Silkworm food...?

[Remkon]

@Twitchet look what emerged!

2 down 49 to go

 

[Twitchet]

Oh that's amazing- you lucky thing- Did it emerge on it's own or did you split the cocoon like you said you might? Tom at the silkworm store says they bumble around like headless chickens- Is it lunch or part of your breeding stock.
Amazing and very exciting to hear the progress of this venture Looking forward to what happens next.

 

[Remkon]

they did emerge from the cut i made but had to soften the cocoon themselves.
They don't move around much, i guess they are getting used to their new body... I've separated them from the cocoons now and will see what happens next.

They are not food, I will breed them... They will live around 10days so i can turn em into food later on if i want to.
First, let's hope the majority emerges and I get a good amount of eggs.

 

[Twitchet]

Remkon- you'll have to do an article here about keeping and breeding them, I would like to know what cage you are planning for the adults- do they just lay eggs on any leaves you put or does it have to be mulberry. Very interesting- I shall call you the Moth Whisperer!

 

[savage13]

they look so beauiful as moth it's a shame we have to feed them off..

 

[Remkon]

When I'm confident to say my method has worked I will do that article!

For now I removed 4 cocoons with dead inside... See, the cut also helps to see if the contents are still ok.
I'm pretty sure quite a few more won't make it because I ran out of chow before they started cocooning and some ate dandelion leaves for a few days.

I can answer the questions for you...
The moths can't fly so I'm just keeping em in a plastic container. On the egg laying question, I expect them to lay on greaseproof paper.

 

[WAMBO]

I met a nearby member Debbie, that raises her own silks, stickbugs and fruit flies. She made raising silks look easy. She just had them in a little plastic tray on egg crate.

 

[rminnis]

yep these arent like hornworms that need tomato plants the videos ive seen just lay them on wax paper or whatever they dont move far but i think they flap their wings and can make a bit of a mess!

 

[Remkon]

I met a nearby member Debbie, that raises her own silks, stickbugs and fruit flies. She made raising silks look easy. She just had them in a little plastic tray on egg crate.

It's quite easy just a lot of work...
I keep the cocoons on egg tray now so i can face em hole up...

Got 2 more moths now, they don't move around at all, do they? Hope heat will get them moving.

 

[Remkon]

So the first 4moths have waited patiently and didn't move even an inch all night and day...
Then I added the latest moths that emerged while I was at work and apparently we finally got the first 2 of the opposite sex and naturally a wing flapping sex orgy started straight away!

My first offspring in the making and still a lot cocoons to go!

 

[Decadancin]

Can't wait to see how many eggs you get and how many females wind up out of the bunch .

 

[Twitchet]

wow- that's fantastic- this is so exciting- can't wait to see how it all goes!

 

[WAMBO]

Debbie said that they don't move much. the plastic bin and small portion of egg crate, was not very big. I hope you get hundreds of worms!

It's quite easy just a lot of work...
I keep the cocoons on egg tray now so i can face em hole up...

Got 2 more moths now, they don't move around at all, do they? Hope heat will get them moving.

 

[Remkon]

Debbie said that they don't move much. the plastic bin and small portion of egg crate, was not very big. I hope you get hundreds of worms!

probably thousands... 1 moth is good for 300 eggs or so.