Twitching - I don't like this

[lib66laur]

Now I am hyper-vigilant about my cats. I got eggs from my sister and milkweed from a pesticide-free area. One of five cats that hatched about the same time, 2-3 days ago, is twitching, particularly his back end. (I'm certain there's a term but I want advice more than I want to be correct!) He keeps circling his head around to look, it seems. I've isolated him but what the heck? Is this yet another problem I'm going to have ??

[Mona Miller]

This is how it goes. Nothing is perfect. I had someone say that she didn't want to raise any more when hers died. I like to try to find out what happened. But, the deal is when one is acting funny, you need to isolate them from the rest of the caterpillars. There is so much that can go wrong, but so much that can go right, too.

They usually have that type of behavior when another caterpillar is close to them and they are trying to push that one away.

[lib66laur]

Thanks Mona, I appreciate that you are always here to help. This has just been such a crummy year - hardly any activity at all, then earwigs claimed some of my eggs - I still don't know how they got in the aquarium - then the pesticide... So disappointing. My little twitcher has settled down. Good? Bad? We'll see....Thanks again!

[Mona Miller]

The earwigs hide in those closed leaves at the top of the plant. I wear plastic gloves and squish those little demons.

The reward is each and every Monarch that matures and flies away!

[terrifly]

I have been doing the isolating also..I hae so many containers markers with an i ..I feel like a nut I just lost a whole batch of 16 cats to something not sure just yet so I am super parinoid now.
One thing I have noticed if they twitch their heads they sometimes do that to sound or vibration especially the ones closest to pupation. Because mine do that when I speak close to the tent. Even ones in other tents they do the same. I have to remember to be quiet.
Terri

[blazing star]

One of my cats, last year, was doing that and frass was caught on his rear. It was dried and he couldn't expel it so I put something on the frass so when he moved it dislodged it. I know, it doesn't sound pretty.

[Mona Miller]

Spray a fine mist of water, that will help soften it.