Whooohooo!!! Baby silkies!!

[FroggtheCham]

139 baby silkies growing strong from my first batch of fertile eggs!!! Not too bad for my first try!! I can't wait to feed them to the boys! Better make sure I have enough chow......

 

[dmaizer]

139 baby silkies growing strong from my first batch of fertile eggs!!! Not too bad for my first try!! I can't wait to feed them to the boys! Better make sure I have enough chow......

congrats, i tired twice and both batchs died.

 

[kpritch17]

congratulations!! I tried once and ran out of chow..boy do they eat a ton. I'm waiting until the mulberry trees come in to start again. Congrats though! I'm sure your chams will be thanking you

 

[boj3434]

Nice its not bad as long as you get enough of that chow they just little pigs in worm form

 

[sandrachameleon]

If you run out of chow, you can hold them over for a day or two with Dandelion leaves.

 

[FroggtheCham]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I have a couple pounds of dry chow in stock!! I have refrigerated the rest of the eggs. I'll see how much I go through with these!!! Great to know about the dandelions!! We will be in that season soon enough!!!

 

[reptoman]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I have a couple pounds of dry chow in stock!! I have refrigerated the rest of the eggs. I'll see how much I go through with these!!! Great to know about the dandelions!! We will be in that season soon enough!!!

Do you have pics of your setup for the eggs? I was wanting to try this and am curious how a successful setup looks. I know they require heat and humidity to thrive. thanks in advance,

 

[reptimanny]

How long can they go without eating? My silkies just ran out of chow and im waiting for mulberry to send me some more. They are being delivered on mon cause sunday is not a business day.

 

[FroggtheCham]

Do you have pics of your setup for the eggs? I was wanting to try this and am curious how a successful setup looks. I know they require heat and humidity to thrive. thanks in advance,

I can do that!! I'm working this weekend, so Monday I'll get it back together and take some pics for u! I kept them in Frogg's room. Ambient temps 70-72 with relative humidity 40-60 with occasional drops to 30's. They seemed to do very well in there!

 

[reptoman]

Cool! I look forward to the photos. Thanks!

 

[FroggtheCham]

silkworm setup

once all the adults had spun, i moved the cocoons to this bin on a layer of paper towels. once adult moths paired i placed a plastic cup with the bottom cut out over them. the females laid eggs with in the parameter of the cup on the paper towel.

i did not cover the eggs and placed them up on the shelf while i waited for the remaining pairs and eggs to turn dark. i was going to refrigerate them all together to make it easier for me, but after a few weeks, 1 batch was hatching. i moved them here.

it has been a couple of weeks and here they are. i lightly mist the paper towel on the opposite end every couple of days. some days i cover the bin and some i don't to prevent the bin from drying out too much and also mold growth.

i have a space heater and ultrasonic humidifier in the room. here is a couple pics of the room

hope this is helpful for you!! I have about 2.5 weeks before the other eggs are ready to try. i'll have to see where i am with this batch first!!

 

[reptoman]

So all I have to do is convince my wife to give up her bathroom? That should be fun. Thanks for the pics. That gives me a lot of good ideas. Fortunately I have a fishtank room that stays pretty humid so that should work pretty well. One question... how long after the cocoons were made did you have moths. I am getting a couple hundred large silkies in a couple of day and i anticipate having several cocoons out of this batch before the are all fed off. thanks again.

 

[summoner12]

congrats! I have 25,000 eggs right now lol but im only incubating (i hope) 100-150 eggs.

 

[FroggtheCham]

So all I have to do is convince my wife to give up her bathroom? That should be fun. Thanks for the pics. That gives me a lot of good ideas. Fortunately I have a fishtank room that stays pretty humid so that should work pretty well. One question... how long after the cocoons were made did you have moths. I am getting a couple hundred large silkies in a couple of day and i anticipate having several cocoons out of this batch before the are all fed off. thanks again.

It was about 3-4wks for moths.

 

[FroggtheCham]

congrats! I have 25,000 eggs right now lol but im only incubating (i hope) 100-150 eggs.

Yay for you!!! I hope to never need that many!!