How do I care for silkworms? Silkworms should be kept in a warm, quiet place and should be fed once per day. Only feed an amount of food that the silkworms can consume in one day. This will prevent wasted food and save you from cleaning the silkworms as often. All silkworm food should be consumed or dried before feeding again. To feed smaller silkworms, grated silkworm food works well. They will climb to the top and begin feeding immediately. When the silkworms become larger, you may begin to give them larger pieces of food cut into cubes or grated larger.
Silkworm Food? Silkworms feed only on fresh mulberry leaves or mulberry chow. Fresh mulberry leaves should be cleaned thoroughly before feeding. Silkworm Chow is made from processed mulberry leaves and can be purchased from our online store. Cooking instructions are as follows:
½ lb. Dry Silkworm Food Cooking Instructions
Mix three cups of warm water to ½ lb. of dry silkworm food in a large microwave-safe container.
Cover with plastic wrap, heat on high for three minutes in the microwave.
Remove plastic wrap, stir, and cover again with plastic wrap. Heat on high for two additional minutes.
Remove from microwave, stir, cover immediately and store in the refrigerator to chill. Keep covered to prevent drying out. Once the food has chilled and set, you may start feeding it out.
Cooked food can be stored in the refrigerator for one month, dry food for one year.
Silkworm eggs should be kept in a warm humid place before hatching. Temperatures should be slightly higher then room temperature, or about 26 degrees celcius. (room temperature is fine but the eggs may take longer to hatch) You will notice that the eggs will change from a darker grey colour to a very light, translucent grey a couple days before hatching. When the tiny silkworms are born they are very small and black, the now empty eggs are white. It is better to wait until all eggs have hatched before feeding but be sure to feed the new born silkworms within 24 hours of hatching or they will die.
