Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My silkworms will be here in a little bit, but my clamp light and stand won't be here from reptile direct until Friday. Any ideas what to do to keep them warm until then? If they were big silkworms I wouldn't be worried, but with them being small ones I'm afraid they might die off since I keep my house around 68 degrees or so. Thanks!

>>My silkworms will be here in a little bit, but my clamp light and stand won't be here from reptile direct until Friday. Any ideas what to do to keep them warm until then? If they were big silkworms I wouldn't be worried, but with them being small ones I'm afraid they might die off since I keep my house around 68 degrees or so. Thanks!

If they are not small enough be in a petri dish you probably don't need any heat for them to survive.

If they are in a petri dish search the electrical appliances in your home and I bet you can find a spot warm enough. The closer the are to newborn the more you need to worry about heat.

Newborns are about 1/8" long and I've never had those under 78 degrees. That doesn't mean they won't survive but I wouldn't risk it if you paid money for them.
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Rob

I was hoping you would see this post! I ordered them from Mulberry Farms and just ordered the 1/2 inch small worms...but from what I understand that's just a rough guideline for what you get...so I really don't know what I'll be getting in a few hours. Mulberry Farms seems to be really understocked right now so I'm assuming they're going to be really small. The temp reading I'm getting on top of my beardie's fluorescent fixture is about 80 right now...but that goes off at night and my house temp drops to around 66 or 67 in the middle of the night.

>>I was hoping you would see this post! I ordered them from Mulberry Farms and just ordered the 1/2 inch small worms...but from what I understand that's just a rough guideline for what you get...so I really don't know what I'll be getting in a few hours. Mulberry Farms seems to be really understocked right now so I'm assuming they're going to be really small. The temp reading I'm getting on top of my beardie's fluorescent fixture is about 80 right now...but that goes off at night and my house temp drops to around 66 or 67 in the middle of the night.

and see how they come.

If they are in a petri dish you will want to put the petri dish in a separate container to heat it up. Just heating the petri dish up while exposing the air around it to the ambient temps in your house will cause condensation to form on the inside of the petri dish. The worms that come into constant contact with the droplets of water will drown.

I'd get a rubbermaid container to put the petri dish in and leave the lid of the rubbermaid very slightly cracked. A shoe box would probably work as well but make sure it never touches the heating source as that is a fire hazard. I've seen cheap clamp lamps at Meijer, Lowes, etc. for $8.00-$9.00 you could stick a 60 watt household incandescent bulb in and point it at the container. I think that would be enough heat.

If you can't get to a lamp let me know and I'll put some more thought into it.
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Rob

They're in a large petri dish. I really didn't expect them to be this tiny. Oh well. They've got a nice layer of chow in there, so should I just leave them be for now? If not, how do I get all these little guys from the petri dish to a container without squishing them all?

I've been using silkworms for a few months now and didn't realise until I read your post that they needed to be a certain temp. I've done nothing special and have been successful in hatching eggs and growing on the young. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what the lowest temp has been in the room. I'll check tonight if you would like me to.

Colleen

>>I've been using silkworms for a few months now and didn't realise until I read your post that they needed to be a certain temp. I've done nothing special and have been successful in hatching eggs and growing on the young. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what the lowest temp has been in the room. I'll check tonight if you would like me to.
>>
>>Colleen

electric as well as take away some of the hassle of raising them!

I have read some other info I on raising them that is not necessary just haven't tried with the temps yet.

Thanks!!!
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Rob

Can't wait to hear what your temps are. I noticed on the petri dish that it just says to warm it up to "room temperature". I'm just afraid that my room temperature (67-68 degrees most of the day) is too cold.

>>Can't wait to hear what your temps are. I noticed on the petri dish that it just says to warm it up to "room temperature". I'm just afraid that my room temperature (67-68 degrees most of the day) is too cold.

If that works you wouldn't have to worry as much about condensation, mold or the chow drying out too quick.

It's amazing how delicate some info I've read say these worms are. One care sheet says you need to move all the worms to a sterile container every day for something like a week straight. I feel sorry for that poor person!!
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Rob

I KNOW! One source treats them like they're the most delicate creatures on earth, and then I hear some people on the forum say that they haven't given them any special care whatsoever. My main surprise is at how stationary they are. I thought they were all dead at first then when I started tapping on the petri dish they would raise their heads up for a moment. Really fascinating little creatures.

So do I need to just leave them be in this petri dish on their layer of chow or put more in or what? Also, when I move them to their new container...how do I keep from killing these little guys? If I just dumped all that goo in there with them then it would squish them.

>>I KNOW! One source treats them like they're the most delicate creatures on earth, and then I hear some people on the forum say that they haven't given them any special care whatsoever. My main surprise is at how stationary they are. I thought they were all dead at first then when I started tapping on the petri dish they would raise their heads up for a moment. Really fascinating little creatures.
>>
>>So do I need to just leave them be in this petri dish on their layer of chow or put more in or what? Also, when I move them to their new container...how do I keep from killing these little guys? If I just dumped all that goo in there with them then it would squish them.

I think you are supposed to leave them in the petri dish until the food is gone or they outgrow it. My first batch came in a petri dish and I think they were in there for at least a week. Don't feed them in there unless all the other food is gone first.

When you do end up moving them there should be a good layer of silk they have made and you can just lift the entire layer out of the petri dish and lay it flat in your new container. By the time you do that I think they will be big enough to place chunks of chow around instead of grating it directly on top.

If you did have to grate chow on top of them it doesn't seem to do much harm. First, there's a layer of chow and you can't see any worms then 20 minutes later almost all of the worms are on top of the chow munching away!

When they are a little older, like 1/2" or so, sometimes 95% of them will be sitting motionless with their heads straight up in the air. Tap on the side or make a loud noise and you can get the whole group to make one quick jerk at the same time. It's kind of funny.

Eventually all they have to do is see you and the whole colony will go from being completely motionless squirming around.
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Rob