raising silkworms?

[staceyleigh]

So I got some silkworms from Rainbow and all my adult leos loved them!! They are a very nutritious feeder, but pricey. I was thinking of trying to raise them myself. There are several places that sell eggs and give good instructions on how to raise them. Seems fairly easy from what I have read. I'm wondering if anyone else has done this? Is it really as easy as it sounds? I have two large mulberry trees in my yard which I can use for food, so that part would be easy!

 

[indyana]

Yep, I did this last year. Bought a 250 petri dish of eggs and hatched them. It was way too many for my lizards to eat, so I continued raising them right through to moths and let them lay more eggs. Once the eggs turned black, I put them in sealable plastic bags and have stored them on the refrigerator door in a box. I just hatched out a batch a couple months ago. I have a supply of eggs for a good long while, and when I get close to running out, I'll probably get some more eggs from a different source and try to crossbreed my remaining eggs.

I won't lie, it was definitely a lot of work raising that many to adulthood. I ended up with over 270 cocoons, and most of them hatched (so petri dish must have had a big overcount).

One caution about using the mulberry leaves is that you probably won't be able to start the eggs on them by this point. The silkworm hatchlings required very new, soft leaves and can't eat mature leaves, and I would assume that your tree leaves are too big by this point. So get a few bags of chow as backup, as these guys do eat a ton as they approach cocooning.

 

[indyana]

A few links that I love for reference:

http://www.mulberryfarms.com/

Bombyx mori, the China Silkworm

Guide to raising Silkworms -  

Silk Worm Development/ Care | Joanna Rose Tidey

 

[staceyleigh]

Thanks!