Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i got a care sheet for raising silkies. ive been fallowing it, and so far this is where im at. i think (keep in mind ive never done this) that there starting to form the cacoons. these are the pics from today. do they look right?

thanx
nevin
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1.1 brazilian rainbow baos-peace&chaos (rip sunshine)
2.1 leopard geckos-killer, narvana, sallean,
1.1 blizzerd lizzard-grim & marical
.1 bell leopard gecko-ecstacy
.1 tremper leopard gecko-euphoria
.2. amazon tree boas-sweetness&carnage
0.1.0 kenyan sand boa-stimpy R.I.P.
0.1.0 bearded dragon-blaze
1.0.0 uromastyx-chubby
2.0 brothers
0.2 sisters
3 cats-fat max, spiderman, &toby
1 miniture mutt-brutis

"dont be afraid to die, only be afraid to not live"

"dont become classified. if you are nothing, then you can be anything."

I can't tell from the pic, but if the worms are a month or older, they will begin to turn that yellowish-brown color that I think I am seeing in your pic. All you have to do is take them and put them into a seperate container with paper towel and toilet paper rolls. Cut the t.p. rolls in half and the paper towel rolls into fourths. You can connect the slices of roll with paper clips or tape to make like a honeycomb of places for them to spin their cocoons. You'll know when they are spinning - it only takes a few hours to a day for them to complete their cocoon from start to finish. I am "growing" silkworms for the first time, and I've got about 20-25 cocoons from the first 100 silkies I ordered about a month and a half ago. They all made their cocoons over the last few days. Good luck, and if you have any questions just ask.

.

should i put the yellow/brown "pre cacoon" things inside the rolls? or just put them in a container with the rolls?
thanx again
nevin
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1.1 brazilian rainbow baos-peace&chaos (rip sunshine)
2.1 leopard geckos-killer, narvana, sallean,
1.1 blizzerd lizzard-grim & marical
.1 bell leopard gecko-ecstacy
.1 tremper leopard gecko-euphoria
.2. amazon tree boas-sweetness&carnage
0.1.0 kenyan sand boa-stimpy R.I.P.
0.1.0 bearded dragon-blaze
1.0.0 uromastyx-chubby
2.0 brothers
0.2 sisters
3 cats-fat max, spiderman, &toby
1 miniture mutt-brutis

"dont be afraid to die, only be afraid to not live"

"dont become classified. if you are nothing, then you can be anything."

Are your worms still moving? They should look like they always have, except have a slight change in color. Also, they will take a nasty poop that will be wet and smelly, unlike their normal waste. They do this to remove any waste before they enter the cocoon. This is another sign they are ready. If you think they are ready, just put them in the container with the rolls (one in each roll). If they aren't fed for a day or two this way, I think they tend to go ahead and make their cocoon -just my observation. Some may roam around, while others make their cocoon. If they don't, after a few days you can either take them out to wait until they are ready or just feed them off.

The picture was kinda hard for me to see but if that silkworms is laying on its side and not moving, it's dead. Get rid of it before its insides start to liquefy and the body gets gross. It is fairly common to lose a couple of worms along the way. Silkworms that are about to spin cocoons then pupate are a light brown/yellow. They will be actively moving around to find a suitable place to spin a cocoon. When they start spinning cocoons I either throw in some egg crate or remove them to a box with egg crate. I've heard of some people placing lightly crumpled newspaper instead of egg crate. They just need some tight spots and corners as suitable cocoon spots. Good luck!

Hi Nevin,
So you found your way here

From the pix your silkie looks dead. They should not lay on their side and they will not begin to pupate (that's what happens inside the cocoon) until they are rather large (2" approx.) I couldn't tell how large yours is from the pix.

Silkies need to be kept clean. You should try not to handle them at all and if/when you need to always wash your hands thoroughly before. They also should not be overcrowded, need to be kept dry (no condensation buildup and good ventilation). What are you keeping them in? How many do you have? Can you post the care sheet? What are you feeding? On the other forum you said you had access to a Mulberry - have you been feeding them from that yet? Make sure that tree is NOT sprayed with any pesticide!

Here are three suppliers and all have info on their sites about care.
http://www.californiasilkworms.com/
http://www.silkwormfarm.com/
http://www.mulberryfarms.com/

John, of California Silkworms, wrote an article for ChamNews on feeding baby chams and he discusses at length the raising of silkies. Check out the article and go about half way down for the silkie info.

lele

silkie rearing

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

lele, yeah it was easy to get here, im always on the leo forum. they were 2" long, mayb a little big bigger. then i seen them shrinking and was a lil confused. thank you everyone
nevin
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1.1 brazilian rainbow baos-peace&chaos (rip sunshine)
2.1 leopard geckos-killer, narvana, sallean,
1.1 blizzerd lizzard-grim & marical
.1 bell leopard gecko-ecstacy
.1 tremper leopard gecko-euphoria
.2. amazon tree boas-sweetness&carnage
0.1.0 kenyan sand boa-stimpy R.I.P.
0.1.0 bearded dragon-blaze
1.0.0 uromastyx-chubby
2.0 brothers
0.2 sisters
3 cats-fat max, spiderman, &toby
1 miniture mutt-brutis

"dont be afraid to die, only be afraid to not live"

"dont become classified. if you are nothing, then you can be anything."