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My understanding for cocoon hatch times is between 14-21 days. If they pass 21 days, I'll open them up, and there s usually something wrong that explains it such as a shrivelled pupa or a moth that couldn't break through the cocoon and died trapped inside. Once they are in the potential hatch...

Yay! Babies!

Congratulations! And it chose the toilet roll, too!

Thank you! Yeah someone may be getting ready. Do you see any being restless and putting silk everywhere? There supposed to stop eating within a day before or so.

I want to share these pictures since we are talking about cocooning. I had one cocoon with a mulberry leaf wrapped around the cocoon. I lost that picture, though. The round structure in pic 1 was inspired by the cocoonery being sold at The Silkworm Shop. If you have gutter guard, you can make it...

Don't forget to ensure that they can't escape the box once they begin wandering. I know many people have great success with toilet paper rolls or egg cartons. Some of my own have used the toilet paper tubes, but I find that many of mine refuse them as well. Mine seem to favor the corners of the...

Hey Redhorse, they are looking great! Yeah they eat a lot in the fifth instar! That's one thing I love about the last instar; they literally eat every crumb. I imagine them sitting around a table banging their empty plates as a sign of wanting more. Haha.

Nope. That was in Autumn of last year. All the ones who did this stopped growing and died very disgusting deaths. I had only three survivors out of around forty worms.

Sorry to hear about your silkworms @MissSkittles . Once that starts, it's like a never-ending nightmare. Just when you think you got them all, the next day there are more sick worms. @redhorse yours are looking very nice! @Spyro, about flarcherie I remember reading about "chain poops" as a...

I do not think that white egg hatched. It looks collapsed. The others could be close though. Looks like your pictures are pretty close-up, so if the hatchling was there you'd see it. I know they are tiny, but like I said your pics are pretty close-up that you should be able to spot it. I can...

The discarded head capsules are surely in there somewhere. I imagine that they blend in a bit with the chow since the fourth instar capsule is brown / light brown in color. Those shed cuticles are pretty big at this point. Glad to see them growing so well.

No problem. I love talking about silkworms (and other caterpillars). I just finished reading a book on moth biology and behavior, and it mentions in one chapter that in China and taiwan, they use the droppings of the silkworms to make tea. I suggested this to someone at work and he is willing...

She was very spoiled. She's alone because the other eight worms died of disease. She will become that huge silk moth from one of my earlier pictures.

Here's a video. It is a great thing to see:

@redhorse, do you see the heartbeat on any of them, yet? That also becomes very evident before they pupate. I am not 100% sure, but I think your worms may have another molt before they are ready.

@redhorse, I just wanted to give you some advanced warning about when they approach their time to cocoon. Perhaps you already know, but just in case I wanted to let you know that when caterpillars enter their pre-pupal stage, they will begin wandering in order to find a place to make their...

There are two on that piece. One has curled himself under the gutter guard and is eating.

Those facial close-ups are impressive! Good job! Here's one of my pics from last year. I wanted to share it because it is cute / funny in my opinion. Apparently it tastes better upside down:

It was sweet of you to try.

I hope to begin my second year of rearing silkworms soon. I am just waiting for the temperatures to warm up a bit. I live in Canada, so it's been too cold even with room temperature at 21 degrees celsius. My eggs last year hatched around 17 days, but some hatched after 60. Spyro told me that...