Silkworms Dying

[Dyesub Dave]

I've been hatching my own silworms and feeding them chow for several months now with not many problems. I recently switched to a 4 drawer plasic container to separate the sizes. It seemed to be working fairly well however it lets more air in than my previous setup so the food seems to dry out faster.

I just noticed today that most of my silkworms seem to be dying !! Many seem to be curved upwards in a U shape and kind of shaking/twitching. They don't seem to be interested in eating at all. The strange part is that I have this happening in all 3 drawers! ( I'm not using the 4th drawer yet ).

I recently starting feeding my largest silkies some fresh rinsed mulberry leaves as I was getting low on the chow. However the medium and small worms were still being fed the silkworm chow so it can't be the food otherwise it would only be affecting one group or the other!

Have they got some sort of disease or something? I noticed that many of them have released some fluid due to the splotches on the paper towel that they're sitting on.

Dyesub Dave.

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Actually I just noticed that in the drawer with the large worms there were only a couple of dead ones and most of the rest seem to be eating the mulberry leaves. So maybe the chow I have is no longer any good and I've made all of the medium and small silkworms sick.

Has anybody ever had this happen before and can tell me if the symtoms above sound the same??

Thanks ... Dyesub Dave.

 

[ChromaChameleons]

Are your silkworms , that are dying , from a newly started lot of eggs? Maybe the eggs are bad?

 

[Dyesub Dave]

I don't think that's it. They've been doing fine for several weeks now. The small ones are at least 2 weeks old and the medium around 3 weeks. They've all been eating and growing until today!

Very strange! I think it must be the chow that I use as only the worms that I fed the chow to are showing these symtoms.

Dyesub Dave.

 

[ChromaChameleons]

You mentioned recently changing containers. Is it possible the new containers have some level of toxicity in the materials used to manufacture them?

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Both the types of containers that I'm using are made by the same company ... STERILITE. They've been living in the new container for the last week or so with no problems. If these guys don't make it I'll be sure to wash out the drawers with some antibacterial soap and rinse them well.

I guess I'll just have to order another batch of eggs and chow and start over again!!

Dyesub Dave.

 

[ChromaChameleons]

I havent read this entire article, but it might be enlightening....
http://www.reptilerooms.com/displayarticle139-flat.html