Holy Hornworms!

[reptoman]

they will start to look kinda dirty when they are done feeding. Not sure how else to describe it. They start to lose their features slowly and turn a litte dark on the ends. I used to think this was them going bad so I chucked my hornworms at that point but as long as they are around 3", they will dig once you quit feeding them. It might take a couple days and you might have to put them in the bin several times until they finally dig and pupate. I have had them pupate lying on the soil of a plant before without digging as well. These things are not difficult at all to breed as I previously thought. Much easier than silks IMO.

 

[camimom]

they will start to look kinda dirty when they are done feeding. Not sure how else to describe it. They start to lose their features slowly and turn a litte dark on the ends. I used to think this was them going bad so I chucked my hornworms at that point but as long as they are around 3", they will dig once you quit feeding them. It might take a couple days and you might have to put them in the bin several times until they finally dig and pupate. I have had them pupate lying on the soil of a plant before without digging as well. These things are not difficult at all to breed as I previously thought. Much easier than silks IMO.

Ok.
wel they dont look dirty right now. but i would say they are about 3 inches long.
should i get some dirt and see if they will pupate?
how long do i leave them in the dirt without food?
i dont want to take away their food now to know they still needed another week and have them die.

 

[Whatcamo]

hmmm i ddintknow they dig down..
good to know..
will get some tomorrow..

can i use that brick of eco earth from petsmart? after hydrating it first. of course.

Yeah that stuff would be ok more expensive than generic top soils from lowes though

I just used a plastic sterilite tub about 6"x12"x6" deep and put sphagnum peat moss slightly damp about 4" deep. Put the worms in the peatmoss and they will bury themselves once they realize there is no food left for them. It takes around 30 days for them to emerge as moths. I also put them in my adult panther cages occasionally so they can be fed off when they come out. All my males love hawkmoths.
Here is a glimpse of my setup. Its working really well. I had around 25 huge hornworms left that were too big to feed for the latest batch.
http://youtu.be/VF0z8Sc3Rco

that's a great idea too!

how do i know when to stop feeding them? so that they dig and pupate. i dont want to stop feeding them too early.

From what I understand they'll start to roam away from the food you can also experiment with one and place it on the soil for a day and see what it does!

 

[camimom]

Yeah that stuff would be ok more expensive than generic top soils from lowes though

that's a great idea too!

From what I understand they'll start to roam away from the food you can also experiment with one and place it on the soil for a day and see what it does!

right now my lowes isnt selling a hell of a lot..
ok,.. i just put some more food in there tonight, and i tend to move them to the food so they can find it.

i think they were eating too, so i think ill just get some dirt or osmething and put one in tomorrow and leave them in all day. if he doesnt do anything ill put him back on sunday and let them keep eating until tuesday, then try again.
(cant monday cuz im in work and class all day)

 

[reptoman]

If they're too big to feed off they won't die when you take away the food. They will roam around for a couple of days and then just dig down and pupate. Thats why you have to keep putting them back in the soil a few times. When they are looking "dirty" they are already starting to pupate so they wont crawl around. Their feet kinda start to disappear at that stage. Peat moss is dirt cheap (pardon the pun) so I would save the eco earth for something else as whatcamo suggested.

 

[camimom]

If they're too big to feed off they won't die when you take away the food. They will roam around for a couple of days and then just dig down and pupate. Thats why you have to keep putting them back in the soil a few times. When they are looking "dirty" they are already starting to pupate so they wont crawl around. Their feet kinda start to disappear at that stage. Peat moss is dirt cheap (pardon the pun) so I would save the eco earth for something else as whatcamo suggested.

they arent too big to feed off. kink likes them. but i dont want to feed them all off. i want to make more.
do you think they look big enough to pupate?
they arent dirty looking at all, and they still have feet.. lol.

and these guys still sorta crawl around.. just not as much cuz they are so fat. haha.

il try peat mosss.

 

[reptoman]

they arent too big to feed off. kink likes them. but i dont want to feed them all off. i want to make more.
do you think they look big enough to pupate?
they arent dirty looking at all, and they still have feet.. lol.

and these guys still sorta crawl around.. just not as much cuz they are so fat. haha.

il try peat mosss.

The ones in your first post are plenty big enough to pupate. Thats about the limit to what I will feed off to adult male panthers so if you let them eat another day or so they would be too big for me. Its amazing how fast these things grow when allowed to eat non stop. I guess you are putting out food for them, or do you keep them in a feeder cup? The eggs I collect go onto the lid of a feeder cup turned upside down and they stay that way until they are fed off or the food is gone. You will want to get some deli cups and horn chow for when you get to that point. Pretty easy and I can walk you through it if you want. The pic is a week after hatching. I was using silk chow since I had not gotten the hornchow yet. Hornchow last longer and stays together in the cup whereas silkchow tends to fall apart in chunks and makes a mess. They wil eat either one though.

 

[camimom]

The ones in your first post are plenty big enough to pupate. Thats about the limit to what I will feed off to adult male panthers so if you let them eat another day or so they would be too big for me. Its amazing how fast these things grow when allowed to eat non stop. I guess you are putting out food for them, or do you keep them in a feeder cup? The eggs I collect go onto the lid of a feeder cup turned upside down and they stay that way until they are fed off or the food is gone. You will want to get some deli cups and horn chow for when you get to that point. Pretty easy and I can walk you through it if you want. The pic is a week after hatching. I was using silk chow since I had not gotten the hornchow yet. Hornchow last longer and stays together in the cup whereas silkchow tends to fall apart in chunks and makes a mess. They wil eat either one though.

I have let them stay in the cup from mulberryfarms until they run out of food or tey get too crowded.
then i pull them out and put them in a plastic bin.
i feed silkworm chow. i buy it powdered from mulberry farms, mix it up and refrigderate it.
then i cut it into chunks and put it in the bin with them.
i dup the poo daily.

if you think they are big enough, i will stick them in dirt tomorrow.

and any help you can give would be great. these damn things are so expensive, id like to learn how to breed them myselves. and i can go through alot with 3 chams, almost 4

 

[camimom]

i think your also working on silkworms right...
any hints on them would be great too.
right now ive got like 100 or something that are still babies. not even an inch long..
and id like to get them breeding enough to the point i can feed 4 chams as a staple. get rid of so many dang crickets.

 

[Davonat]

I just ordered some from Great Lakes..... Do these suckers poop and make a huge mess like Silkies??

 

[camimom]

I just ordered some from Great Lakes..... Do these suckers poop and make a huge mess like Silkies??

well they dont have the silk so thats a plus.
they do poop alot. but its easier to deal with them if you put them in a plastic bin. more room instead of that feeder cup

 

[CurtisGalle]

WOW Cami! those are giants! you got a lot going on,how do you keep up with it all!? lol! im just jeoulous really..want more chams etc but wife says i cant handle it with the 2 dogs, 2 cats, 4 fish tanks, Bindi (my female veiled) and outdoor wild birds/squirrels...i guess i gotta lot going on too now that i think of it ha

 

[Whatcamo]

i think your also working on silkworms right...
any hints on them would be great too.
right now ive got like 100 or something that are still babies. not even an inch long..
and id like to get them breeding enough to the point i can feed 4 chams as a staple. get rid of so many dang crickets.

Haha not sure who your asking here
But the big thing of course that everyone knows is keeping them clean I also found using egg crates worked better for places for them to spin than toilet paper rolls but I forgot to take pictures for my journal but what I did was just cut it two dimple wide and stood straight up on its side and the silkies chose the egg crate over the paper rolls
How many are you planning on keeping to breed?

 

[camimom]

Haha not sure who your asking here
But the big thing of course that everyone knows is keeping them clean I also found using egg crates worked better for places for them to spin than toilet paper rolls but I forgot to take pictures for my journal but what I did was just cut it two dimple wide and stood straight up on its side and the silkies chose the egg crate over the paper rolls
How many are you planning on keeping to breed?

arent you doin silks?

and i didnt know that.. but ill get some egg cartons soon.. they arent any where close to spinning.. only an inch long, some not even that big.


i dont know.. i dont know how many to keep.. i only have about 25 hornworms right now, and those are all going to be allowed to pupate.

ive got like 100ish silkies, so i can feed some off and let some grow.....

 

[reptoman]

I gave up on silkworm breeding. I could never tell if the moths had been messed with so they would not propagate so I ended up getting a bunch of silkworm eggs from coastal and just hatched them out when I wanted them. Cheaper than buying the worms. Hornworms are faster, more fun and easier IMO

 

[camimom]

WOW Cami! those are giants! you got a lot going on,how do you keep up with it all!? lol! im just jeoulous really..want more chams etc but wife says i cant handle it with the 2 dogs, 2 cats, 4 fish tanks, Bindi (my female veiled) and outdoor wild birds/squirrels...i guess i gotta lot going on too now that i think of it ha

haha i mihg.t
ive got 2 veileds, 1 hoe, and 1 jax on the way..
and im breed a veiled and ahoe soon.. so then i got babies coming...
and i have a dog, cat, 75 gallon fish tank, ferret...
no wildk things..
but i keep alot of bugs.

horns, supers, silks, pheonix, wax... crickets, and i jsut ordere butters.. and some mantid ooths.

 

[camimom]

I gave up on silkworm breeding. I could never tell if the moths had been messed with so they would not propagate so I ended up getting a bunch of silkworm eggs from coastal and just hatched them out when I wanted them. Cheaper than buying the worms. Hornworms are faster, more fun and easier IMO

well im hoping to do both. but if i can at least get the horns then im good.
horns are so darn expensive. and i can go through them so fast.

 

[CurtisGalle]

haha i mihg.t
ive got 2 veileds, 1 hoe, and 1 jax on the way..
and im breed a veiled and ahoe soon.. so then i got babies coming...
and i have a dog, cat, 75 gallon fish tank, ferret...
no wildk things..
but i keep alot of bugs.

horns, supers, silks, pheonix, wax... crickets, and i jsut ordere butters.. and some mantid ooths.

WOWSERS! you really do have a lot! i forgot i got bugs too...but just basic silk, horn, meal, cricket cups.not growing/breeding them since im only feeding one cham. BTW i have slowed the grow on both horns and silks by keeping them in my basement (the dungeon) its probably only about 45-50 degrees down there since i live in MN..they are healthy and happy just slow growing which is perfect

.what is your 75? i have a 75 reef that probably takes most of my time..i have to work on a green hair algae problem this weekend in fact .. ..just spent 2 hours installing the mist king on Bindis Set up tonight but excited... its amazing. no kids but i feel like our four legged and gilled kids etc probably are even more work (and money) LOL

 

[CurtisGalle]

oh yeah used to have a couples ferrets too, love and miss those little terrors....haha

 

[melric]

Oh hell no. (reaction to them in your hand) Those things are scary, I grab them with tongs and when they bite the metal you can hear it. I got bit once.