I am so glad you got a second chance. Your cats will probably make chrysalides and winter over in that form. All my BSTs are making dark chrysalides, which is the usual winter color. Keep them in a container on a protected patio, or in your garage. You don't want to keep them in a heated house, as they will be confused about the seasons.

Next spring when the weather warms up, the chrysalides will eclose, and you will have your butterflies. And if you have some parsley planted, they'll find it and start the cycle all over again.

Have fun!

Sandy

Hi Sandy,
Thanks for the reply. I can't keep them in my garage b/c I don't have a safe place for them nor do I have enough room. I am afraid to keep them in the container outside b/c of the unwelcome neighborhood cats (feline) that like to frequent my porch especially at night. I was wondering if I should keep them in the basementwhich is not heated? What would be the optimum temp. they should be kept at for the winter so that they do not emerge too early? Thanks again for the help:)

If no heat gets to the basement, they should be ok. As cold as possible without freezing.

Hi Sandy,

I also live in the Atlanta area and have some bwts coming along. I keep them in an aquarium container with a wire top (with parsley) and keep it outside on a balcony. I have done this several winters, and they emerge early in the Spring and are beautiful! The unheated basement does sound like it would work. Good luck! Keep us posted.

A nice cool basement sounds like a good environment. I have a friend that has made a cage that she puts over her plant in the garden and they overwinter there. They are exposed to all kinds of weather here in OK and they make it. The BSTs are pretty hardy. I have even taped mine, when they pupate on a paper towel, to the wall on my patio and they eclose in the spring.

Sandy

Hi to everyone who has been helping me with my BST's! My second batch is doing quite well since I have been giving them the organic parsley, they are very large and seem healthy. I have 2 that have attached themselves to the papertowels that I keep on the bottom of the cage and 1 attached to the side of the cage. I need to change the papertowels and I am wondering if it's ok to move them. I want to put these 2 in my basement since the other 5 are still eating. I was going to cut the papertowel where they are attached and leave them on it and put them in a new container but I don't want to do anything that will disturb them. What should I do with the one on the side of the cage? I don't want this one to eclose early if it has to stay in the cage with the others that are still eating. How much air/moisture/light do they need when in chrysalis? I have a small reptile cage I was going to put them in,is this good or should I keep them in a closed plastic totebox? Also, what do I do if they eclose in a couple of weeks? Again, I am in the Atlanta area the temps have been in the mid 70's-low 80's now but it's anyone's guess what it will be in a few weeks! Thanks again for all the help:) MsToni

Well, now I'm confused. When I read one post, I get the idea that they should be kept outside, like on a porch; in another post I read that they shouldn't be in freezing temps. They are in freezing temps without us intervening, right? I'd think they should be okay on our back porch. It does get down to freezing and below during the winter. I really don't have any other place to put them.
Cathy

MsToni,

When all the cats are pupated, then move the container outside or put it in the basement. You can move the ones on the paper towel by cutting around them and taping them up in a different place. I currently have chrys on paper towels taped to the siding on my house. The reptile cage will be just great. You really don't need to do a thing for them this winter. Just remember to bring them out when it warms up. It won't hurt your one that has already pupated to wait to be put in the cold. It won't eclose this fall. I have lots of chrys in my laundry room that have not eclosed and that I will be moving outside after all the cats have pupated. Pretty much all of this last generation pupate over the winter.

Cathy, it doesn't hurt them to be out in the freezing weather. My chrys were out on my patio all winter. It got down into the single digits here with a horrible ice storm and lots of snow. When it warmed up, the BSTs eclosed just fine. You are right, they do this outside all the time.

I have lots of chrys all over my house right now, hanging on the eaves, window frames, etc, and on the trellises and plants in the garden. I'm not going to take any of them in. They will just have to make it on their own, and I'm confident that they will.

Sandy

Thanks for verifying that, Sandy. :)

Thanks for the info Sandy. I am trying to get as much advice from everyone on these guys! This is my first time raising butterflies, I didn't plan to but the tiny cats that were on my parsley were being eaten by something so I felt I had to save them. I hope my basement will be cold enough, my patio gets too much sun and i dont't have enough room to keep them there. Wish me luck that they will emerge in the spring : )

Toni,

My patio is on the east side of the house. So it gets lots of sun. The sun won't cause the BFs to eclose. For one thing, the days are shorter. I think that the day length has something to do with when the BFs eclose. Even when we have 70 degree days during the winter, the BSTs stay snug in their chrys.

Just think, they could have made their chrys out in the open in the full sun and would have made it through the winter!

Your basement will be dark and that will help. You can also keep them in a garage. Just stick them in a corner somewhere. They'll be fine. They seem to have an internal timing device that will keep them from eclosing too soon.

Sandy :)

Hi Sandy,
Thanks again for more info. I have ANOTHER question....do they need alot of air or can I get away with some holes punched into the lid of the plastic container? Thanks again :)
Toni

They don't need that much air. If you have some holes punched in the top of your container that will work. They do need something to cling to when they eclose in the spring. A paper towel on the side of the container or an old branch or shish kabob skewer works great. This is so they can climb up and hang their wings behind them to straighten and fill out so they can fly.

Sandy:)

Hi Sandy, Thanks again for taking the time to answer my many questions. These little guys have really stressed me out! I just want to make sure I do the right things for them to make sure they emerge when they should. I guess they will instinctively know what to do and when. My last cat just attached himself to a stick so he will be joining his siblings in the basement soon. I bought chopsticks at w-mart(they worked really well) that I put in the cage that they use to climb up on but the ones that are on papertowels I will tape to the side of the container so they can climb up when they finally emerge. I will let you know what happens, I am looking foward to the cooler weather but I can't wait to see my little "babies" fly away in the spring : ) Hopefully I won't have any more questions but you never know! Take care and thanks again : )
Toni