Silkworm food

speedreader

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 14, 2005
Messages
330
Hi all,

I got some silkworms for my Ts, but can't seem to identify any Mulberry trees in California.

Can somebody help out?
 

speedreader

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 14, 2005
Messages
330
Drachenjager, yes i do.

Just can't seem to find/identify mulbery in Bay Area of CA.
 

speedreader

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 14, 2005
Messages
330
Drachenjager,
your email isn't available according to your profile. If you don't mind mailing a few leaves to Ca, that would be sweet.
 

speedreader

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 14, 2005
Messages
330
Drachenjager is sending me leaves, so I should be fine if that works.

Thanks all.
 

Louise E. Rothstein

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 10, 2005
Messages
430
Dear Speedreader:

Since finding silkworm food has been a problem you may decide to grow your own...and I have some here right now.
They are "Hybrid mulberries v. "Silkworm Bonsai.""
Although my hybrid mulberries are dwarfed and in pots
cuttings will turn into trees if they are planted outdoors soon after their roots are well developed. However,even if you wish to plant your silkworm food outdoors unrooted cuttings need to be started in pots because both the unrooted cuttings and their soil MUST be kept MOIST:
even when active growth indicates root formation they should be "hardened off" by progressive removals of their transparent protective covering(s) until none of their leaves become "droopy" while they are "outside."

If you keep them in pots their limited root systems will need to be kept moist ALL the time:I use deep saucers that I "top up" for that purpose.

Hybrid mulberries tend to grow "redundant" branches.
These may be pruned to feed your silkworms.
However,you may have to freeze and/or dry mulberry leaves if you decide to feed them in winter because even
my smallest potted specimens maintain winter dormancy.

At $25 for a boxfull I think they're a steal.

Yours very truly,
Louise Esther Rothstein
crystalfan2912@yahoo.com
 

speedreader

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 14, 2005
Messages
330
Thanks Louise.
My p. cambredgei seems to really like silkworms so I will prob-ly take advantage of your offer in the future, when I move to NY. I don't really want to buy anything larger than a tarantula, :hint hint:, until then due to cumbersome transportation and such.
Bonsai mulberry sounds freaking awesome though.
 

bugmankeith

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 4, 2006
Messages
2,730
There are huge white mulberry trees here so whenever I ordered silkworms I would go outside and pick fresh leaves each day, saved me alot of money since white mulberry is the silkworms favorite mulberry.

I linked a guide to red and white mulberries for you in my 1st post.
 

speedreader

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 14, 2005
Messages
330
Thanks bugmankeith, but I just couldn't find any trees like that near my house :(. Hopefully Drachenjager can get the leaves for me. Otherwise, I will just overfeed my two larger Ts.
 

crashergs

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 20, 2006
Messages
509
DUDE!!!!

WWW.MULBERRYFARMS.COM


These people are phenomenal!!!!! Tell them mario from geek squad sent ya!

i have like gallons of pre maid show because i get their silkworms for my bearded dragon every week.
 

speedreader

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
May 14, 2005
Messages
330
i only have 3 worms left now and leaves to feed them. When I made the original post, my point was - "I need free food now so that I can feed all those worms."
All is cool now.
 
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