Susan gave me BST babies :) I'm a mommy

15 years ago

I'm trying to tempt them with parsley, my fennel is rather ratty...

However I think Susan has been feeding them a gourmet diet and they seem to be looking for fennel!

Susan, I might need a nanny at the end of the month. This morning it occurred to me that I'm going on vacation and none of my friends can be trusted with cat-sitting. :( Does that make me a bad mommy? I've been a mommy for 24 hours and I already have mommy guilt....

Lisa

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Comments (9)

Lisa_H OK
Original Author
15 years ago
I cleaned out one of the containers this morning. It look to me like all of that group was either a chrysalis or getting ready to be. So, no food, right?

{{gwi:531290}}

I wasn't quick enough getting the sticks in there. I had to rig up one of them and one who (crysalised? pupated?) last night never attached to anything. I left him on the bottom. I thought I read he would be okay. He's the reason I cleaned out the container this morning, I couldn't find him.

Lisa
butterflymomok
15 years ago
He'll be just fine. I'd move them all to a bigger container like a mesh hamper so that when they eclose they will have surface to climb.

Susan gave me Gulf Frit babies that I'm raising right now. Susan is a great BF friend!

Sandy
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Thanks everyone! I had no intentions of giving up; years could've passed before I removed that chrysalid! I'm just thrilled knowing that I didn't kill it by leaving it outside, LOL. I was kind of surprised to see so many cats so early (May), even though I have seen the BST butterflies. I'm just really upset that I didn't take them in sooner, which, I should've done. I would've had 18 instead of 1 (waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh). Lesson hopefully learned! I haven't seen any monarchs yet, but I do keep checking the milkweeds. If I recall correctly, I did have monarch cats last June, naturally that I didn't collect in time :( I'll know better this year; I've got my containers ready to collect. Cathy; it's good to know that you overwinter them outside. I won't be so paranoid come this winter, even though I successfully overwintered one (and only one). At least I can feel confident that I just didn't get lucky... Susan; pupated in June and eclosed in May?!?!?! Wow! With everybody's different experiences here, it's just good to know how erratic their schedules are. I recall doing some BST pupa research last year, and someone said they had one in the pupa stage for something like a year and a half. That would've freaked me out ;)
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Lisa_H OK
Original Author
15 years ago
Sandy: I ran to WM during lunch and bought them their very own laundry hamper :) Now the question is, where do I keep them? Front porch? I don't have a back porch and right now they are residing on my kitchen counter!

Do they need anything until they hatch?

Lisa
butterflymomok
15 years ago
They don't need anything. I just tape the stems that they are on to the hamper. Scotch tape sticks well. And I put a terry hand towel over the top so they can't escape. (That's my solution for a top!) My hampers are on my patio back against the house. If you can't find a place out of the wind, put a rock or some kind of weight in the bottom of the hamper to keep it from blowing over, or away.

Enjoy!

Sandy
Lisa_H OK
Original Author
15 years ago
Sandy, the towel is a great idea. I was going to flip the hamper over upside down, but your way makes more sense to me.

I lost one today. He didn't eat yesterday, in fact neither caterpillar did in that container. The bigger one was dead-ish looking tonight. I fished him out and put him on the old food pile to see if he was really dead. I just looked...very definitely dead. He's black. Yuck. The other one in that container is hanging on, but I don't really see signs he's eating.

The other container has three good sized cats that I expect to pupate (?) soon. My chrysalis container has four good ones right now. I'm going to put them in the mesh container soon.

Lisa
Lisa_H OK
Original Author
15 years ago
I think I have two that about to pop....

{{gwi:531291}}

{{gwi:531293}}

So I finally moved them from their cottage cheese container in the kitchen to their new enclosure. I used Sandy's suggestion....

{{gwi:530481}}

{{gwi:530484}}

Lisa
Lisa_H OK
Original Author
15 years ago
Well, I wasn't quick enough to catch the butterfly, but look what he left behind :)

{{gwi:531296}}

Lisa
bernergrrl
15 years ago
Congratulations on your butterfly even though you didn't get to seem him/her. Did you take the towel off?
Lisa_H OK
Original Author
15 years ago
I did, I took it off to get a picture of him/her and it took off. I guess a whole day cooped up in there was enough! I tried to find him in the yard, but he had taken off for greener pastures somewhere. I did get to see a sulpur and I think a question mark, and a monarch though, so I wasn't too unhappy. I think everybody was reveling in the break in the rain.

I had another eclose this morning. I got out there not long after. I could still see the creases in the wings. I did get one picture, but it wasn't ready to spread its wings yet. Nothing is cooperating...the camera's batteries were dead and I was late to work :) Maybe tonight.

Does it hurt them to stay in the cage all day? I assumed not as long as I let them go in the evening.

I noticed my first one had drops of liquid around the base of his stick, this last one didn't. What is it?

Lisa

Susan gave me BST babies :) I'm a mommy

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Susan gave me BST babies :) I'm a mommy

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