Question about silkworms

[geckomom]

I suppose this should go in the "feeder" forum, but....

Just ordered some silkworms for my geckos - this is the first time I've used them. They came in those "deli" style containers, with 2/3" of brownish "stuff" in the bottom, and plastic nets for the worms to climb up.

Can't find any info on what I should do with the silkworms, aside from feeding them to the geckos...can anyone give me advice on what I should do with them to keep them alive and healthy? No caresheet/info sheet came with the order, unfortunately.

Thanks! :)

[Tim and Julie B]

did you get any mulberry to feed them? if not you may need some to keep them fed. other than that i think you can put them in the fridge to keep them longer

[ChristinaM]

Silkworms will die if u put them in the fridge :(

Did you get food with them?

Here's a good caresheet:

http://www.mulberryfarms.com/faq.htm

[ChristinaM]

as well, use the search feature on this site, and simply search " silkworm" and you'll come up with alot of info :)

[Tim and Julie B]

Ya, wasn't too sure on the fridge thing. I only buy enough for a feeding at a time. Good to know in case though.

[Ixidor]

the guy at the petstore doesn't sell silkies here :\

[geckomom]

Originally posted by Tim and Julie B
did you get any mulberry to feed them? if not you may need some to keep them fed. other than that i think you can put them in the fridge to keep them longer

Nope, just a couple of dried up leaves attached by silk to the plastic mesh. But I think I've figured out that the "substrate" they're on is some kind of premade food. They seem to be eating it, they're staying alive and nicely active, and I read somewhere about some kind of silkworm "food" (not cubes) that can be mixed up, is rather thick, and can go in the bottom of the container, kind of like what prepackaged fruitflies come with.

ChristinaM, thanks for the link to the site - very useful! I also searched on "silkworms" on this site, and you're right - lots of good info!

Plus, my baby albino, Ghost, ate 5 silkies tonight! Although the rest of my gex don't seem very interested, nor are they interested in the butterworms (except one of my sub-adult females, who ate 2 med. sized butters).

Guess they've just got to get used to this "exotic" (for them) food...;)

Ix, none of the stores around me sell them, either - I got them online...:)

[drewlowe]

If i'm correct you have the long (about 6-8 Inches) cylinder type container, it has food in the top (brownish stuff) and the little plastic things that hang down with the bottom lid (opposite side of food) has these around 1/4 inch holes covered with white something (what ever it is) that's the air holes.

If in fact this is the contaier you recieved them in, sorry bad explanation. You can keep the silkies in there until you feed them all off. What you need to do is place the container upside down (with the food up top) and the lid on the bottom and raise it up a little bit, i place mine on 2 pairs of scissors one on each side (silly but it works). The lid has the small holes that are covered by a cloth thingy and the ventilation come through those, that's why they need to be lifted just a bit. You have them uside down so when they poo it's not all over the food, it falls to the bottom (or air hole lid). I stand over my trash can and take the lid of once or twice a day to dump all the poo. Hope this helps

Jamie

[geckomom]

Originally posted by drewlowe
If i'm correct you have the long (about 6-8 Inches) cylinder type container, it has food in the top (brownish stuff) and the little plastic things that hang down with the bottom lid (opposite side of food) has these around 1/4 inch holes covered with white something (what ever it is) that's the air holes.

If in fact this is the contaier you recieved them in, sorry bad explanation.
Jamie

Yep, you explained it exactly right! Thanks for the info, it helps a lot! Going to go turn them over and dump some poo right now!!:D ;)

Thanks so much!