Raising/Keeping Silk Worms...Need Some Help

microracer24

microracer24

Member
I recently ordered silk worms and eggs along with a keeper from Coastal. This is my first time dealing with them. The keeper does a terrible job at allowing the frass to fall to the bottom as the thing they give you does not have large enough holes. I realize it's probably more for the newly hatched worms but it's all I have right now to house the large ones. It is a real pain to keep this thing clean and smells like death. I would really appreciate some tips along with pictures of a proper setup that is easy to clean and keeps them healthy. I'm still waiting for my eggs to hatch so I a few days to get something ready for them. Thanks!
 
I don't have any pictures of my setup at the moment, but I clean mine every other day. I have them in large aluminum cake pans that I got at walmart for 88 cents per 2 pans. There is a lot of work involved when trying to raise silkworms, just how it is. I take the worms off food and pans every other day, move them to a new cake pan and clean out the first. Two days later, move them back to the first and clean the second and so on....... I use this method to raise thousands that I can sell and feed to my chams. Hope this helps. Sorry for lack of pics.
 
Ok now I see how to keep them. I think I'll look into getting fresh leaves rather than making the chow. The chow seems too wet and I think that is aggravating the situation. And no need to cover them.
 
microracer24 said:
Ah great idea I'll check some out! Thanks! I wish all feeders were as easy to raise as Dubia roaches...
Click to expand...
Have you tried lobster cockroaches? If you live in a state that allows them, they are even easier than Dubias! But, they can climb smooth surfaces and they can take over your home! I only hand feed them! I take them out of their bullet proof breeding container one at a time and don't turn my back on them till they are down the hatch!!! Lol
 
Haha I'll stick to Dubias. If my wife saw them climbing the sides of the container she would flip! I have convinced her that they are safe to keep in the house... I have a very understanding wife. Roaches, crickets, worms, lizards...
 
My silkies did great on chow, even if it was a bit wetter than clay...
when they go larger you may need to check them every day since their container will fill up with poop quickly and chow will run out fast. So to keep them from eating their own poop and die daily checkup is recommended.

I clean them buy taking them all out at once and put them on a piece of kitchen towel... Then i throw all contents in the trash, rinse the container with water and put in a piece of chow (straight from the fridge), worms on top and done.

prepare to feed a lot of chow, i used 200gr powdered chow in like 3weeks on 100worms... Luckily 45 of are cocooned now so they dont eat anymore, the rest became food.
 
I keep mine in plastic tubs with plastic mesh that allows frass to fall through- cleaning is quick and easy and best of all measn very little need to handle- damage- the fragile worms. Hope this helps.
Dirty container -

then i take out the mesh and am left with frass, i brush the worms left in the container back with the others with a soft artists brush- a cosmetic brush might work too- they prefer the mesh so there are only a few to wrangle back with the others, i feed the chow on top of the mesh too- usually you can run the brush along the plastic and dislodge the silks with lay down thus scooping the worms gently up with it, ,

then i'm left with fairly clean worms, I try to reduce contact with them to as little as possible- so very carefully move with forceps or a brush.

I have only a few tubs to care for - 200-400 worms at the start- so I'm now using a garlic press to squeeze out the chow- It means they have better surface area to eat from- i noticed when i added a chunk of chow it was drying or going mouldy before they finished it.

so my little set up is braplast tubs- 8" long or so- I have the same amount again as in use so I just swop them oer to new tubs and sterilise the old ones. I alwyas remove dead worms when I see them- thankfully there are very few but I always wash my hands with anti bacterial wash before handling the tubs, worms or forceps.
 
Hi there, to be honest I was very lucky to have a scrap bit but will be plenty for my needs- it is plastic coated with a fine metal wire through the middle- holes are about 20mm- for plants to climb up and general fencing and garden use, I've seen it on ebay and amazon- I'm in the U.K, but I have only seen it in kind of 5 metre rolls or so which would be way too much but really a 2x2 ft piece would be ample as each piece of my mesh measures only a matter of 4x4" or so .
( by the way I bend the mesh so it doesn't lay flat on the tub floor so that frass falls through easier- easy to bend because of the wire centre) I also forgot to say I keep mine well away from any other livefoods as the silkies apparently have very low immunity and die- when I buy mine the seller wont send them together with any other insects. They come in separate deliveries .
I don't know what stores you have but a hardware store might sell it by the foot perhaps - I am sorry I can't be of more help . :)Good luck
 
I'm not sure but this looks pretty much like my mesh- there are so many types- gauges, types etc so it's not easy to find the right one , dont know if they do a slightly larger hole anyway this may give you an idea
From amazon.com
Origin Point 272405 1/2-Inch Mesh Green Vinyl Coated Hardware Cloth, 24-Inch x 5-Foot
 
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