should I move 5 instar cats to a different habitat?

[Farfallina]

I have about 22 cats in various instars. About 4 of them are in the 5th instar. Should I move them to a different habitat before they J hook? If I do move them, should I put some leaves in the new habitat or should they be done eating?

[GBMonarch]

When my cats get to the 4th and 5th instar, I move them to a large soft castle cage. It has netting they can climb and gives them room to hang from the chrysalis once their out.

I put fresh leaves in for them to eat twice a day and clean up the frass. One by one they climb to the top of the cage to j hook.

They each take their own sweet time, so it's always good to have the fresh food there for the ones who are quite ready to "make the big climb". 22 cats is quite a party! Have fun and good luck with all of them.

[Farfalla]

My method is similar to GB's. I raise the cats in deep dish disposable tupperware containers or little hermit crab tanks. When they are in their about the size of a crayon I take the tops off all the containers and put them in a screened enclosure. I continue to feed and clean them this way untill they climb. Then I remove the containers. There are lots of things you can use...I even saw a zippered pop-up mesh laundry basket in the dollar store that looked like it had potential.
Enjoy!
BTW...I love your "handle"
Farfalla (AKA Hope)

[Farfallina]

Thanks for the tips GB and Farfalla. What I have is an extra large critter cage (clear plastic with a vented lid) and a 2' tall collapsable mesh butterfly pavillion from Insect Lore (my DD and I hatched some painted ladies earlier this summer). So I will move my large cats to the mesh tower and make sure they have plenty of fresh leaves until they J hook. I have a stick in there too just in case they want to hang from it. I'm wondering how many large cats I can put in there.

Farfalla, have you read the story of Farfallina and Marcel? It's one of my DDs favorites!

[Gwynne]

GB, I love the castle that you recommended to me. I found the large one was just too large, but I have two small ones now.

[Farfalla]

have you read the story of Farfallina and Marcel? It's one of my DDs favorites!

Yes I have! I am a preschool teacher and it is always one of my groups favorites! "Farfalla" is Italian for butterfly....(Farfallina must mean little butterfly. )I wonder if Marcel can be translated from another language to mean "goose"?

We have had up to 4 cats in the Insect lore pop up tents before we got our large enclosure. I think it would fit a few more,though.