chrysalis help

[jediadopttoo]

I have a chrysalis that is oozing a clear liquid. To me this does not look good. I ended up with this monarch quite by accident and have no idea what I am doing. I innocently bought some milkweed for my garden. One plant came home with two cats on it. I held this plant for four hours on the car ride home. I left the plants outside to plant the following day. Two cats were still there in the morning but when I went to grab the plant after breakfast one was being attacked by a yellow jacket. That plant then came into my house to sit in the window so the other cat would be safe. This was Sunday. Cat got very restless this past Tuesday and Wednesday morning it was in J posistion. Wednesday afternoon the chrysalis formed...way too cool by the way. Yesterday I noticed the sap like stuff oozing from the chrysalis. Please tell me everyting will be okay...my five year old will be devistated...okay, so will I. Chrysalis is on a living milkweed plant in a mesh butterfly house which I had to buy when the little cat was in his "restless phase".

[GBMonarch]

Oh dear, I'm sorry but that's not a good sign at all. There could have been a parasite or some disease on the little cat you brought in. There should be no liquid leaking from the chrysalis at all.

To avoid this in the future, put your plant outside and wait for a female Monarch to lay eggs on it. I take the leaf with the egg on it and put it in a baggie with a barely damp paper towel. It hatches in about 4 days and you have a very, very tiny cat. Then you can raise it inside and avoid the terrors of the outside world. I have successfully raised hundreds of Monarchs over the years this way.

Sorry that your first time out was a bad one, but once you start raising cats from eggs, you'll have much better luck.

[jediadopttoo]

Yep, I didnt think it looked good. The other plants I bought are planted and out in my garden. I actually bought the plants at a nursery just up the road from you in Door County... I was very excited at the selection of milkweed they had. I had been looking at the garden centers around here (Chicagoland) unable to find any.

[Mona Miller]

http://www.learnaboutmonarchs.com/monar ... idfly.html
May be fly predation.

[jediadopttoo]

Yep, that is what the goooo looks like but the cyrysalis is still a perfect looking green. Maybe there is hope ????

[Mona Miller]

Somewhere you have a fly larvae. They eat the inside of the caterpillar. Sorry.