Today two Monarchs hatched (sorry, I'm new to this and don't know the terms) and in the process of trying to let them out two of the three crysalises attached to the screen roof of the butterfly house came off. I tied thread to what's left of the attaching place on them, and tied it to the screen again. Was this the right thing to do? If not, what should I do? All I could think was getting them hanging up again. Also, both the new butterflies are not flying yet, even though I discovered them around 1o'clock this afternoon and the sun just set. One seems fine but can't seem to fly, but the other one has a deformed wing or else it never opened right. And both the very tops of his wings are curled to one side instead of being straight. I left him in the bf house for the night with a saucer of gravel I added a little water to, and some lantana flowers in it, because he would sit on my hand and drink nectar from the flowers before. I feel like I have a disabled child...is there anything I can do (butterfly plastic surgery, anyone?)
Re-attaching Monarch crysalis
Well, you did the right thing by just hanging the chrysalis back up. They should be fine tied. I've done it before.
I've also had to hand feed/raise disabled butterflies too because of wings that didn't open properly and one that the declawed cat tore up. There's nothing you can do about it's wings. You are going to just have to either take care of it or release it to live as it would have naturally. (which is hard)
At least it's a smart one since it figured out what to do with the lantana. I've never had a deformed Monarch but have had several BST's. I've had one that would use the flowers but the rest I had to sort of force feed. If it ends up not using the flowers or the gravel then get some watermelon flavored Gatorade and put it on a cotton pad/ball in a little bowl.
Monarch's are always slower at being ready to go, for me at least. That's one reason I love them because we can get them out and take a lot of great pics without them flying off immediately like Black Swallowtails. It will probably be ready to go tomorrow.
If the one with the deformed wing can fly at all you could try taking it outside and seeing how it does. I've had them have such crumpled wings that they couldn't even stand up on a flower. They would just topple over to the ground. It's a pretty pathetic sight. Rather than have it fall to the ground and be eaten by fire ants, I've had to just flush them in the toilet. It's quick and much less cruel than being eaten alive.
Good luck!
Thank you, KK! I'm glad to hear that they take their time flying away...don't know what to expect yet. And in spite of being sad about the crippled one, I had a wonderful day out there with them - I've never had a butterfly sit on my hand before! I put the one with a good set of wings on the lantana bush before it got dark. I'll check on him first thing in the morning.
That's good - the tip about the watermelon Gatorade, especially since I'll be gone most of the day for the next few days. I doubt I could keep him in flowers like that!
BTW, I've never properly introduced myself, I've been mostly lurking, reading this forum since I joined DG in April, I think. My name's Peggy and I live just north of New Orleans, across the lake. If it wasn't for DG I probably wouldn't have ever attempted to raise butterflies or ever known how.
I'm always raving about the site to family and friends but everyone surely thinks I'm a crazy gardener....
Anyway, thank you so much. I'm very cheered up by the thought of trying to raise this little guy. One question - how do you not run out of milkweed? I don't know if it's too late this year to start some from seed (first frost is maybe early Dec.) if I had any seed. I have pods on the plants but they're not dry yet.
Peggy,That's the first thing monarch parents discover right off the bat "how do you not run out of milkweed"lol join the club of people with lots of pots of stems waiting for the leaves to grow back.And they will.So the answer is just have new plants always going.If you need seeds just send me a SASE and I'll hook you up.I started out last Jan/Feb with about 3 or 4 one gallon milkweed plants which were full of seed pods and I didn't have a clue about cats or monarch's or host or larva just knew milkweed was a good thing for butterfly's.Boy did I get schooled.I've since raised and released lots of Monarch's ,Black Swallowtail's,and Gulf Fritillary's and trying to attract more.It sure has turned out to a rewarding hobby.
Welcome Peggy! Feel right at home with the rest of us "crazy" gardeners! lol We've all been called that before!
I'm glad you are feeling better about them now. Believe me, I've been there feeling panic with the disabled children. Running out of milkweed is often one of the things that make us panic! You should have time for more to grow. I let mine reseed and they do great. I have large ones that started growing months ago and some that are just now coming up. You'll probably see a post this fall as someone asks for help finding some.
I think Covington is where a friend of mine bought a house last year. Just across Ponchatrain? (sp?) If you have a neighbor that's a long hair (but respectable and employeed) musician, that's him. lol
I usually end up driving around looking for milkweed for the caterpillars to supplement the plants that I already have....
I have found a favorite road ditch not too far from my house that doesn't get mowed too often.
Do monarchs eat parsley? My swallowtails love it.
nope just milkweed
Wow! Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm loving the butterflies (and the cats and even the milkweed panic LOL).
Don, if you have some mw seeds to share I could really use them. Today, one of my milkweed pods was open and seeds with white fluff on them were coming out, which is great, except I think a bug or a cat tore it open because it's still green. So I'm going to plant the seeds but I want to hedge my bet. I was readin' up on SASEs somewhere on another forum, so please tell me if this is right: I've got a bubble envelope which I address to you and inside I put stamps and a label with my name & address on it. How much postage? I have melampodium and morning glory seeds if you should need any.
KK, thanks for the hand holding when I was down :) I found the Monarch with the bad wing dead this morning. Maybe it's for the best. I think the other one flew today. BTW, your friend was smart to move here, it's a great small town. Lots of musicians and other artists.
I'm going to start searching for wild milkweed, joepyeweed. If it grows in ditches I think I know where to look. And I'll still look at Home Depot, LOL
Well, sad as it is it probably was best that it didn't live a long miserable life. You tried, and that's what counts. You can still cry tho. ;) lol (I did when I first started doing this)
If you go searching ditches for milkweed, be sure to bring your gloves and pruners. You won't be able to dig it up. And be sure and try to get the ones with cats on them! I haven't had to go ditch hunting in a few years. It's much easier in my own yard but there was a certain thrill to doing it. lol I had a small ice chest with ice and water in it. I seem to remember the ice keeping it from wilting.
Don, what kind of milkweed do you have? I've got Tropical, A. curassavica. I don't usually collect the seeds but I'll watch for some before they blow away.
Peggy, on your small bubble envelope put your address and stamps and put that into another and send that one to me. and a note what it's for.
KK I've got A.curassavica lots