Finally

I have 12 pupae and 29 worms just about ready to bury in. They're all the first generation that I've raised from my moths to egg to worm. I have no earthly clue what I'm going to do with this next generation!! I had easily 200 worms hatch from the last batch of 12 moths.
 
It's really simple! When they start pulsating, I put them in a 1 gallon tub full of moss with very small pinholes for air, it's damp to the touch. I don't put food in with them once they're ready to dig in. The vein needs to be super visable, you'll know it when you see it. I let them buried until the shell of the cocoon is well set, about a week. If the worms are disturbed while building cocoons, you'll find a lot of malformed wings. I had one moth named chopper because he could only fly in circles. I built him a ramp to the nectar. RIP, Chopper. Anyhow, I never let the cocoons get below 82, that prevents diapause for me. After the shells are hard, they go on damp paper towels and get sealed into a container without air holes until they hatch, I check on them every couple of days. My moth setup is incredibly complicated and so expensive! Lol, they live in an old mesh laundry bin with a towel over the top. I have a 7.00 hummingbird feeder with sugar water and the vines of tomatoes from the grocery store for them to lay on. I collected eggs every other day. Pro tip- those eggs bounce like rubber balls so be careful when dropping them into the container!
 
This guy on top is almost ready, you can see the pulse. I wait until that pulse is visible the whole way down the back. The other one is just starting to get ready, you can see how they go translucent starting at the head.
 
My current stash of breeders, and I still have about 50 feeders. Colonizing themy is well worth the time and effort because they are so expensive to buy! 20161205_150535.jpg
 
How do you keep your cups with the food so clean? I open and dump the poo daily but they still end up gross one they get big!
 
How do you keep your cups with the food so clean? I open and dump the poo daily but they still end up gross one they get big!
I just keep the cups upside down so the poop falls away from the food. They do poop so much! I empty poo in the morning when I feed the babies, and when I spray them. It's easier to keep up with when they're little, the bigger they are the more they poop!
 
I just keep the cups upside down so the poop falls away from the food. They do poop so much! I empty poo in the morning when I feed the babies, and when I spray them. It's easier to keep up with when they're little, the bigger they are the more they poop!
I do the same but still. they always end up getting moist and icky.
 
I haven't had a problem with moisture in the cups lately, but I did over the summer. I ended up closing the lid with a paper towel inside, it reduced the moisture and caught the damp poo. I also might try switching to silkie chow instead of hornworm chow, the hornworm chow has more moisture so you get looser poops.
 
I haven't had a problem with moisture in the cups lately, but I did over the summer. I ended up closing the lid with a paper towel inside, it reduced the moisture and caught the damp poo. I also might try switching to silkie chow instead of hornworm chow, the hornworm chow has more moisture so you get looser poops.

Interesting...I might try that, Thanks!
 
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