Silkworms

[jemjdragon]

To my surprise my local pet shop was selling silkworms. I thought it might be a good feeder to vary what I feed my leopard gecko (and bearded dragon). I don't just want to buy some every few weeks though and want to raise them. I just don't know how.

I want to know what type of enclosure to keep them in, what to feed them (can I grow it at home or is there a mix I can buy?), what enclosure items I should provide (I saw that at the pet shop they had plastic eggcrate in the tank placed in such a way that droppings would fall through), and do they need specific light or heat.

 

[ChrisS]

I've been looking into breeding silkworms as well and they seem fairly difficult compared to mealies and supers. Their enviroment has to be super sterile. They can only be feed silkworm chow or mulberry leaves. And feeding them chow makes it harder for them to turn into moths. But to me the benefits of these worms outweighs the pain of raising and breeding them. Check out mulberryfarms.com for all the information on them. Also you can check out silkwormshop.com for alot info there as well.

 

[steve905]

Start scoping out your neighborhood for mulberry trees they eat a ton of leaves dailey and you have to keep them clean or they just die....

 

[snakegirl]

i have bred and used silkworms for reptiles, and i even have a post up on how to do it around here, the point is, DON'T! Really leopard geckos dont really go for them unless there small and they must only have white mulberry plant or (ordered) Powdered form i wouldn't waste my time, it takes over 4 months JUST for the eggs to hatch. they die EASY and all and all are not really worth it for leopard gecko because they dont seem to go nuts for them. trust me your better off Buying them as you feed then breeding you save some money and A LOT of time

 

[jemjdragon]

Thank you for the input.
Since it was mentioned above, that leos dont really go for silkies, I wanted to test it out on Mifty (leo) and Spiky (bearded dragon). I bought a few from the shop yesterday and both of them didn't hesitate to eat them. Mifty actually came out of his hide to look for more.
I don't mind the extra work with raising them and am even planning to use the silk after the moths hatch out. I belive there are two-three mulberry trees by my old elementary school though I am planning on buying silkworm chow too (as well as a tree or two myself. I heard the birds love the fruit from them and that they're edible).
Other than that, would a 10 gallon glass aquarium with plastic egg crate matterial work as an enclosure? If I order eggs, is it better for glued down eggs or loose? Do I leave them in the petridish to grow? How do I feed silkworm chow? What do they mean by grating the leaves? Where can I buy a mulberry tree?
Any information would be useful.
=D