Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ordered 350 small silkworms just now. Figure I'll just put them in a rubbermaid box with a 25 watt heat lamp over them. Never had silkworms before...how big of a box will 350 need? Does anyone put anything else in there besides just the worms and food? Paper towel rolls, egg crates, etc?

where did you buy them? is there a webpaage?
i don't know that i have ever looked at a silkworm before
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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Lizards

1.3.0 leopard geckos - diego, libby, jaws, and sobe
0.1 bearded dragon - sydney
0.1 king snake & 0.2.3 corn snakes
2 red eye tree frogs, 3 green tree frogs, 2 firebelly toads
5 anoles, 1.0 veiled cham 4.0 bettas & numerous tropicals
1.2 dogs (dachshund-pepper, brittany spaniel-jenni, lab-kaci)
1 hubby & 2 boys

www.skayart.com

Probably bought from Mulberry Farms. (Mulberryfarms.com) Anyways, I kept 150 in a XL critter keeper, so a rubbermaid will be fine. I just put them in bare, nothing else, just chow. I took the larger ones that I'd be hesitant to feed and put them in a 10gal. for breeding, and put a heat lamp on top of that one. Warning: When they come, be ready to get a little bit dirty. They tend to stick to stuff in the shipping tub so you have to pick alot of them off the combination of chow they put in for the voyage, silk, and waste.
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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Zeo)
0.2.0 Leopard Geckos (Vienna, Chomps)
1.0.0 Golden Retriever, Rocky, 10 years young

Yeah, got them from mulberryfarms.com. lanie, I went with them for my beardie because they're supposed to be so good for them and no odor or noise of crickets.

So you put the bigger ones in a 10 gallon for breeding...would love to hear your procedure and husbandry for rasing these since our reptile stores don't sell them (and looked at me funny when I asked them if they sold them).

Yeah, they do that. Someones working on a caresheet I know. It's a real simple setup, although they haven't even started to morph into moths yet. Here's what I have.

~8 larger silkworms in the 10 gallon. I use shelfliner for substrate (Easier to get poop up than no substrate) but paper towels would work just as well. Shelf liner just looks a bit better. I have some paper towel rolls cut into smaller pieces and toilet paper rolls cut for when they're ready to morph. I heard eggcrate will work just as well. I have a 15w nocturnal bulb I keep on during the day. I turn it off at night, just because their tank is next to my bed and the light bothers me while I try to sleep. It bumps the temps up to around 80-ish. They appear to do well --- they just eat, eat, eat. Considering how expensive they are to order online (I spend a total of ~$40 per order --- $30 minimum, at least $10 shipping) the breeding will pay off in the long run, I'll just have to order chow for the winter and fall. I'll give updates when they morph. And someone I know from bearded-dragons.com, Bret, has a nice page up on his silkworm experience, raising them from eggs. Link is below.
Raising Silkworms

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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Zeo)
0.2.0 Leopard Geckos (Vienna, Chomps)
1.0.0 Golden Retriever, Rocky, 10 years young

Noticed on that link that he's got them in a very deep rubbermaid. For some reason I didn't think that they could climb up a plastic container? Can't remember...I've done so much researching over the past month on various things that I can't keep things straight.

Is that sections of the container cut out and screen taped over it? Just trying to learn as much as I can...want to provide the best food source for my beardie without breaking my pocketbook. The more worms I can keep alive (and possibly breed) the better.

No, they can't crawl out. Probably just that he had that rubbermaid laying around. I'm pretty sure thats an old cricket rubbermaid, actually. (Long story as to how I know) I actually wouldn't use screens. I put a sheet of wax paper over the top then put the critter-keeper lid on, to retain humidity. (So food doesn't dry out... Not possible with my breeder tank, because of how the screen goes on, but they eat so fast that's a moot issue) It's fairly hard to kill these guys --- just wash before handling them and feed them. I didn't have a single one die out of 125.
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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Zeo)
0.2.0 Leopard Geckos (Vienna, Chomps)
1.0.0 Golden Retriever, Rocky, 10 years young

Hmmm...didn't think about the humidity issue. It's very dry and arid where I live. I guess put the lid on the rubbermaid and drill some holes in it?

I'd just leave the lid intact to retain humidity for 2-3 hours after you put in new chow, then you can leave it off for the rest of the day.
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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Zeo)
0.2.0 Leopard Geckos (Vienna, Chomps)
1.0.0 Golden Retriever, Rocky, 10 years young

i think i will order some!

sydney has become a strange eater lately.
she rarely eats crickets anymore. when she does, she is so lazy she won't chase them. the only way she will eat them is if i pull the legs off.
she has really had me worried the last 2-3 weeks!

she has lost some weight these last few weeks, but the last couple of days she has pigged out on mealies. much to my relief! i will also throw in an occasional waxworm.
i feel like we have been going thru a small stage of brumating.
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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Lizards

1.3.0 leopard geckos - diego, libby, jaws, and sobe
0.1 bearded dragon - sydney
0.1 king snake & 0.2.3 corn snakes
2 red eye tree frogs, 3 green tree frogs, 2 firebelly toads
5 anoles, 1.0 veiled cham 4.0 bettas & numerous tropicals
1.2 dogs (dachshund-pepper, brittany spaniel-jenni, lab-kaci)
1 hubby & 2 boys

www.skayart.com