I have a tobacco hornworms, and they are perfectly healthy, except since yesterday. they are now a bit brownish, and are not eating. They aren't moving much, and I don't know if they are shedding, or they're sick. There are two. I got them six days ago, and on the 1st-3rd day, fed them tomato leaves. 4th through 5th i gave them both tomato and potato leaves. At the end of the 5th day, i gave them romaine lettuce leaves, and woke up today, to find they were slightly brown around the head area, won't eat, and minimal movement. They twist around weirdly, and wave their butt around a bit, but that's it. All the information on taking care of tomato/tobacco hornworms said it was ok to feed them romaine lettuce. I washed the lettuce thoroughly before feeding them. Is it the stuff they may have put on the lettuce? Maybe I can't get it off and they got a slight dose of it? I'm worried, and I've been raising tobacco hornworms for years. this is the first time I have fed them lettuce. HELP JEFFREY AND BOB PLEASE! Frankie is digging around to start his coccoon, and he didn't eat any lettuce yet. PLEASE HELP MY POOR CATERPILLARS!!!!!

i am so glad i found this forum! my family has also taken on a "pet" horn worm and basically rescued it from being squashed from grandpa. my 4 year old loves it and we've been feeding it tomatoes and leaves daily. this morning we woke up and basically thought it was dying- it was not looking good and we thought maybe the cat got to it (still a possibility?) anyway, thanks to wikipedia i was happy to learn about the pre-pupua stage and i think that's where it is. he is currently in a plastic food storage container and i learned that they molt in dirt. just added some dirt. any suggestions? i'm a little confused about the fridge thing? we live in san diego and i was hoping just to release the moth whenever it's ready (when will it be ready?) do i need to continue to feed it? it's not eating right now. thanks in advanced for any help. this is my first worm/caterpillar and a little clueless but thrilled to know i'm not the only one caring for something that most people view as "pests."

Black light is also good for finding cat urine.

Hank, You can treat your plants with Bt, which is Bacillus thuringensis, variety kurstaki, which is a naturally occurring bacteria. It is found in products labeled as caterpillar killers and can be purchased either as a powder or liquid. The kurstaki strain of Bt kills not only tomato hornworms, but also other garden pests like cabbage worms, cabbage loopers, European corn borers, corn earworms and tomato fruitworms (which I think are the same worm), and both spring and fall cankerworms. There are other forms of Bt available, including the San Diego strain, which kills Colorado potato beetles and the Isralensis strain, which kills mosquito larvae, fungas gnats and black flies. The downside to using the Bt kurstaki caterpillar killer is that it will kill ALL the butterflies and moths, not just the undesirable ones. For that reason, many people no longer use it. I haven't used it for years, now, since I prefer to have the butterflies and moths around me in the garden. The fall is an especially bad time to use Bt, as the monarchs are migrating through our state at this time, and the use of Bt threatens their existence. I have been out in the garden a lot the last few weeks, and it is full of all kinds of moths and butterflies, including the sphinx moths for whom hornworms are the larvae. In a garden that has 40 or so tomato plants still healthy and producing tomatoes, I have seen hornworm damage on only one plant. Do I like seeing hornworm damage on my tomato plants and fruits? No, absolutely not. However, I tolerate the damage because I love the moths. In fact, I plant other plants like datura, four o'clocks, moonvines, and nicotine specifically FOR the moths. If the hornworms are doing what you consider unacceptable damage, you can pick them off the plants and squish them. Bt works, obviously, but the tradeoff is that it will kill all the butterflies and moths exposed to it. Your choice. Dawn