coastal silkworm

Is it possible to keep them indoors?? It sounds like their roots need lots of room....so is it completely impossible? Or shall I give it a whirl?
 
Wouldn't that be nice...

You could take a screen cage just like the chams have, make the entire bottom a container for soil and then plant your mullberry in it. Then just let the silkworms live on it. You wouldn't have to clean out old silkworm food. Tara
 
oops..I should've said "wouldn't it be nice if you could"

I meant..if it is possible to keep a mullberry indoors..then that would be how I would like to keep it. Now we need a mullberry expert to tell us if that is possible. Tara
 
lol. I knew what you meant. Sorry, I guess that post did come across a little odd.

Now for that answer.......Anybody??? Is it possible to keep a mulberry indoors?
 
if you pot them in a large pot an give them lots of water then they should be ok until they reach maybe 5ftten i would move them to a bigger area. they like water. i was tranplanting this little tree about a foot tall and the root was about 3or more ft long i cut the root at 3ft. the root base was an inch thick and the part i cut was about a 1/4 inch thick. plus the tree can reach 50 ft tall or more. the good thing though is the give you good fruit to eat and they smell good
 
Sorry to burst bubbles here, but mulberry trees get HUGE. Also, silkies eat A LOT. If you were to grow a small one for inside the house for silkworm food, I doubt it would live long as the silkies would completely demolish it before it even grew up enough to live :D. I think all that would be left would be a mulberry stub? :p
 
good point.....Now who's going to go pick some mulberry leaves and start selling them?? As far as I'm concerned....you already have at least one customer.:D
 
:confused: lol. I have no idea what the market price is for them....and in addition....I have no idea how fast my silkies would go through them.

If your serious shoot me a PM and we'll talk about it more in debth.
 
I can fill you in on alot of info here. Companies can't sell mulberry leaves because, from my own experience, they only last about three days in the fridge. When i was at my mother's, who has a huge mulberry (white) tree, i picked a few leaves off to see how the silworms would react-- after already being fed the chowder. They loved it. They completely ignored the chowder, which is a problem if you don't have plenty of leaves. Eventually, I took a smaller-- about 3' tall-- tree from my mother's place and planted it in my backyard. Remarkably though, 50 silkworms chewed through the entire stock of leaves in less than two weeks. The worse news though, starting a mulberry tree from seeds, I've read, takes about three years, so good luck & patience. Although leaves are more natural and hassle-free if you don't have a large enough tree at your disposal, you are better off feeding the chow. Whatever it takes, use silkies as your staple. They are far better than crickets. ::chirp:: ::chirp:::)
 
My first contribution, for what ever value it may have.

2by2 said:
ITS MINE!!! I thought of it first! Now could someone point me in the direction of information on how to start a mass mulberry tree farm? lol. But seriously, I'd definately buy them instead of the chow....the chow drives me nuts at times.


It is interesting to note that 40,000 silkworm eggs (one ounce or 28 grams) will hatch into worms which will eat 6,500 kilograms (3,500 pounds) of mulberry leaves, and will spin cocoons which will produce 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of silk thread. It takes 1700 to 2000 cocoons to make one silk dress!

:D And the Chemeleons get the worms! What a business.
 
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I belong to another forum, and someone was just talking about having some success freezing mulberry tree leaves for future use. I have a couple little trees that probably won't be ready for any leaf plucking until next year, but I thought I would give it a shot.

Heika
 
*i Love Coastal Silkworms I Am Actually Ordering Some Today!!! I Always Get @ Least A Pound Of The Already Made Food They Offer. I Do Have A Mulberry Tree(however The Only Problem Is When I Was Little We Got Rid Of All The Silkworms...im Sad Because I Didn't Know I Was Going To Use Them L8r On:( ) Anyway I Do Have A Mulberry Tree But Unfortunetly Im Not Sure If It Has Been Around Pesticides Plus It Really Is Only A Couple Of Bucks More For Some Already Made Food And Man Those Things Will Go Through That Food Like Crazy. Good Thing I Have Plenty Of Animals Who Love Them!:d
 
Pesticides are not just a surface problem! Just washing off leaves does not solve all problems, please don't risk that. If it is in your yard than you can control what the tree is exposed to, avoid pesticides and chemical fertilizers and it should be ok after old stuff is processed. Just remember it takes a lot longer for something to go through a tree's system than you might expect. For farmers to certify anything as organic, they have to wait three years after the last application of chemical fert or pesticide.
 
hey i was just wondering where you buy all youe reptile supplies and etc in jax im in WGVin saint augustine and jax is close im always down there i really havent seen a good reptile store yet.:mad:
 
Mulberry leaves

Hi, I'm new to the forum, but not to chams. Silkworms raised on fresh Mulberry leaves have been shown to be higher in calcium than chow fed worms. If the tree is in your yard I'm sure you know whether it is exposed to pesticides or fertilizers. Check with your neighbors if it's close to your property line. Wash the leaves to be safe. I have a tree, and although it is still too small to serve as a primary foodsource for the worms(they eat too much) I like to let them eat some fresh leaves just prior to feeding them off. Note: washing the leaves only removes topical(surface spray) pesticides. If you have ever applied fertilizers or the kind of pesticides which are absorbed through the roots, the tree could be unsafe.
 
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