silkworms

[PicoTheCham]

From my last post, I became aware that hornworms are not suitable for my cham to be eating every day. I think silkworms are the best choice for me, but I have a few questions about them.

1- How long do they last before turning into moths?

2- I’ve heard they put webs in the container, is that hard to deal with?

3- Where do you recommend purchasing these?

4- How many should I feed to my cham each week? I give him 1 large hornworm every other day currently.

He’s a pretty large male veiled chameleon, if this information is helpful.

 

[DocZ]

I’ve been getting mine from morifeeders.com.
I’ve been ordering “small”. They show up at about an inch long. Between Larry the Leo and Calcifer my panther we get through 40 in about 10 days. At that pace, they never get close to turning moths. Our first batch was around for 2-3 weeks and a few pupated into moths
I try to make sure they get 3 or 4 different prey items each day. I feed banded crickets, Dubias, discoids, and silkworms. From what I’ve read, I think the silkies have some important nutritional characteristics, so I try to get them 1-2 per day
They do make some silk. The worst part is their poop sticks to the silk webs and occasionally you have to clean the poop webs off the silkworm
For a large Cham, he’ll eat smalls and beg for more. I don’t think you’ll have trouble feeding them off before they pupate

Even in the heat of summer Morifeeders has been sending healthy live silkworms

 

[PicoTheCham]

I’ve been getting mine from morifeeders.com.
I’ve been ordering “small”. They show up at about an inch long. Between Larry the Leo and Calcifer my panther we get through 40 in about 10 days. At that pace, they never get close to turning moths. Our first batch was around for 2-3 weeks and a few pupated into moths
I try to make sure they get 3 or 4 different prey items each day. I feed banded crickets, Dubias, discoids, and silkworms. From what I’ve read, I think the silkies have some important nutritional characteristics, so I try to get them 1-2 per day
They do make some silk. The worst part is their poop sticks to the silk webs and occasionally you have to clean the poop webs off the silkworm
For a large Cham, he’ll eat smalls and beg for more. I don’t think you’ll have trouble feeding them off before they pupate

Even in the heat of summer Morifeeders has been sending healthy live silkworms View attachment 271774

Thank you for your help! Do you happen to know what days they restock? I only see the “silkworm bundle” in stock. the 20 pack of the worms is probably better for me, but the website shows none are left.

 

[PabloTheCham]

Wow there getting a little too close to my username

 

[DocZ]

I guess I should stop promoting them ?
Just kidding. That’s the first time they’ve been out of stock while I’ve been ordering from them the last couple of months

 

[kinyonga]

This might help...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/questions-on-silkworm-cocooning.74764/

@DocZ said..."The worst part is their poop sticks to the silk webs and occasionally you have to clean the poop webs off the silkworm"...it might have something to do with the way you're keeping them. Is the container you show the way you keep them...no waxed paper or toilet paper rolls in with them?
They poop out al their waste before cocooning up...so if you provide a different setup you might not have so much of a problem.

 

[Spyro]

Thank you for your help! Do you happen to know what days they restock? I only see the “silkworm bundle” in stock. the 20 pack of the worms is probably better for me, but the website shows none are left.

Yeah, we’ve been slammed the past few weeks and are running low. We should have the next batch ready and back in stock mid week.

 

[DocZ]

This might help...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/questions-on-silkworm-cocooning.74764/

@DocZ said..."The worst part is their poop sticks to the silk webs and occasionally you have to clean the poop webs off the silkworm"...it might have something to do with the way you're keeping them. Is the container you show the way you keep them...no waxed paper or toilet paper rolls in with them?
They poop out al their waste before cocooning up...so if you provide a different setup you might not have so much of a problem.

That’s how they arrive with their food on the bottom. I then move them into the same sort of container without the food on the bottom and just add food every day or two
That makes it easy to shake out their droppings each day to keep the container cleaner

 

[Chameleomom]

I like this method say they stay clean and dry

 

[NashansCamos]

I like this method say they stay clean and dry

Yeah that's really smart the only problem is sometimes (for me) they just go at the bottom of the brackets

 

[Chameleomom]

they just go at the bottom of the brackets

Easy fix just move them up. They are going to stay where the food is

 

[RyanBRZ]

1- How long do they last before turning into moths?
- You can control growth rate by temperature & feeding. I still have some that are quite small (under 1"), while some in this same hatching have already morphed into moths. Keep them cooler and restrict feeding a bit to slow their growth.

2- I’ve heard they put webs in the container, is that hard to deal with?
- Yes they will release think silk webs in your containers. They take some work to keep clean between poop, silk, and old food. You want to ensure if the food has not dried out that you remove it after a day or so to avoid mold. If you keep your container well ventilated it is less of a risk.

3- Where do you recommend purchasing these?
- I've always purchased eggs and food from Coastal Silkworms on their eBay store. I recommend getting the 2 1/2 lb bags for ~$30 since it has a 2 year shelf life, IIRC.

4- How many should I feed to my cham each week? I give him 1 large hornworm every other day currently.
- If you have only 1 chameleon, don't make the mistake I did and hatch all 250 eggs (minimum egg order from Coastal), maybe do 100-150 the eggs and stagger the growth rate of half with temperature/feeding. Silkworms eat a lot as they grow and, aside from the cost of feeding them, you will have way too many worms with only 1 chameleon eating them., unless your chameleon is young and can put down ~10 smaller worms a day. I ended up giving over 100 juvenile worms to my local pet store so they didn't go to waste.

The picture on the far left is from the middle of May., the very last picture I just took is all I have left. I also have around 10 adults that I cocooned and have morphed into moths and bred. If you breed them yourself, you can take exactly as many eggs as you want to hatch, versus when you buy eggs, you must hatch all as they cannot be re-refrigerated.

 

[Chameleomom]

I just noticed I have babies woo hoo

 

[PicoTheCham]

I like this method say they stay clean and dry

where do you get those containers from to do the easier set-up? it looks like a much better way to keep them.

also i have a 3y/o male veiled chameleon. is 2-3 silkworms every other day sufficient for him?

 

[RyanBRZ]

where do you get those containers from to do the easier set-up? it looks like a much better way to keep them.

also i have a 3y/o male veiled chameleon. is 2-3 silkworms every other day sufficient for him?

Looks like a tray from frozen Stoffers Mac and Cheese?

 

[Chameleomom]

where do you get those containers from

Wendys from a salad or Applebees

 

[Beman]

I like this method say they stay clean and dry

What mesh are you using?

 

[Chameleomom]

It is Frost King plastic gutter guard.comes like this from Lowes

 

[RyanBRZ]

I used the same stuff, ordered off of Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LNNS3W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Chameleomom]

Lowes it was $3.99