silkworms ?'s

[nguyen_inc]

hey me again, I just got some silk worms yesterday, and their cup thingy is getting dew on the sides. Is this bad?? And how can I prevent this? Last what is a good temp to put them so they grow fast? That is it

[Linds]

More ventilation will help alleviate the humidity. Also, make sure that the papertowel or whatever is in there is clean and dry. You will have to change it from time to time. Not sure about the best temp, I just keep mine at around 80 degrees. Hopefully someone else will be able to help you there.

[nguyen_inc]

ok thanks

[nguyen_inc]

Oh yea will the dew kill them? You know, like how crickets will die if moist.

[chamitch]

not how it kills crickets. but silkies are sensitive to bacteria, and to much moisture will cause bacteria growth

[Buster]

they will live in temps from 75-88 but will grow faster above 80.

[nguyen_inc]

what is a good set up for them? Right now I have them what they were sent in, a big cup with a vented lid on the bottom. There are 24 in it. Right now I mostly need hints about growning them so they get big and fat for my monitors.

[Bartman]

If the person who explained there silk worm container to me reads this, tell him. It was a really good idea, they use screen for the base of the enclosure and then a bucket underneeth so when they defecate it goes through and out of the way...ill try and find the post because it had instructions and pictures.
good luck!

[nguyen_inc]

ok, hows your sav. monitor doing bartman? good I hope.

[nguyen_inc]

oh yea and how do I know if they are about to spin a cacoon?

[Buster]

they will stop eating and turn a yellowish colour

[Buster]

for my setup i use a cardboard tray that 24's of beer cans come in. on the bottom i have three, one inch wide pieces of cardboard that run the length of the tray. on top of that i have a piece of plastic canvas that allows the frass to fall through and collect in the bottom. all of this is contained in a hovabator i maintain around 85F.

[Memnoch]

Buster: What are you feeding the silkies?

[Draper]

You don't even need a lid on your silkworm container ( unless you have a cat ) as they will stay where their food is. Temp does'nt matter either, room temp is fine. They grow depending on the amount of food they eat. The tricky part is the amount of food to put in at one time. I use a Starfrit cheese grater to grate the food over the worms twice a day. Don't put so much that they can't eat it all before you feed again because if it dries out to much they won't eat it. Also at the cost of food you don't want to be throwing a lot out. Hope this helps.

[Buster]

I feed them the chow right now. In the spring and summer I have a source for mulberry leaves