Hi Mark,

This is the net enclosure I use, the jumbo size.

Live Monarch

butterfly castle, various sizes
http://www.livemonarch.com/castle.htm

... here is another source for net cages:

Light blue net cage

http://www.enasco.com/product/SB46623M

I place newspaper in the bottom and change it out daily. I put a twig 'tree' I made in the corner so they can climb on it when they need a walk. Some will pupate on the twigs, some on the top or sides of the 'castle'.

I place the pipevine leaves in containers like this:

container without leaves:

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with leaves inserted in top of container through small holes punched in the lid:

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For raising Monarch cats, the Jumbo cage is large enough to place potted milkweed plants inside and I just rotate them as the leaves are eaten. I put newspaper on the bottom and change it each day. I keep it outside on my deck in the shade. The first year I raised them in small containers inside but it's a lot of work to clean each one each day plus as the cats grow, they can consume large quanities of leaves, so you're constantly clipping leaves. With potted plants, I don't worry they will run out of leaves and they will eat everything down to a nubin, so the plant material isn't wasted. The eaten plants will put out new growth and grow back nicely.

Mary

Here is a link that might be useful: Butterfly Castle (net enclosure)

Hi Mark,
I use a couple of Butterfly Farm Terariums, and I keep them outside on my side porch. The one I use for rearing Monarchs is very large (4ft tall), and I can fit several whole potted Tropical Milkweed plants inside. It's just so much easier if you can use potted plants. Sometimes, it isn't possible I know.~~Angie

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There are different ways to accomplish the same thing - keep the host plant food fresh for as long as it takes for the caterpillar/s to eat it and keep the predators off the caterpillars.
I use Reptarian cages, which were originally made for reptiles, like iguanas, but it makes a great butterfly cage. I put foam rubber at the bottom of each cage, so that if a caterillar or chrysalis should fall, no damage will be done. I put paper towels over the foam rubber and change them as needed. I sometimes use water picks, which I either attach to the sides of the cage with florist's wire or sometimes I just stick them in the holes of my leftovers containers. Here are some giant swallowtail eggs - I brought them in as eggs, because even hatchlings of this type will get eaten by stink bugs and/or wasps, and the predators might find them before I do. The host plants - in this case, hops tree and rue - stay fresh in water for a long time - so, I went ahead and cut the third of the hops leaf off that they were on, put that in water picks, and then put the water picks in the leftovers container. The reason I did it this way, is that the water picks create a tight seal around the leaf, so that, should the hatchlings want to roam, they won't drown in the water. Also, by not attaching the water picks to the sides of the cage, if the hatchlings want to roam, they won't get lost in the cage or go through the mesh covering. GST cats rarely ever leave their leaf until they've gotten a little size on them, but it occasionally happens. Here it is -
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I found 7 more giant swallowtail eggs on hops tree yesterday, so I'll be bringing them in in a day or so.
I waited until the gulf fritillary cats had hatched before bringing them in - for whatever reason, they're not as tasty to the predators, so you can afford to wait. I put the host plant stems directly in water through holes in the leftover containers - I make sure each hole is well sealed, if it isn't, I sometimes put folded over pieces of pipe stem cleaners in the holes to keep the cats from crawling in the water and drowning. Again, they don't usually get off the host plant, but they might.
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American ladies make a nest from cudweed flowers. The smaller cats are hidden in their little nests, but the bigger one - probably last instar - was out of the nest, eating.
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I found three more tiny hatchlings on one of my small willow trees - they are either red-spotted purples or viceroys. I finally got some viceroys this year for the first time in years, so I definitely want to raise those I find on willow myself. When you find one of these on wild black cherry, it's definitely a red-spotted purple, which are abundant here. Keeping willow leaves fresh is impossible in this heat. This spring, I kept them fresh on my front porch in these little plastic containers with venting on the top - now that the big heat is here, the willow leaves crisp up quickly, so I brought these into my air-conditioned house to raise them. I keep them on a baker's rack in my bathroom. I shut the vent in the bathroom and usually keep the door shut - the temps are around 78-80 degrees in there, cool enough for the willow leaves to stay edible -
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I hope this helps!

Sherry

Ok this is a bit wierd, but will it work?

I got a drilled #2 airlock stopper, that can be purchased at an online homebrewing supply store (or online) for like $.50 ea.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/brewing-equipment/fermenting-equipment/stoppers-bungs

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Cut ONE SIDE and wrap milkweed stem with paper towel to take up extra space, put in bottle filled with water. A #2 will fit a beer bottle or 750ml wine bottle. Better empty a bunch of bottles to make sure you have extras!

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Have you tested the milkweed to see if it stays turgid in water, Mark? I use A. curassavica/tropical milkweed, and it won't - the "milk" runs out into the water, and the leaf collapses.
When I raise monarchs, I just put the leaf or leaves in the container with the caterpillars. They eat so much, so fast, they eat it before it has time to wilt.
That's a good-looking set-up!

Sherry

Sherry,
So far, so good. I have some milkweed in a vase that is still turgid after 4 or 5 days, and the leaves are still somewhat crisp, and will bleed when torn. I cut them with a VERY sharp craft knife, and pull off the bottom 3-5 leaves off the stem RIGHT BEFORE putting them in water. I swirl them around a bit, and the latex seems to come off the stems and coagulate in the water. I also didn't rinse the bottle, as I was only using it as a test. One of the ingredients for my hose end sprayer lawn fertilizer is a 12 oz can of beer, and it is said that the low alcohol content acts as a sterilizer...perhaps it helps to keep the latex from solidifying, thus allowing the stem to take up water?

Just a theory...

Mark

I use aquariums to raise mine. I have a very curious cat (the feline kind) ;) and there's no way I can use anything different because he will get into it. He likes to lay on top of the aquarium, but until the day the top gives out and he falls in, the caterpillars are safe from him. I line the bottom with paper towels to cut down on the mess, replacing them when I clean the tank. I use plastic tupperware containers that I fill with water, and poke holes in the top to stick the food in. I have a few different containers I rotate, when one gets too dirty, change it out and clean the old one for next time, etc.. For pupation, I have some sticks found outside and I buy cannned food for my cat (the feline one LOL) and they come in cardboard type "trays," which come in handy. I turn them upside down and poke holes in them and stick the sticks into them. That holds the sticks well and allows me to fit more in the cage. That's the best set-up I can some with because of my cat and it seems to work well.

This is how I raise the majority of mine. This tree is my main polyphemus hostplant. I have pics that show more sleeves than this but I cannot find them. I started using the roof last year to have even more access to the tree.

KC

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:488319}}

Hi spaceman, I use plastic boxes to raise the caterpillars. Mostly, those large clear plastic boxes that salad mix comes in, also a few of the smaller Gladware boxes to supplement if necessary. There are holes punched in the top and bottom of the boxes. I line the bottom with paper towels.

For Monarchs, I line the understide of the top with paper towel, and they climb up and pupate there. For the Black Swallowtails, after they purge I put them in an aquarium with leafy sticks and they pupate on those.

For the host plant cuttings, I use cubes of floral foam, let it soak to get nice and wet, and then cover it with plastic wrap. I poke little holes through the plastic and insert the cuttings into the floral foam. This worked remarkable well to keep cuttings fresh.

A few pics -
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Nice Terrene!
And I love the sticky note documentation as well!

Mark