Silkworms and Hornworms

[Kat&Rin]

So, Rin has been getting less and less excited when I put the mealies in front of her. She kinda looks at them for a long time and then, depending on how hungry she is, will usually meander over and eat one. Frankly I don't blame her, they creep me out a bit and I think I'd be sick of a food if it was basically all I ate XD

Anyways! Today I went down to the petstore looking for phoenix worms. Apparently the fact that they are super small and expensive didn't sit well with most customers so they'd have to order them in specially. The reptile department guy recommended silkworms and/or hornworms, so we got one of each for her to try with instructions to only give her one of them today and then thats it for the day. I was all excited (Just gotta add, those worms are GORGEOUS!) and after pulling the silkworm out of the bag with my forceps I eagerly dangled it outside her cave and voila! She dove towards it, sniffed it, and then wolfed it down.

So now that I'm finished being all enthusiastic, which is better? Silkworm or hornworms? And how would you go about setting up a breeding colony of one or the other. I'd prefer hornworms since they just eat veggies and silkworms need mullberry leaves but....anything for my precious gecko

Thanks everyone for listening to me blather away!
Kat

 

[UnicornSpirit]

From what I've heard Hornworms are very good but more fatty than Silks. Silkworms are supposed to be one of the best feeders and I know both are very pricey. Good luck!

 

[Wild West Reptile]

Silkworms.

Most of my geckos love them. Not all, but most. They are fairly easy to raise and are one of the most nutritious foods you can give your little guys, especially during breeding season. So anyways, a quick rundown on how to raise them....you can search online for more details.......

First you can either buy the eggs from an online site or if you can acquire enough large sized (2 inch) silkworms, that will get you started.

I keep my silkworms in a cardboard box. I usually have too many and they start to spin cocoons. (the strand of silk that forms the cocoon is around a mile long btw!) This is good if you want to maintain a colony. After a few weeks, a moth will come out of the cocoon, which by the way, does not fly.

Take the moths out right away and put them in another box with construction paper on the bottom...(more on that later). They only last a few days before dying so you need to have quite a few cocoons going.

The moths will mate and lay eggs within a few days, and then they will die. What I do is cut squares out of the construction paper with around 20-25 eggs on them after I see which are fertile. (look online for more details.) You'll need to refrigerate them in a ziploc so they don't hatch within usually 2 weeks. I do the construction paper thing so I can only use as many eggs as I need at a time. You can take them out of the fridge weekly or as needed depending on how many geckos your feeding.

The eggs will turn into baby silkworms and you need to raise them on mulberry leaves if possible or use the feed which mimics mulberry leaves that you can buy online. (If you start them on mulberry leaves, it is VERY difficult for them to switch over to the feed, so keep this in mind if you don't have a mulberry tree in bloom!) They can switch from the feed to the leaves quite easily.

They grow very quickly if you feed them daily and you will be surprised how they can go from 1/2 inch to 2 inches in no time at all.

I hope this gets you started. For the record, this is how I do it and by no means is this the only way to do it. It works for me, so I keep with it. Good luck!

 

[Kat&Rin]

Thanks so much!! I'd been looking around online and the hornworms seem to take a LOT more work/room etc. so I'd already been leaning towards silkworms. I didn't know the moths couldn't fly though! Thats awesome, makes things easier Apparently some people have raised them off of cabbage/lettuce from birth and had things work out fine.....not sure if thats wise though. Would buying chow make sense? I have no mulberry trees around here and www.mulberryfarms.com has 1/2 pound dry chow for sale at 10.99 a bag.....good deal?

Thanks again!!! I really appreciate the info!
Kat

 

[Wild West Reptile]

Your welcome! Thats exactly what you want. I meant to link that site to you.

 

[Kat&Rin]

Oh, and approximately how many silkworms (if I decide to go with adults) would I need to start a colony?

lol, well thats good! At least I'm on the right track!

 

[Wowoklol]

*looks at my 2 mulberry bushes in the back. You know you could always take the easy way out and start a roach colony!

 

[Wild West Reptile]

It depends on how many mouths you are planning on feeding. If it's just for one gecko.....I would recommend just buying them already alive and use as feeders. You can buy like 50 at a time I think and grow them with the chow and just feed them as you go. As far as starting a colony, it is a little work and if it's only for one gecko, I would pass. But it is kinda fun to do it anyways...my kids get a kick out of it! Good luck whichever way you choose to go.

 

[Pinky81]

*looks at my 2 mulberry bushes in the back. You know you could always take the easy way out and start a roach colony!

HAHAHAHA I was SOOOOO thinking the same thing!!!! My dubia colony is exploding and I haven't done anything to it besides water crystals, dog food and some left over veggies and fruit!!!

And if you wonder how your Leo will like them...just check out my OMG Dubia thread!!! LOL:main_laugh::main_laugh:

http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=74826

 

[Kat&Rin]

Just curious, how much are you paying for your silkworms? Here in Canada (or at least at the petstore I got to lol) they cost $1.00 each.....which I think is kinda expensive....I do only have one gecko though but (despite being a girl) I think it would be a ton of fun to raise them AND it would save money in the long run I think But I dunno, is $1.00 a normal, cheap price? (Goodness I hope not!) And I would personally prefer roaches but they're illegal in Canada.....unfortunately.

 

[Kat&Rin]

And tempting as it is for me to just pretend I don't know about that law.....well I don't think that would be a very great example for my little brother or anyone really lol

 

[Kat&Rin]

HAHAHAHA I was SOOOOO thinking the same thing!!!! My dubia colony is exploding and I haven't done anything to it besides water crystals, dog food and some left over veggies and fruit!!!

And if you wonder how your Leo will like them...just check out my OMG Dubia thread!!! LOL:main_laugh::main_laugh:

http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=74826

hahahaha I read it earlier while trying to decide which way to go as far as live food for Rin (this was before discovering it was illegal for us to keep Dubia's in Canada ) I could totally picture it lol, my mom would have had the same reaction....and if I couldn't get them all I'd probably have set my cat on them lol. *shakes head* my but that makes me seem cruel XD Oh well, indoor cats need some fun too!

 

[Pinky81]

Damn that sucks!!! I am sooooo glad I don't live somewhere that its illegal...I wonder why its illegal in canada...I mean in florida I get it but these guys shouldn't be able to live long in that climate.

And NO I don't condone breaking any laws...even for our Special Leo's!!!

 

[Wild West Reptile]

If you can find them here in California at pet stores (not easy) they generally run around .20- .25 each. $1.00 is out of control!

 

[RampantReptiles]

This sounds like a nice project.

I steer away from roaches because my mom would kill me (yes I live with my mom) and they do kind of creep me out. All those long legs... *shivers*

 

[Kat&Rin]

I know....and its stupid because there is NO reason for making them illegal....someone commented that it must have been someone who's scared of roaches who wrote that law lol XD But yah, we thought that was a ridiculous price which is why we'd like to breed them....okay, correction why *I'D* like to breed them lol. Although my mom is being supportive of this for once....must be the price

So with the ridiculous price, would you think breeding them to be the more cost effective (and fun in my case ) plan makes more sense? Or should I just suck it up and pay that high price....Oh! And the petstore guy said we only need to feed one silkworm a day and nothing else? (I was a rebel and threw in a cricket to see if she'd acquired more of a taste for them XD) Just curious

Thanks for putting up with my endless questions! You have no idea how grateful I am for all the amazing advice

 

[Pinky81]

How big is this Leo? One silkworm seems like not enough. I feed my guys till they stop...this past winter when I did silks for my breeding female she ate like anywhere from 3-5 depending on size of worm.

Would it not be cheaper to buy silkworms from MulberryFarms?? Or do they not ship out of the country?

 

[Wild West Reptile]

Try www.canadianfeeders.com

I would not pay $1.00 a piece! Either buy them in bulk and just feed them or try raising for fun and food!

 

[Kat&Rin]

Well, she's about a year and a half old and she's roughly 2 1/2- 3 inches max. They are apparently out of stock for the medium and silkworm cup so I'm not sure whether buying the baby silk cups and just raising them to one inch is a better idea? I'm not sure...what do you think?

 

[Kat&Rin]

Thanks for the site! I'd still have to have them shipped but maybe this would be easier on them (and me) I dunno, I still want to breed them, my idea of fun XD

I wonder if my petstore would buy them off me or give me in-store credit for providing them with the silkies....I'd probably have to ask lol. I love the concept of keeping the eggs in hibernation until you need them....sounds very useful.