Ideas

[blazing star]

I want to go away from a few days. I would be gone for 2 nights in a row. When rearing, I wrap the tips of the leaves in wet paper towel and then wrap this in tin foil. I suspect the leaves wouldn't keep will like this for 2 1/2 days, correct?

[Mona Miller]

The leaves may keep, but the larvae may not have enough food depending on what size they are.

I use a soda or gatorade bottle, cut long stems with leaves and put into those. Stuff papertowel in the top. Make sure the stems going down in are long so it does have enough water. Those are placed inside net containers.

Or you could use a deep plastic container and cut holes just large enough for the milkweed to fit through. Those would be stems with leaves, too. This gives the caterpillars more to eat and will last longer than just leaves.

[blazing star]

Mona,

For how long does a cut stem, with all the leaves, stay fresh? I could maybe pull a plant up by the root and put dirt in the container, also. Would this keep for a couple days? By the way, by then I will only have newly hatched cats.

Thanks, Mona.

[Mona Miller]

I think if you pull up a plant and put it in dirt it would probably just wilt. Just cut a stem (2 ft. long), put that down into a plastic jug (take off leaves from the bottom of the stem that is going into the jug (you can save leaves that you have pulled off the stem for later by putting those in a plastic bag and putting into frig)). I often use a gallon plastic jug. You can put several stems in there and wrap some papertowel around the stems. I fold and wet the papertowel and then carefully wrap it around and through the stems. You don't want to leave any gaps because the caterpillars can drown if they travel down the stems into the water.

If you don't have net containers to contain them, then get some of those 5 gallon paint strainers at the Lowes or Home Depot. If you keep the plants inside, they will definitely last several days. I'd put the net over the top with the leaves and put the caterpillars in and then fasten the bottom around the base of the jug. The net is to keep the caterpillars contained.

[blazing star]

Thanks, Mona!

[lib66laur]

One of my sisters takes her cats - in aquariums - with her when she goes out of town. I just wish I would have seen the bellboy's expression when she explained what he was wheeling up to her hotel room in Chicago!!!

[blazing star]

I live near Chicago. Maybe she can babysit for me? ha ha

Well, the very strange thing is that I just thought about this last night. I am camping out where there is milkweed and my fat big cats just went into a J so I only have on little hatchling. How hard can it be to take him on a little vacation with me?

[skates4marty]

How hard can it be to take him on a little vacation with me?

I know I'm late weighing in, but a friend took 16 on vacation and came back with 20.

[Mona Miller]

How did that happen? Either the milkweed she took had eggs or small larvae or she found some where she was vacationing.

[SammyG]

Hehe, I took some on a short road trip recently, too!

The next time I went out of town for a couple of nights, I decided to leave them at home. I used shallow tubs (from cream cheese, deli counter, etc.) and poked holes in the lids with a metal shish-ka-bob skewer. I filled the tubs with water and the holes from the skewer were just the right size for swamp milkweed branches to fit through. I pushed them down until they were in the water and there were still a lot of fresh leaves on them when I got home 2 days later.

My husband was home looking after them though, just in case they did run out of leaves, and the caterpillars were pretty small at that point (2nd or 3rd instars), so not inhaling giant leaves on an hourly basis But it was nice to know that option exists if I'm not going to be home with them for a short period of time!

[Mona Miller]

http://www.monarchwatch.org/forums/view ... f=6&t=3015
This works great, too for leaving larvae for a few days.