Reptile & Amphibian Forums

after about a week of keeping crickets, i'm already sick of them, and i was just wondering how many silkworms it will take to start up a silkworm colony? I was thinking about getting 100 and hoping the ones that don't get fed to my cham will be able to reproduce. does that sound right, or should i start with more or less? thanks

Scott

You'll probably have to keep buying more until your silkworms start hatching. It's a pretty long process...the silkies have to grow to the right size, which doesn't take too long, then they have to spin cocoons and change into moths. Then, the moths have to breed and lay eggs. This is where I got stuck...I let some silkies do all of this and got some eggs on wax paper. I don't know really what to do with them now...they are all stuck to the paper, so I just left them where they were. Not sure if I can get them to hatch though. I don't know how people do it...LOL...John?

Sorry I'm not more help...this silkworm thing is lots of work. hehehe

Kristen
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1.1 pygmy leaf
1.0 carpet
1.0 jackson
0.0.3 red eared sliders

put the eggs in your fridge for 3 months, then take em out to hatch.

Thanks...how do I get them off the wax paper without breaking them? I thought they would just roll around on the paper and not be attached...but they're stuck there.

Kristen
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1.1 pygmy leaf
1.0 carpet
1.0 jackson
0.0.3 red eared sliders

kristen - check out the link below for info.

The reason they are stuck to the wax paper is b/c the female moth secretes a subsatnace that adheres them to the appropriate surface. think about it...if this wasn't done in the wild eggs would just be rolling around (LOL!) and even fewer would see a full cycle. Most moths lay eggs on the appropriate host plant so the young have food as soon as hatched (keep this in mind for the silkies - have chow or leaves on hand). The Giant Silks that I raise will actually lay inside a paper bag then we just cut off peices of the bag to send to other Moth nerds

they can be carefully removed but just put the wax paper in a torage container in the fridge. it's not worth the possible damage. Be careful about moisture. Put them in the cripser where the temp is more stable and check for moisture from time to time.

lele
Link

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)

Oh, I totally understand the reasoning behind them being stuck to the surfact...I just misunderstood thinking that the wax paper was going to cause them to NOT stick. I can put them in the refrigerator that way, I think.

Thanks!
Kristen
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1.1 pygmy leaf
1.0 carpet
1.0 jackson
0.0.3 red eared sliders

oh! I see your thinking - too bad it doesn't work, huh? However...they would be easier to remove from wax paper than the brown that we use. You can carefully use your fingernail and sort of fling them off (well, not like you're playing tiddly winks! LOL!) then you can store them easier. But wadding the wax paper to fit them in a container won't hurt them. have fun! I am envious that you are that far along. My guys haven't spun up yet - so out I go tomorrow for some more crix.

lele

p.s. how are Lil Bit and Petrie??

>>Oh, I totally understand the reasoning behind them being stuck to the surfact...I just misunderstood thinking that the wax paper was going to cause them to NOT stick. I can put them in the refrigerator that way, I think.
>>
>>Thanks!
>>Kristen
>>-----
>>1.1 pygmy leaf
>>1.0 carpet
>>1.0 jackson
>>0.0.3 red eared sliders
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)

I may have messed the eggs up by leaving them where they were laid. They're in a dark box at about 74 degrees, I think. Not sure if I screwed them up or not.

Lil Bit is still acting like her strange self, but eating and hanging in there. Petrie is doing great...knock on wood. Although, today, he hung on the same branch all day...I can't stand it when they don't do their normal stuff...it freaks me out.

Thanks for asking...evidently, you are having lots of fun with Luna's cage.

Take care
Kristen
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1.1 pygmy leaf
1.0 carpet
1.0 jackson
0.0.3 red eared sliders

what color are they? White is infertile, black is fertile. When were they laid? just put them in the fridge now (the fertile ones). As fragile as they seem i find there can be mcuh more probelms with the larva then the egss - either they hatch or don;t. Once in a while (in my experienc with the big silks) one will struggle to get out and will die midway, but not much you can do there. how many eggs do you have?

Maybe Lil Bit will always be strange! I know how you must feel when Petrie acts out of character. Considering what you and I went thru as new cham owners I think we are especially sensitive to it with the little ones.

Hey, did you ever get a female carpet? You may have told me in an email, but without pictures...hint, hint!

yes, I am having fun with Luna's new cage and she is loving it! She has not asked to come out once and as a matter of fact seems totally disinterested. She is exploring top to bottom now. I still have to add and re-do some vines - then will post pics.

see you in a month!!

lele
>>Lil Bit is still acting like her strange self, but eating and hanging in there. Petrie is doing great...knock on wood. Although, today, he hung on the same branch all day...I can't stand it when they don't do their normal stuff...it freaks me out.
>>
>>Thanks for asking...evidently, you are having lots of fun with Luna's cage.
>>
>>Take care
>>Kristen
>>-----
>>1.1 pygmy leaf
>>1.0 carpet
>>1.0 jackson
>>0.0.3 red eared sliders
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)

How many silkworm eggs do a set amount of them produce? Like for example, if I start out with _ amount of moths, I'll have _ amount of eggs.... General idea? I've got tons of small silkworms right now and I wanna try to get them to breed, but I need to know how many to hold back. I would like a pretty large amount. Do they really need the full 3 months in the fridge? What would happen if you pulled some out in 1 or 2 months? Thanks for the info in this post I like it.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV

From what I understand the eggs arent too picky as for how long they're in the fridge. I believe you can fool them to believe 3 weeks is a short winter. You can always try taking a couple eggs out after 2 or 3 weeks and see before you try to hatch the whole batch.

"...but they usually won't hatch unless subjected to "winter" in your refrigerator for at least several weeks."

See this website: http://www.pclaunch.com/~kayton/Silkworms/eggs.htm

another good site:
http://www.chernak.net/Silkworm.htm

I don't know the exact number but I would guess around 100. The Giant Silks deposit about 300 over a 3-5 day span. Smaller moths, like sphinx deposit about 100.

The whole process from egg to mating adult is about 2 months.

lele
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)

what color are they? White is infertile, black is fertile. When were they laid? just put them in the fridge now (the fertile ones). As fragile as they seem i find there can be mcuh more probelms with the larva then the egss - either they hatch or don;t. Once in a while (in my experienc with the big silks) one will struggle to get out and will die midway, but not much you can do there. how many eggs do you have?

Yes, I'm thinking I just got a weird one...I keep expecting to find her dead at the bottome one day, but she's still plugging away. I hope Petrie is just bored...I have to get him into a permanent set up, but I just now ordered their cage. Did I tell you about his girlfriend? She escaped right before the show that I was going to in order to get her...so, I was bummed, but he was gonna let me know when the next batch hatched out and throw me two if I wanted. He e-mails me a few days after the show and she turned up...she escaped outside and still reappeared! Can you believe that he saw that little thing sitting there??? I'm amazed...so she's coming to live here. Hopefully, Petrie will like her and they can keep each other company. Hope he isn't set in his ways of being alone.

Nope...not yet...you wouldn't believe *that* saga. There is one that a guy has and he thinks it's a female, but he wants to be sure...was asking on the lists what they all thought, but I only got a few replies...most said they would guess female, but couldn't be sure. So, we're on hold...hopefully *that* one will work out.

I think it's cute how much she likes you...every one of ours looks like they're waiting for us to eat them. Leon (the Jax with toe infection) was starting to like me and would come up to be fed some silkies...now he's pissed at me because of the horrible things I have to do to him. Boo Hoo...

Yep...can't wait! Hey, Sonia, what do you keep...in other words, what am I gonna get to see??? hehehe

Kristen
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1.1 pygmy leaf
1.0 carpet
1.0 jackson
0.0.3 red eared sliders

Whoops...forgot to say...most are a dark purplish color...a few yellow, but not many.

I'm not sure how many...not tons...maybe about 75???

Kristen
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1.1 pygmy leaf
1.0 carpet
1.0 jackson
0.0.3 red eared sliders

they are probably fertile. The egg is transparent and what you are seeing is the larva inside. you should be fine. Experiment with time in fridge to see your results.

>>Whoops...forgot to say...most are a dark purplish color...a few yellow, but not many.
>>
>>I'm not sure how many...not tons...maybe about 75???
>>
>>Kristen
>>-----
>>1.1 pygmy leaf
>>1.0 carpet
>>1.0 jackson
>>0.0.3 red eared sliders
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)

here is a page with a silkworm life cycle to give you an idea of the time involved. I'm with you on the crix and plan to switch. I got 50 silkies on 10/22 and have about 30 left but am only feeding a few every other day. They get quite large (mine are getting too big for Luna) very quickly so depending on the size of your cham you may want to consider this and get them small. You will probably have to deal with the crix for awhile until you get a colony established.

lele

>>after about a week of keeping crickets, i'm already sick of them, and i was just wondering how many silkworms it will take to start up a silkworm colony? I was thinking about getting 100 and hoping the ones that don't get fed to my cham will be able to reproduce. does that sound right, or should i start with more or less? thanks
>>
>>Scott
Link

-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)