Breeding Silkies?

[Tsks7205]

I love to spoil my geckos and get them silkworms. To me they are one of the best feeders if not the best. But their is a problem. They grow way too fast! Some of these guys are more then a mouth full for my geckos. But I plan to hold some and try breeding them and getting rid of some of the other ones to some reptiles that would love them. I have a few zebra silkies and they seem to have red and orange showing up. Weird.. I have a pic for comparison of size and how big these guys get and still growing. I call the first picture "Leopard Geckos Silkworm Nutritional Value" haha What I want to know tho is if anyone has bred them with success?

Note: I would never try to feed my geckos silkies like the one in the picture unless they are capable of doing so. I feed that one small ones but it was funny tho cause the little booger wanted to eat it haha.

 

[Palor]

After they get too big, let them turn into moths and feed the geckos the moths

 

[BlackDiamondGeckos]

They try to eat anything I swear, good luck with the breeding. I've been wanting to try them also.

 

[Tsks7205]

lol is that even safe? Besides if I do get moths I would plan to breed them. I know the steps and everything but from what I keep reading they are one of the hardest to raise.

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

Nice write-up, Bryan! I can't wait to try some of these. I've never fed them to my geckos before.

 

[Tsks7205]

I will have decent sized ones ready and put to the side for ya Maurice:main_thumbsup:

 

[gothra]

I had bred silkworms before, not too difficult. Just give the full grown worms some cardboard tubes or anything similar, when they're ready, they will spin a cocoon there. Wait for approx. 2 weeks, the moths will emerge. They can only flutter their wings but cannot fly. The males will find a female and their ends will attach. When you find a pair, just put them in a paper bag. When they're done, the female will lay the eggs on the bag.

When the eggs are laid, they are whitish yellow colored. You'll need to wait till they turn dark grey (about 7-10 days) to put them in the fridge. Most of them will need a cooling period in order to hatch; but I've also had some batches hatch out right away. Leave the eggs in the fridge for at least 2 months before you take them out to hatch. I usually wait 3 months; but they are good in the fridge for at least 9 months.