Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Monarch cat help!, 1 by greenie67

greenie67 wrote:
Hi all,

I planted about 80 milkweed this spring and watched teeny tiny monarch cats eat them to the ground. We then had a ton of storms and weird weather and I was afraid they were all gone. So imagine my surprise to find a very fat cat upside down on my plumbago yesterday. Not sure why he was there since it's nowhere near milkweed. My guess is that it's because it's close to the deck where the birds won't go. ANYWAY, this morning he looked like he was trying to make his 'J'. I've never raised them before but wanted to try this year. My DH cut out the styrofoam from a bait bucket and also cut the middle out of the lid and replaced the holes with screen. I cut the long branch he was on, along with a long piece of bamboo rod and put it in there with him. I'm assuming since he's hanging in a 'J' that he's no longer interested in eating. Do I need to put anything else in there with him? What can I expect next? How long does the pupation process take before they try to emerge? I'll be broken hearted if he dies so I want all the advice I can get!! I'm SO EXCITED!! =)