Someone's butterfly with deformed wings. :(

[TrainingWheels]

My dad's friend who gave me my other two butterflies has just recently given us a butterfly with deformed wings to take care of. I feel really bad for the girl (I'm pretty sure it's a girl, because the lines are so dark, but it's hard to tell because of how badly deformed the wings are), but I'm not sure if it would be best to put him in our garden for the best last few days, or if something else would be better. What do you say, you guys?

[Mona Miller]

I've put them in the garden and let them nectar. When I am out, if they have fallen off the flowers, I put them back up.

Some people feed them and keep them inside until they pass. A butterfly in diapause can live for months. I had a teacher friend who had a fall butterfly that lived until almost Christmas. She called him Monty and fed him Juicy, Juicy.

[applestar]

You don't think it's OE? I don't want to be discouraging....

[Mona Miller]

It is possible that it could be OE, but the butterfly would have to be tested. Not all disabilities are OE related. Some are just birth defects.

[Wyvern]

You don't think it's OE? I don't want to be discouraging....

Of all the deformed adults I got this year only 1 was actually OE related. I know a couple were probably virus related (but I have no way to test them for that). The majority were simply because they fell from their perches before their wings were totally dry and could not get back up before they did dry.

[TrainingWheels]

You don't think it's OE? I don't want to be discouraging....

I don't think so, because the woman had him with other butterflies, and the rest of them were OK. She thinks he didn't get hydrated enough, so his wings didn't form right.

And to make things worse, I've noticed his bottom left leg walking odd. I'm terrified he might have broken it, because he's been trying to fly. Plus, we've been feeding him by soaking the ends of paper towels with sugar water, and having him drink the water from there, and he got his leg caught in it at one point. He freed himself, and it didn't seem like anything came off, but now I'm getting freaked out over it.

In MUCH lighter news, my own butterfly, which we have now OFFICIALLY named Jayne, is doing WONDERFULLY. He's even been practicing flying, and I gave him a slice of apple that was soaked in sugar water, to make sure he'd have an advantage and survive.

[Mona Miller]

http://www.butterflybarn.org/children.html
There's a neat story of a butterfly called "Crimpy". They ended up feeding him with an eye dropper. I bet the eye dropper would keep their wings from getting messed up or getting their legs tangled.

[TrainingWheels]

Oh man... yeah, the disabled butterfly is now named "Tiny Tim." Guess why.

In related news, are there butterfly crutches?

[James Price]

I used to keep crippled butterflies around and try to feed them, or place them on flowers in the yard. Then one day I went out to check on one of them, and found it being devoured by a wasp. No more of that. Kept them in the house for awhile longer, until the day I found one in spasms, trembling and shaking horribly. And there sat the spider that had bitten it, waiting. I had brought the spider in with the flowers. After consulting on this question with the lepidoptera curator at the Milwaukee Public Museum, I have concluded that it is cruel to keep a crippled creature in captivity. I now do what the curator does: immediately and without hesitation, I place them gently in the freezer, where they drift off as painlessly as possible. These are not companion pets or livestock. They are wild creatures. We could all debate which is the more or less humane thing to do, but I personally subscribe to "relieve them of their suffering." Butterflies were meant to fly. If they cannot, then they were meant to die. We do them little favor by keeping them alive, creeping and staggering for a meal.