wing repairs

[chanceychelsey]

This morning I had a female emerge while I was away from the house. It looks like she managed to get her wings fully expanded but has a "Z" bend in one, leading me to believe she may have fallen while hanging. I believe she is a good candidate for wing repair. I have watched the video on repairing wings, but wonder if anyone else has actually tried it. Since her wing is in the "Z" I believe I will have to repair at 4 different locations. I'm then wondering if that is going to be too much cardboard on one side. Would I then just try to place a couple of pieces on the other wing to balance the weight? They mention cardstock in the video-any particular type anyone has found to use? Any other suggestions on a different material to use? What happens to the cardboard when the butterfly gets wet? Can any glue other than contact cement be used? I will not get a chance to do the repair until tomorrow night, will she be okay without food until then?

I am a little nervous about this, but she cannot survive very long this way.

Any suggestons would be greatly appreciated!

Waystation 927
Tottenham, Ontario

[Mona Miller]

She cannot fly at all? They usually don't need to eat right away, but they do need some water. Mist the cage a couple times a day.

I've done the wing repair. My friend Denise Gibbs taught me how to use the top orange tags from the tagging kits. They are great for wing repair.

[chanceychelsey]

Mona,

How do you use those? Do you cut them, or bend them over the wing so there is part on both sides? I hope my tags get here soon then as I did not keep any of the previous years.

Waystation 927
Tottenham, Ontario

[Mona Miller]

From now on you'll save at least the orange dots for wing repair. If it is torn wing, you can take the whole tag and put it on the wing. I've seen Denise do this when she was tagging Monarchs out on the east coast. If she finds a Monarch with a torn wing, she'll take one of the tags and repair the wing. I think you probably could bend the tag or cut the tag. I think actually you can get those tiny avery dots at the office supply.

Do you have this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah0SBALIc0o

Contact cement and tiny cardboard splints did the trick.
http://www.pajamadeen.com/animals/how-t ... erfly-wing
They fixed its wing and then got it a ride south.

[chanceychelsey]

I did the wing repair on my little girl and put her out on a plant. I had to leave for the day so I checked on her when I got home and could not find her. I am hoping that meant she was ok to fly. I have since been looking for deceased monarchs so I would have some wings on hand for repair. I have found a male who's wings are in great shape. I am not sure how to go about removing the wings and storing them to keep them in good shape and not have them dry out. Any suggestions???

Waystation 927
Tottenham, Ontario

[Mona Miller]

I've heard of people putting them in the freezer, but you'd need to keep them in an air tight container.

[dandjtaylor]

I store all of my frozen flies with at least one good wing for just that purpose, in the freezer. Just Monday, we had a perfect male that had broken the main leading edge support on a wing. I spliced over a small section of identical section using super glue. He was off and up strong within 2 minutes. It was an awesome feeling to save one.

[allaflutter}i{]

I've used the super glue/new wing trick, also. I usually put the "patient" in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or so first to dope him up.