Thanks Sherry, It has been a crazy day for me. I have two Monarchs that have already formed a chrysalis and there was one fat one in the butterfly cage, so I took the top off to go to get more Leaves for the third guy. I just threw the leaf in with the others, thinking he was on the bottom of one of the leaves and put the top back on. Several hours later I was checking on him and could not find him anywhere in the cage. I looked everywhere in the room; the cats are all in my computer room. Finally after several hours I found him on my potted Christmas Cactus. I put him back in the cage, and he headed for the top to pupate. Sure glad I finally found him!!! I now am raising 9 Monarch Cats, all different sizes, and 7 BST that hatched on Thursday. Betty

Thanks, Bernergrrl! It was so bittersweet releasing them especially my little miss "bad boy". I got to provide the instructional link for "downed chrysalis" you gave me to another forum poster who had a BST whose girdle broke and was hanging by his little tush attachment. "Pay It Forward" is a nice way to go through life. I've still got the last chrysalis (brown) hanging in enclosure and I sure hope he doesn't go into diapause and overwinter. I'll be worried all winter about him out in the garage but I read it's better not to bring them in the house because higher temps could lead them to eclose when you've got nowhere to release them since it's winter in the NE! You've been a doll just like your little one and I thank you. Mechelle, it seems like the gulf coast and CA have bumper crops of butterflies of so many varieties. My father keeps telling me the same thing MCronin reminded us of this week...we think there are less butterflies at this time because we forget most activity in some parts of US takes place toward Fall. I hope so because I haven't seen a single Monarch yet this year. For me, except for one male Eastern Swallowtail, the BSTs are the only ones I've seen so far this year not counting the dozens of Cabbage Whites nectaring like there's no tomorrow. Once I spot a butterfly I follow him/her around the yard just to watch. Love it. I used to travel to Texas a few times a year for business when I worked for a company that supplied industrial heat exchangers...don't ask...LOL. Annually attended Petro-Chem and Oil shows at AstroDome as booth vendor...what a pain. It was the 70s and a female in that world wasn't exactly run of the mill except standing on a rotating stage showing off some huge piece of equipment...and I don't have the "equipment" to stand on a rotating stage...LOL. I'll never forget my first time coming out the door of the plane onto the tarmac at the Houston airport and immediately being drenched in perspiration from the heat and humidity. Then you go inside an over airconditioned building and get chills. Once spent a "charming" day climbing all around machinery and hoses at bleach factory along ship channel. Not thinking before I went out there with sales rep I didn't wear (or have with me) older shoes so my heels were ruined by bleach leaking all over the place...LOL. It was a rough and tumble business back them but I learned a lot about those industries and there's not much I'm not curious about and happy to learn more. Is it warm enough in your part of Texas for butterflies to eclose most/all year round? If not will your new BSTs go into diapause like they do up here in NE? I learned about 15 years ago from a person raised in Amarillo that it gets very cold and snows up in that part of the state. Well, you'll be a busy mama for a while with all those little ones. Think I'll go check the parsley again...ya never know...LOL. Thanks for your kind comments. This is a warm forum and it's so nice to find a place in this world where people are welcoming, encouraging, supportive and have sense of wonder & lots of humor. Guess if you care about these little guys who turn into beautiful creatures of nature and take the trouble to raise them then that caring carries over into other parts of life for many people. Makes me glad and appreciative. Butterflies take the naturally occurring "gloomy" out of a lot of pockets of people's lives. Trust me...if I find anymore cats there'll be more long missives of my experiences. I just got to find me at least ONE Monarch egg or cat! I already have all the rearing supplies and plenty of Milkweed. :)

I just used a hot glue gun and reattached one of the BST Chrysalis and did not have to remove him all the way, as his sling was in good shape. The second one I removed completely and then tried to reattach him to a stick and he started wiggling, so I am going to wait a few more days until he hardens. I just put him in a container. Am I doing this the right way? Betty

Oh my gosh- I remember thinking about that when I first logged on to their site- then I got sucked into the website and forgot all about it- I'm really glad I did, although I am really new at this and I'm sure the mistake they made didn't make as big a lingering (obviously) impression on me as it would to a more experienced "fig" person. I actually forgot all about the name and will be notifying them as to the mistake asap. In the meantime, I would be happy to post pix of the "trees" I have received and will let you be the judge... and if I've been duped, I will still have figs as 2 of the gorgeous trees have figs on them! Thank you for reminding me of this and I will try to post the pix within a couple days. Figs ROCK! Christy