Question about providing water for caged monarchs...

[BlizzardNole]

So I'll need to keep a few monarchs for a couple days until a rain system moves through. I have some cut flowers and gatorade in there for them, but I've read that they also need water. How should I provide the water? Should I do it the same way as the gatorade -- soaked cotton balls in a little dish, or would they maybe like some soil from outside wetted down like the red-spotted-purples like? Thanks!

[Mona Miller]

I spray the container with water from a water bottle. I do this two or three times a day to get the sides of the container damp. You can also spray the flowers. Be careful the flowers do not have a hiding spider.

[BlizzardNole]

Thanks Mona! You are the Queen of Butterflies.

I noticed that when I offer gatorade (which I usually have to do by sitting them there and unfurling the proboscis), they sip for a couple minutes and move off, but they spend long periods feeding on the butterfly bush. Is this because they get concentrated nutrition quickly from the gatorade but need to spend alot of time on flowers getting tiny bits of nectar at a time?

I have yet to see them voluntarily feeding on the gatorade, but they'll go after the butterfly bush sprigs on their own all day.

[Mona Miller]

I know that the butterfly bush flowers will vary in the amount of nectar they produce. Maybe they need to probe more flowers to get the same amount of nectar. My Monarchs spend less than a minute nectaring on the gatorade before they fly up, too. I do look at their abdomens after feeding and their abdomens are plump. If a butterfly isn't getting enough water or food, their abdomens will shrink.