Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a couple of picky girls. they don't like crix too much, so i ordered some silkies. needless to say they tore them up,so my question is whats involved in starting a colony. i understand the process of feeding, its the actual husbandry i'm unsure of. i'm storing them in a rubbermaid container for now-i ordered 300(200 small,100 medium). what is required,ie. temps, humidity, lighting etc.?

Hi - I recently wrote an article on this very subject

Here you go...
silkworms

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

sounds like a lot of work. not sure i'm ready for all that.

I have a colony going...it wasnt hard and there is not that much to it.

Keep your silkies well fed--I usually set aside 20-40 of the largest ones (seperate container) and feed 2 times a day--the 'feeders' are fed once a day.

I do not keep any special heat or lights--just room temp 70-76F for us.

I use rubermaid 'shoeboxes' and I do not let them get too crowded. I try to keep the boxes clean--especially when they are younger.

Once the worms are very large--over 3 inches they will need a place to 'spin'. I use egg crates--cardboard ones. I place the egg crate in their box--make sure there is plenty of room for all of the worms AND the egg crate. Once they all have spun I remove them from the egg crate--carefully and place in a paper towel lined box. It takes around 2 weeks for them to hatch. Once a male and female pair up I place them in a small paper bag. After the female lays eggs my beardies get a moth treat. I let the eggs stay at room temperature for a day and then carefully cut around the group and place the paper/eggs into a plastic zip-lock bag and put it in the back of the refrigerator for a month or two.

When I'm ready to hatch them I put the paper/eggs in a petri dish and in about a week they hatch... sites like www.mullberry farms.com even have pictures to walk you through all of this.

It is NOT time consuming--just 2-5 minutes a day.

DM

It may seem like a lot of work but the basics are - well, basic and once you have done it, like anything else, will become easy. The main concerns are too much moisture, which will promote bacteria and mold, and to keep things clean. The PC and egg crate setup I refer to in the article is the way that I personally set them up and a few folks have adopted it, but it is by no means the only way. I have been rearing other leps for hobby and local conservation efforts for many years and (as folks from the Chameleon forum know) I tend to err - OK, obsess - on the side of caution

If you do not want to go thru the entire life cycle, you can order from any of the places I listed under resources. Btw, silkwormfarm.com has a nice little forum/message board setup and also runs customer specials, so you may want to just get them on an as-needed basis.

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

I like silkworms and I don't think are to hard, but unless you have that mulberry tree they can be expensive to feed. I prefer roaches because they are the easiest bug I have found to breed, feed, and keep. They don't infest your home (the roaches that do are PESTS species and not the ones used by reptile people), and animals go nuts over them just like silkies. Anyway, its another option for you to look into. A simple rubbermaid bin with heat, no smell, no mold, no noise, no expensive food, just good solid everyday feeders.
James

I think i would like to keep roaches, what was that website you gave before that had tons of roach keeping information?
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

Under the help & support section of www.blaberus.com you will find care, handling, and species documents. I also have ads in the classified section. Everyone that has purchased them so far has nothing but good things to say. I would recommend trying the non-climbers and taking the time to build a colony rather than dealing with the climbers.
James