Remkon
Chameleon Enthusiast
Silkworms: How I Do It
I will try to explain how to keep and breed silkworms with my (limited) experience and success so far. I’m writing this guide since I’ve promised to do so (@Twitchet, @Kristen Wilkins) once I was ‘full circle’ and could write out every step.
Chow
Most people buy powdered chow since it’s easy to keep for longer periods of time (6 months if refrigerated) and since not everyone has access to a mulberry tree.
I’ve only used powdered chow and it works very well for me.
Preparing chow
Rather than using the microwave method (which makes your whole house smell) I prepare my chow a little differently:
What's needed:
· (plastic) Container
· water
· Watercooker/kettle
· Powdered chow
· Spoon
· Fork
· Plastic foil
Cleaning silkworms is something I do every other day and once they are bigger every day. I separate my worms into manageable portions spreading them over multiple containers.
To clean your silkworms, I first wash my hands (water only) and of course dry them. Next I get a sheet of kitchen paper and put all silkworms on it, the small one you can take off the chow as a sheet as they will produce silk continuously. I rinse everything with water and dry it off with another piece of kitchen towel. After cleaning is done a new piece of flattened out chow will go in the container (I don’t warm up the chow, it goes in straight from the fridge). Before I put back the worms I will try to take out most pieces of silk & poop and then put them on top of the chow.
Clean container with mosquito netting. Only use netting if your silkworms can't fit trough the holes!
Keeping Silkworms
I keep worms and moths in my chameleon without any additional heating, room temperature is 21C (70F) during the day and as low as 15C(59F) during the night. If you keep them warmer this will likely increase their growth.
Eggs (post fridge): If you have eggs they will need to be refrigerated for 2 to 3 months to simulate winter. After this you can take them out and it will take 2 to 3 weeks before they hatch. Make sure you keep the eggs in the container you want to raise your silkworms because they will be so small that it’s very hard to transfer them. If you buy eggs they probably already had their 2-3 cooling and should emerge after a week or 2 to 3.
First hatchlings on their chow.
Baby silkworms: The babies are very small, so small you can’t really handle them. To feed them I will place a small piece of chow in their container and they will crawl on, after two days I will place a new piece of chow next to it and they will hopefully transfer by themselves. Use small pieces of chow so they will finish most of it. In my case the chow did not mold so I did not mind leaving them on the old chunk a bit longer.
Small silkworms: I keep small silkworms in groups of about 100 a plastic container with some ventilation (I use the small plastic boxes crickets come in). I flatten out a piece of chow and put all worms on top of it, they will form a sheet over it which helps you cleaning them. In some cases, chow may start moulding so it’s important to not feed to much and to check the containers every day and clean them every other day.
Small Silkworm sheet
Medium silkworms: I keep medium silkworms in the same plastic containers in groups of about 25-30. On the floor of the container I put a piece of mosquito netting so most of the poop falls through and the chow stays clean. Cleaning is done every other day.
These are going from this container to their 'large silkworm' container.
Large silkworms: I keep the largest silkworms in a slightly bigger container on a sheet of greaseproof paper. On the sides of the container I place a cut in half carton of a toilet roll where they can build their cocoon. Cleaning is done every day as they eat a lot at this time and produce a lot of poop.
Rolls on the sides, chow in the middle, on a piece of grease proof paper for easy cleaning.
Cocoons: I keep my cocoons in container with a piece of egg crate, I place 1 or 2 cocoons in a ‘slot’ so they stay in place and so cocoons stay cleaner (the moths make a bit of a mess when emerged).
3 days after the silkworm cocooned I will cut a small hole into the cocoon (best done on both sides) to help the moth emerge. (This is optional but increases the chance of the moth to emerge). To cut the hole I pinch the ends of the cocoon between my nails (carefully not to hurt the pupate), then cut the pinched part. Cocoons take a week or 2-3 to emerge.
I helped this one emerge, but I guess you shouldn't since it's wings did not unfold properly after...
Moths: The moths I keep in a container on a sheet of greaseproof paper, I place all moths close together at first trying to make couples (I think females have a fat ass, males have a thin ass, or so it seems) Out of my moths I think it’s 50% male – 50% female. Once I have a few couples I will keep them on one side of the container and all singles on the other side… You basically need to play cupid all the time since the moths will barely move at all and only start to flap their wings when they are close enough to the opposite sex. The moths live only around 10 days so you cupid em like crazy!
Eggs (pre fridge): After a few days the moth will lay a bunch (up to 300) of small yellow eggs. Over the next few days (3-5 days) the eggs should turn from yellow to brown to dark grey, this means they are fertilized. If they don’t change colour they are not fertilized.
Ideally you can keep the eggs on the paper when putting them in the fridge but otherwise be careful removing the eggs from the paper as they stick and they will shoot everywhere if you scratch them off. Write the date on the container and put them in the fridge for the next 2-3 months.
My first eggs, some are still fresh so will likely turn, more are on the way!
Please keep in mind that this is my way of doing things and this works for me!
As a start I ordered 100 silkworms and 100 eggs. I’ve fed off around 45 silkworms, 4 died and 51 cocooned (of which I now found 4 dead in their cocoons). I still have around 15 cocoons waiting to emerge and have around 30 moths. The eggs have mostly all hatched and only a few babies died.
I hope this helps some people to keep silkworms and to breed them.
They are a great feeder and pretty easy to care for!
I will try to explain how to keep and breed silkworms with my (limited) experience and success so far. I’m writing this guide since I’ve promised to do so (@Twitchet, @Kristen Wilkins) once I was ‘full circle’ and could write out every step.
Chow
Most people buy powdered chow since it’s easy to keep for longer periods of time (6 months if refrigerated) and since not everyone has access to a mulberry tree.
I’ve only used powdered chow and it works very well for me.
Preparing chow
Rather than using the microwave method (which makes your whole house smell) I prepare my chow a little differently:
What's needed:
· (plastic) Container
· water
· Watercooker/kettle
· Powdered chow
· Spoon
· Fork
· Plastic foil
- With the spoon scoop a couple of scoops of chow (not all!) into the container.
- Boil water and start adding it to the powdered chow.
- Stir it with the fork as well as you can, keep adding water and/or chow until it is about as thick as clay (little thicker is ok).
- Scoop the chow onto the plastic foil and roll it out until it looks like a....long turd...
- Let it cool down and once cooled wrap it into the plastic foil.
- Put it in the fridge and leave it there until you need it.
Cleaning silkworms is something I do every other day and once they are bigger every day. I separate my worms into manageable portions spreading them over multiple containers.
To clean your silkworms, I first wash my hands (water only) and of course dry them. Next I get a sheet of kitchen paper and put all silkworms on it, the small one you can take off the chow as a sheet as they will produce silk continuously. I rinse everything with water and dry it off with another piece of kitchen towel. After cleaning is done a new piece of flattened out chow will go in the container (I don’t warm up the chow, it goes in straight from the fridge). Before I put back the worms I will try to take out most pieces of silk & poop and then put them on top of the chow.
Clean container with mosquito netting. Only use netting if your silkworms can't fit trough the holes!
Keeping Silkworms
I keep worms and moths in my chameleon without any additional heating, room temperature is 21C (70F) during the day and as low as 15C(59F) during the night. If you keep them warmer this will likely increase their growth.
Eggs (post fridge): If you have eggs they will need to be refrigerated for 2 to 3 months to simulate winter. After this you can take them out and it will take 2 to 3 weeks before they hatch. Make sure you keep the eggs in the container you want to raise your silkworms because they will be so small that it’s very hard to transfer them. If you buy eggs they probably already had their 2-3 cooling and should emerge after a week or 2 to 3.
First hatchlings on their chow.
Baby silkworms: The babies are very small, so small you can’t really handle them. To feed them I will place a small piece of chow in their container and they will crawl on, after two days I will place a new piece of chow next to it and they will hopefully transfer by themselves. Use small pieces of chow so they will finish most of it. In my case the chow did not mold so I did not mind leaving them on the old chunk a bit longer.
Small silkworms: I keep small silkworms in groups of about 100 a plastic container with some ventilation (I use the small plastic boxes crickets come in). I flatten out a piece of chow and put all worms on top of it, they will form a sheet over it which helps you cleaning them. In some cases, chow may start moulding so it’s important to not feed to much and to check the containers every day and clean them every other day.
Small Silkworm sheet
Medium silkworms: I keep medium silkworms in the same plastic containers in groups of about 25-30. On the floor of the container I put a piece of mosquito netting so most of the poop falls through and the chow stays clean. Cleaning is done every other day.
These are going from this container to their 'large silkworm' container.
Large silkworms: I keep the largest silkworms in a slightly bigger container on a sheet of greaseproof paper. On the sides of the container I place a cut in half carton of a toilet roll where they can build their cocoon. Cleaning is done every day as they eat a lot at this time and produce a lot of poop.
Rolls on the sides, chow in the middle, on a piece of grease proof paper for easy cleaning.
Cocoons: I keep my cocoons in container with a piece of egg crate, I place 1 or 2 cocoons in a ‘slot’ so they stay in place and so cocoons stay cleaner (the moths make a bit of a mess when emerged).
3 days after the silkworm cocooned I will cut a small hole into the cocoon (best done on both sides) to help the moth emerge. (This is optional but increases the chance of the moth to emerge). To cut the hole I pinch the ends of the cocoon between my nails (carefully not to hurt the pupate), then cut the pinched part. Cocoons take a week or 2-3 to emerge.
I helped this one emerge, but I guess you shouldn't since it's wings did not unfold properly after...
Moths: The moths I keep in a container on a sheet of greaseproof paper, I place all moths close together at first trying to make couples (I think females have a fat ass, males have a thin ass, or so it seems) Out of my moths I think it’s 50% male – 50% female. Once I have a few couples I will keep them on one side of the container and all singles on the other side… You basically need to play cupid all the time since the moths will barely move at all and only start to flap their wings when they are close enough to the opposite sex. The moths live only around 10 days so you cupid em like crazy!
Eggs (pre fridge): After a few days the moth will lay a bunch (up to 300) of small yellow eggs. Over the next few days (3-5 days) the eggs should turn from yellow to brown to dark grey, this means they are fertilized. If they don’t change colour they are not fertilized.
Ideally you can keep the eggs on the paper when putting them in the fridge but otherwise be careful removing the eggs from the paper as they stick and they will shoot everywhere if you scratch them off. Write the date on the container and put them in the fridge for the next 2-3 months.
My first eggs, some are still fresh so will likely turn, more are on the way!
Please keep in mind that this is my way of doing things and this works for me!
As a start I ordered 100 silkworms and 100 eggs. I’ve fed off around 45 silkworms, 4 died and 51 cocooned (of which I now found 4 dead in their cocoons). I still have around 15 cocoons waiting to emerge and have around 30 moths. The eggs have mostly all hatched and only a few babies died.
I hope this helps some people to keep silkworms and to breed them.
They are a great feeder and pretty easy to care for!
