gro-lights,monarchs and milkweed

[paulakcmo]

Hi. My 10 monarchs have all "hatched". I have 2 boys and 7 girls, but now I have a problem. In less than a week they will be mating. I have them in a bridal veil netting hanging cage, but the milkweed I salvaged is not quite mature. It's under a gro-light now. Could I put the light in a ceiling fixture with the cage hanging below and the milkweed inside??? The best lighting for the milkweed is 18" from the fixture, but is this too close to the flutterbys? PLEASE ADVISE FRIENDS!

[psi_chemie]

Sounds like you're trying to go through the life cycle over the winter? Monarch Watch's lab does that, I think. They have pictures of their setup on this site..

http://www.monarchwatch.org/gallery/photo/misc1.htm

Good luck!

[paulakcmo]

Yes, thank you for the gallery photos. I am trying to raise them thru the winter and I think my idea will work out okay. Whew.

[Sarah]

You definitely don't want to put the light in with the monarchs - they will fly up to it and get overheated in it - but putting the cage underneath shouldn't be a problem. To get your monarchs to mate, you will need to give them about 13 hours of "sunlight" every day. We imitate this with special full spectrum lights. Your growlight might work, but if they don't seem to be mating you might need to add more lights. We also recommend putting a humidifier in the same room; they do need a good amount of humidity. Lastly, you should make sure they have an area at least 2x2x2 feet square to fly around in; this seems to be the smallest size to get them to mate. Although it is possible to keep monarchs all winter, it does tend to be a bit of a challenge. We even run into occasional problems here!