I raise mine on a screen cage on a covered porch so I'm not sure what to do with one that was raised indoors. I have *several* that haven't eclosed yet and I think (in my uneducated opinion) that it has something to do with the heat.

Looking forward to reading other responses...

~Laura

I have another one that's pupating today and instead of attaching to a stick, he's going to pupate right on the screen on the top of the container, which is going to make things even more interesting.

The container is one of those styrofoam ice chests that we cut a big opening in the top and put in window screen.

It works great b/c cats get great traction and crawl all over inside it but it's kind of big.

I'd like to find a more compact way to store them over the winter!

I rear mine in a home built cage on my deck, which remains on the deck all winter. Only during harsh wind chills do I cover it with a sheet. I never know if they're going to eclose that year or overwinter. It makes things alot easier, but do run the risk of paratization, an issue I'm all to familiar with :(

We had actual temps of -10 or so this past winter and my butterflies still eclosed without any difficulty, thank goodness. I haven't had any trouble with paratization inside the screened cage my husband built. I did have a spider get inside once though and it did kill a monarch chrysalis. :-(

~Laura

I have the same situation right now. I actually have 5 BST chrysalis, they have been like this for well over a month now. I was wondering if they were overwintering already. It seems awful early.
I am in NJ, and it has been very hot the past few weeks, could this have anything to do with it? They look healthy, so I don't think they have died. Any advice would be great.