Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: A stranger came to visit, 1 by Sheila_FW

Sheila_FW wrote:

flyboyFL wrote:You wrote that you "scrape the silk off the sides of the cage." Is that where they form, without sticks?

The stirrup or thread is attached and banded around their middle. If you see one make a comma on a STEM, it is best to carefully move it out of the cage so other cats don't knock it off. Once they are in that stage, they won't crawl off, so you can pin the stem on anything until it is formed and hardens.

If it is on the side of the cage they usually won’t bother it. After it is hardened, then you can use your fingernail and scrape the silk, grab the edge and peel it off. What I do then is use straight pins to fix it on foam inside a open cage where it can emerge and it’s wings harden. Here is two older ones (empty) but maybe you will see what I am trying to say. The Styrofoam is wrapped with a material to help them grip better when they emerge. I have it pinned to the inside of a net cage.