Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Monarch ready to chrysalis??, 1 by margaran

margaran wrote:
I'm new to gardening and have 5 Monarch cats. I've never seen the maturation process before but I think they might be ready to chrysalis. The larger ones (~1 3/4"L x 3/8" D) are getting sluggish. I'm not sure if it's because they are ready to morph or because they've nearly run out of leaves. There are ~ 20 leaves left though and I understand they'll eat the stalks of the milkweed too so perhaps they're not faint from hunger. My only other clue is that I relocated one to a stalk site with more leaves and noticed some silk left behind.
Are they ready? If not, how big do they get before they're ripe for change? Will they do anything special before they turn? I'd like to be able to watch. Also, how fast do they grow? I can't find the baby (less than 1") I saw yesterday but I do see a smaller one that looks different from the rest. Not yet plumped out?
I've reviewed several sites that talk about the process in general terms but not the details. Here are some photos of my butterfly space and the cats. The last one is the one tht looks different to me although it doesn't show so much in the photo. Normal variation or related to age/size?

Thanks in advance,

Maggie