Silkworm questions

[Shellyjean]

I think I'm going to order some silkworms online but I couldn't really find the answers to a couple questions.

I have adults so I'm assuming I would need the large. How many large do ya'll usually feed them for one meal?

Also, how do keep the "leftovers". I understand you can buy the chow, but do the silkies need refrigerated? How long will they live?

I'm trying to figure out how many I should order for 2 skinks and I just have no clue.

[AneesasMuse]

I just bought 100 silkies for my gang a couple weeks ago...

...you will NEED all the MULBERRY you can find and then some!! I'm not at all sure about that "chow" they sell for them.

Anyhow, I went through a good 60 large worms with 10 Cresteds, a Tokay, the Beardie (the Uro couldn't figure it out, so he never ate his), the tortie and all my rattie kids (17 at that time.. I have a new rescue) and the Oscar. The Beardie and the Tokay finished off the rest in the next couple days.

I hope that gives you some idea of how many to order for 2 skinks.

[Omega]

I'm interested to see the responses here, as I had wondered similar things about silkies. I was overjoyed that snails are on the same level with them, since they are easy and almost free, but I want Marley to get silkies occasionally.

[Omega]

Bah Anee, that sounds like a pain, lol.

[Shellyjean]

How do you store the leftovers? Do they require refrigeration? My blueys only eat every 2-3 days so if I order 100 what do I do with the ones they don't eat right away?

I'd have no clue where to find mulberry around here. I hope the chow stuff feeds them okay.

I had to pay $2 a piece for my snails!!!!

[AneesasMuse]

I don't know if they require refrigeration either... I left mine in a rubbermaid w/o a top and all the Mulberry I could find... room temp (75F ish). They did fine and no one complained

I think I actually went through more than the 60 initially, though... and the funniest thing was watching my rattie gang go NUTS BONKERS for 'em.

When you order them, ask how they keep them... or just order enough to feed your guys once. They are on the expensive side... for me, they were, anyway. The guy tried to charge me a quarter a piece, but he had already quoted me $0.15 before they arrived and he chose to honor that.

Sorry I'm not much more help. They were a treat for my gang actually, cuz I splurge on all their organic fruits and veggies on a regular basis as it is.

[Lisa]

Yeah I would have said if you had a mulberry tree then you're set. We used to keep them in a shoebox when we were kids. I'm sure you'd have no problem getting rid of them before they turn into moths!

Last year when I went to Vietnam we toured a silk making factory, and I so wished I could have taken home a doggy bag full of them.

Don't go for the ones you can buy in a tin. They're like the dried up cocoon bit. I was so disappointed when I bought some.

[Shellyjean]

Ok, so maybe I'll just get 50 to start and see how it goes. I'll have to order the chow since I don't think there are any mulberry trees around here. Hopefully they'll do okay on that for all the longer I'll have them.

[Lisa]

Ok, so maybe I'll just get 50 to start and see how it goes. I'll have to order the chow since I don't think there are any mulberry trees around here. Hopefully they'll do okay on that for all the longer I'll have them.

I'd say if you're looking to keep silkies as pets then mulberry leaves are the only way to go. But you're just going to keep them on death row for a few weeks, so I think the chow will be fine. 'Eat up, my pretties', says ShellyJean with a wild gleam in her eye

[Shellyjean]

That's all I need is to get attached to worms, but it could probably happen. I've done it with my snails. I was really surprised how pretty the silkies are!

[AneesasMuse]

Beware their cute little faces! And they're so soft and smooth.

I no longer feed my Dubia roaches off.... cuz I'm too soft hearted and they are so cute!!

[deftones2015]

I keep about 1000 silkworms at a time for my bluey (soon to be more blueys), beardie, and 3 geckos. The temps. depend on how fast you want your silkies to grow. A cooler temp produces slower growth, higher temps like i say around 80-85 degrees produce rapid growth. I feed them off when they're about an inch long or so to my skink and they'll grow to about 3 inches I think. With food it's like the temps. Feed them more often for more growth and less often for minimal growth. I feed mine everyday until they hit the 1 inch mark then i feed around 3 times week. I keep mine in a little rubbermid type of container and they do fine. Just make sure you wash it out really well before you put them in there. When you feed (if you keep quite a few at a time) put some wax paper on top to keep the food moist, I keep the wax paper on for about 12 hrs then take it off for 3-5 to let everything dry out.
If you only want to do 50 at a time, just go with the cups. At mulberry they come with the chow and everything and you can just follow the instructions on the cup. Also, if you plan on growing the silkies to full size in that you will have to buy more food. I personally use silkworm chow. It's easy to make and stays good for a while. Hope this helps out a little.

[Piggy]

What does this 'chow' consist of?
Mulberries are are high in vitamin A, potassium, phosphorous and calcium, so if not feeding mulberry I'm sure they would do great as long as they recieve those nutrients.

[KyleWeiss]

It's too bad silkworms are such a pain to keep. Anyone up for making them as easy to breed and care for as crickets? Li'l gene splicing or two?

KW

[Piggy]

Actually the chow suddenly sounds more appealing to me.
What form is it sold in? I recall seeing slabs of moist, granular goup... I'm just wondering what it is.
Oh and how long can you stretch their worm period, and avoid them becoming moths, assuming they're kept in the coolest possible temperature? I have one skink, and any stores that carry them are far away, so I want to buy large quantities, whilst maintaining their larval stage for a long time. Or are the moths okay to feed as well?

[deftones2015]

You can buy them small and keep them in different batches. Grow one batch faster the others particularly slow. I don't know how slow you can go but I have talked to people who say you can feed them once a week and keep them around 70 degrees and they will grow fairly slow. I'm not too sure though seeing my lizards go through them like candy. It typically takes them 4 weeks to grow to 3 inches or a little longer. Feed less and lower heat and they should grow slower.

The worm chow that comes from mulberry farms is in a powder form. You add 3 cups of water, the powder, and microwave or cook on stove and boil for about 5 minutes. It comes with instructions but it will hold up in an airtight container(tupperware) for about a month. It contains all the nutrients they need to live.

Here's mulberrys faq about silkworms it will answer a lot of questions and let you know about the egg option and breeding if you 're interested in that.
http://mulberryfarms.com/faq.htm

[Leigh]

I'm sure someone on here wrote that there bluey enjoys the odd moth or two

[Tigergenesis]

You don't need mulberry - the chow is just fine. Do not refrigerate the silkworms. Just keep them in a container with or without food. They can go a week without food so you may not need to buy any - especially if you don't want them to grow larger.

I hate caring for insects so I only buy enough silkworms to feed out that day and then maybe a week later if needed. That way I don't really need any food and all I have to do is clean up after them. I bought one of those big cricket keeper to put them in. I put a screen divider in the container and then the silkworms on top of that. The screen openings is big enough for their waste to fall through, but not necessarily them. that makes cleanup easy. Keep them at room temperature - the temperature affects their growth as well. You do not want to handle the silkworms that much.

Info: http://www.chameleonnews.com/silkworms.html
http://www.silkwormshop.com/silkworm_info.html
https://coastalsilkworms.com/catalog/in ... ?info_id=4
https://coastalsilkworms.com/catalog/in ... ?info_id=8
http://www.mulberryfarms.com/faq.htm

[Tigergenesis]

Also, large silkies are near the time where they will spin cocoons and turn to moths, etc. That's why I only buy enough to feed that day and maybe within the next week. You might consider buying a combination of sizes - large to feed right then and within a week, medium or small to keep over the next few weeks and grow up. You could buy all medium - that size (if I remember correctly) is fine for adults...just need more of them.

In a pinch I have feed them raw carrots - they eat it and it actually turns the silkies a slight orange color.

[Shellyjean]

Thanks! I'll just get some medium sized. What is the usual portion size for an adult skink? 5 or 10 a meal?