Silk worm production

[Larry Wardog]

Thanks for that link Dan. That was very helpful! I did not know about needing to move them from the pods to the bins so that is really helpful. I think I am going to invest in a small incubator for hatching the eggs. My one remaining issue though is what the best way to keep the worms and moths warm. My thought was to keep the small plastic bins in a larger plastic bin with a heat pad under it and a thermometer on the pad to control the temperature. Thoughts on this? Thank you again for the link - very helpful!

AAron, my problem with the Dubias are that the full grown adults are probably too large for my toads to eat. There is also the opposing force being my wife and the fact that I do have somewhat of an ick factor with roaches, although don't mind small Dubias. The silkworms seem to be one of the most nutritious feeders even compared to crickets and dubias and breeding them is quite intriguing that I want to master it!

This might be true the silkworm might be the best or one of the best feeders, but if that's the only thing as a feeder then it will cause problems just like crickets. One of the most important things I ever learned from herpetologist was that you need more than four feeder insects at least to be considered in your frogs or toads diet. I do not use roaches because I think they are a little too big and I am opposed to them even though I know they are good. Perhaps I will try it with my exotic animals but not my native animals. However just because the silkworms are a good feeder do not just woke up on the worms. They can also become very big moths there are a handful of other feeders you could use as well together heathen with the silkworms that would probably save you time and make your toads a much better diet.

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[PhunkeyPhish]

Thanks AAron. I do plan to continue to feed a variety on feeders to the toads, just would like to make Silkworms a main part of that diet which is why I want to breed them, especially given their inconsistent supply and cost. I also believe that by breeding the feeders it allows for better feeders in controlling for potential parasites, as well as diet of the feeders through their entire life.

[Larry Wardog]

Thanks AAron. I do plan to continue to feed a variety on feeders to the toads, just would like to make Silkworms a main part of that diet which is why I want to breed them, especially given their inconsistent supply and cost. I also believe that by breeding the feeders it allows for better feeders in controlling for potential parasites, as well as diet of the feeders through their entire life.

You are right it can help out a lot and save you some money. Another easy to breed critter you can add to the diet of a toad is isopods. You can breed them and they were discussed as a staple by Herpetologist Frank Indiviglio and also could be fed in bulk. They are very easy and don't smell or look scary. They are little crustaceans and some roll into a ball.

I'll be culturing them. I have a few native species setups and animals and I feel the Isopod is a necessity to have on tap. They clean up the enclosure but also provide food for the amphibians and are interesting to observe in the enclosure.

As for the silkworms if you can successfully breed them and the project goes well you should make a post and talk about your experience because nobody really uses silkworms for the toads. That might help out a lot of people and then whenever I get the silkworm and feed it to my toads I can share my experiences too and we can see if they were similar.

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[PhunkeyPhish]

I'll let you know how the silk worm breeding goes. Hopefully will have the project up and going in a month or so.

The isopods look interesting. How is the chitin load though. Do you have information on their nutrient content?