Hehehe! You need to put a "cat" bell on those rascals!
Sherry

lol Sherry, that's not a bad idea! I brought it inside and it's hanging in my east facing bedroom window. When the chrysalis turns clear, I'll put it back outside so it can eclose there. I saw Monarchs fluttering at the Mexican sunflowers/tithonia outside the window. Maybe they're the cats that were devouring my tropical milkweed!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Brad, why put it outside when it turns clear? Watching them eclose is the most exciting part of raising butterflies (for me anyway). They are very tame when they first eclose, you can easily bring the butterfly outside and it will either fly away, or you can place it on a sunny perch to fly away when it's ready.

Terrene, mom didn't want it fluttering about when it first eclosed. We put it back outside in a sheltered spot. The only thing is that it's supposed to turn colder tonight (40's) and I'm extremely worried that it might freeze. Should I bring it back in?

Brad AKA Moonwolf

It won't freeze in the 40's. But the cooler temps will slow down the growth of the butterfly and it will be slower to eclose. I keep my cats and chrysalises in as warm temps as possible - to speed up their development so they will eclose and get on their way sooner rather than later, because it's starting to get cool here too.

The butterfly won't flutter around when it first ecloses - it simply needs to hang from something to expand and dry its wings. It will hang pretty quietly for a couple hours (at least) and only start fluttering when it's ready to fly.

The chrysalis will start to turn transparent about 24 hours before the butterfly ecloses, and mine almost always eclose in the morning. If you can be around to watch it, it's great. But if you can't be around to monitor it, you could put it outside in a sunny sheltered spot then.

Thank you, terrene!

I'm going to bring it back in again so I can get it sent on it's way. Ooh! This is so exciting!!!!

Brad AKA Moonwolf