they might die?? No idea for sure. They hatch in about a week (depending on how far developed they were before they were refrigerated the first time). Here is a link to Mulberry Farms FAQ: http://www.mulberryfarms.com/index.php?page=faq
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~ Juli ~
www.Polliwog-Design.com

Hey tyler,

I am having the same problem/dilema as you. I want to order eggs in bulk too, and i know shipping box with ice packs cost 35 bucks. So the next thing i need to find out is how long can the eggs last. I don't want to spend 35 bukcs for shipping plus some 20-30 odd dollars on thousands of silkworm eggs that would go to waste. I don't know and can't rememebr where i got the idea(before the answer to my post below) that silkworm eggs can last upto a year. Lets face it, we can't finish a thousand silkworms in a month, so we need to store the extra eggs, and use it for a long time. But mulberry farms stated that silkworm egss will only last in teh refrigeratorfor a month. I could've sworn i heard that it last to up to a year.. anybody out there can verify on that?....thansk in advance.

The reason for this is that they naturally diapause in egg form. Some moths diapause in cocoon but bombyx mori don't. Diapuase is the term for taking a "winter break." The catapillars of giant silkmoths get clues from nature that winter is approaching and they store energy more efficiently so that they can survive the winter in cocoon, to emerge as new moths in the spring. Bombyx mori don't do that. Their cycle is so short and they can make many complete cycles in a season.

Eggs can be put in the refrigerator for up to a year, or the equivalent of a long winter. When one puts them in the refrigerator, they are giving the eggs an artificial winter. Just watch them. If they start to dry out (you can tell because they'll appear sunken in like a blood cell), then they are getting too old. Also, if there is a dark spot on one side of the transparent shell, rather than the uniform black/gray color, that means they are dead also. When eggs are first laid, they are yellow. Within a day they go from yellow to rose to gray. Once they are gray, they are ready to be refrigerated.

If eggs are in cold storage and you bring them out, you can put them back in...but you're gambling. Once they start to "incubate," giving them a winter again may kill them. However, they can be pulled out for a day and put back in without any ill effects.