Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After I get back from vacation, im planning to get a bunch of silkworms. They cant be left alone for 4 days like my other feeders.

Anyway, about a month ago the mulberry farms website showed TONS of silkworms of all sizes. NOW theyre out of stock on alot. Im getting worried--do they shut down during the winter??? Do they not produce them year round? Please someone let me know.

Thanks!

Best way to find out for sure, is send an email to mulberry farms or give them a call. I suspect they wouldn't shut down for the winter but I never purchased from them so I can't be 100% certain. The Canadian silkworm supplier I use maintains their colony all winter long, feeding the worms on silkworm chow instead of mulberry leaves.

There was a shortage of silkworm chow for a while. (A Drought overseas prevented it from being made, I understand). Brian, at Mulberry Farms, buys thousands of pounds of it at a time. Because of this, production had to be cut way back because Brian couldn't get the food for them. (Can't raise them without food, especially in winter when the Mulberry trees drop their leaves!) He occasionally is out, but I have never had major problems getting the food or eggs from him at any time, the longest I have ever had to wait is about 1 month. I am sure he will have them during the winter months, even if he is short on them for a few weeks occasionally. The new shipment of chow came in about a month ago so I assume he should be back up and running as far as sizes and numbers go very soon. They also grow very fast so it can be kind of hard to manage as far as hatching the right number so that they all sell before they cocoon, plus there are seasonal changes in demand due to people brumating their animals which he has to take into account also.

Rodney

Yes I got a response to my email last night. Things should be normal soon. Thanks!

Ahh that certainly explains why my own supplier of silkworms and chow here in Canada had a food shortage. Made my order over a week late but in compensation, he sent me an extra 50 silkworms or so.