How to raise Silkworms

[Spyro]

Hi all,

We have a ton of information on how to raise silkworms on this website, but pretty much all of that deals with the larger worms. We need a guide on how to raise them from say eggs ---> 3rd instar caterpillars. I've gone through piglett79's blog and others as well, but there are still areas being missed. This is the toughest time period to raise these worms in and we don't have a guide like we do for the other sized worms. Please post what you do or what you've found to work as far as raising the little ones to the 3rd instar. Things like how to move from old food to new food, temp, %RH, cleaning, what containers, etc.

Thanks!

 

[carol5208]

There is a thread already created for this . search "Silkworms 101"

 

[carol5208]

That might be Piglets thread!

 

[Spyro]

Yeah, I went through that entire thread. Also, for anyone wondering, I use feather-weight forceps for moving the caterpillars and not a paintbrush. You will see that they spin lots of silk and this silk can be VERY annoying to deal with. It goes easier with forceps (aka tweezers) than paintbrushes.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Yeah, I went through that entire thread. Also, for anyone wondering, I use feather-weight forceps for moving the caterpillars and not a paintbrush. You will see that they spin lots of silk and this silk can be VERY annoying to deal with. It goes easier with forceps (aka tweezers) than paintbrushes.

I use bamboo skewers.

 

[KapitalJ]

i used all my patience to move my silks..... I have no more patience for this. Its just too much...

 

[buttons]

Never tried to beed any worms except for meals and I don't think I would have the patience either.

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

I've actually have been contemplating on trying them. And was wondering if the paint brush works, or if you're better off using tweezers. Can't they get crushed pretty easily? Also, to anyone who's raised them from eggs to adults, how much food should I have on hand? I hear they eat alot! I have Mulberry Trees at my dispose. So I plan on hatching them out and only feeding them leaves. I have an unlimited amount.

 

[Spyro]

I've actually have been contemplating on trying them. And was wondering if the paint brush works, or if you're better off using tweezers. Can't they get crushed pretty easily? Also, to anyone who's raised them from eggs to adults, how much food should I have on hand? I hear they eat alot! I have Mulberry Trees at my dispose. So I plan on hatching them out and only feeding them leaves. I have an unlimited amount.

I raise them in groups of 10k for a business I own. I have found that using tweezers is by far the best option and it can crush them, but I've only lost maybe 5-10 out of 10 thousand due to this. I have also found that using mulberry leaves is much more efficient than using the chow to get the worms up to selling sizes.

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

I raise them in groups of 10k for a business I own. I have found that using tweezers is by far the best option and it can crush them, but I've only lost maybe 5-10 out of 10 thousand due to this. I have also found that using mulberry leaves is much more efficient than using the chow to get the worms up to selling sizes.

What is your business you operate? As for the leaves, awesome good to hear! I have plenty.