beccalmt- I've moved MANY MANY molting monarchs and never lost one from it. I've lost a couple black swallowtails that way though, so I only handle them when absolutely necessary. In raising monarchs over 30 years I have never has a disease outbreak. Part of it is my location. In Minnesota all the milkweed dies to the ground each season so most of the OE spores are killed. These are the things I do to care for my monarchs...maybe something will strike a chord with somebody: I usually give them leaves twice a day...once early, once before sundown Each time I rinse the leaves in the sink in cold water(have never used any sort of cleaning solution) I also empty the cage of frass before adding new leaves and then rinse it out with warm water...then DRY it! I handle my monarchs a lot, taking them off old leaves and placing them on the new. If they are 1-3 days old I tear off the section of leaf they're on and place it on a new leaf. If using my large caterpillar castle, I take a warm rag and clean off the floor each time I change leaves. (since I can't rinse it out in the sink...the material dries fast) I usually try to limit my cage to 10 cats....I would separate them if there were signs of an outbreak. Minrose, have you had disease problems in Minnesota before? What is your routine? Sorry to hear some of you are having problems. I hope you all have some healthy monarchs soon! Tony

Hi Michaela! How frustrating for you. I'm sorry. I am a total newbie who is raising Monarch, Gulf Fritillary, and Eastern Giant Swallowtail butterflies (I had a Black Swallowtail, but it didn't make it). This is my first year being successful at raising Monarchs. Several years ago, a family gave me lots of Monarch caterpillars. I didn't know anything about OE and all of them eclosed very deformed. Now I know it had to be OE. This year I went out and bought a 3-gallon Tropical Milkweed and have subsequently bought a few more as the caterpillar population has exploded! I have had a couple "cats" that started looking not so good, but they were just getting ready to transform into the next instar stage and once they shed their skin they looked great. All made their chrysalis, but one never emerged and so I "euthanized" it. Here is my set-up before cleaning this morning. There are 6 chrysalides and 9 fat cats. My house (north of Houston, where it's in the high 90s outside) is 78 inside and 60% humidity. It sounds like there is either a disease or parasite...I move caterpillars into this set-up when they are just a day or two from making their chrysalis. When the are really small, I keep them in a big glass vase. I load the environments with milkweed. I have been spotted out front in my PJs with scissors in hand cutting fresh milkweed to feed the gang (I'm sure people think I am nuts). I clean the frass off the blue lid when I swap out the plants, about every other day. You might consider enclosing them in an organza bag outside....contained and protected. This batch will bring my total, so far this year, to 30+ raised.

Congratulations on a great year. I'm planning on next year being even better. I planted a patch of milkweed at my mom's house, and it has matured beautifully, and had eggs and cats on it this year. She already has a huge field of native goldenrod and New England Asters for Monarchs to nectar on during migration. My own native pollinator garden is now finishing its third season and the plants that are happy are now getting well established. Those that are not so happy are asking to be moved and replaced with more appropriate players. I'm especially excited about my Liatris ligulistylis. It is a tall (4') autumn-blooming purple plant that is a great Monarch magnet. While it is in bloom, I can't look out at the patch without seeing at least one Monarch, and often two or three. And my garden is right up along a fast-moving road. Anyone who would like seeds, please let me know. I've collected plenty and there are more out there tempting me. They are perennial and are very easy to start from seed. Good luck to all my fellow butterflies. Don't be too much of a stranger all winter, though I certainly won't have much butterfly related to discuss here in Michigan. Martha

Yes! This thread is encouraging! Hopefully they're on the rebound; even slowly, rebound is rebound. I grew more swamp milkweed from seed this year, not sure if it attracted any monarchs, as I didn't check the plants regularly, but certainly can only help, not hurt. The land in my area has a lot of common milkweed growing, and I've noticed strays popping up in my pasture and beds. Rouge: I *adore* "Mystic Spires" salvia!! Hands down it out-blooms any other annual I've had, mine were still blooming into late October, and pollinators go ga-ga over it. Unfortunately it is hard to find in my neck of the woods, only one nursery carries it that I'm aware of, and when they're gone they're gone for the season. Well, now that I have a fancy-dancy light cart, I can keep mother plants growing for cuttings over the winter - HA!