Thursday, August 25, 2011

New home for the caterpillars

Yesterday I took the advice of the volunteers at Cox Arboretum and got a new home for the caterpillars:

I rigged up rough partitions to keep them from killing each other, though I suppose they could simply climb over if they chose. The main advantage over using this instead of the individual containers is the cover. When caterpillars prepare to pupate, they often crawl far away from their host plants in search of a good, safe spot. I've heard a number of stories about the odd places hand raised cats will choose - picture frames, chair legs, all sorts of funny locations. So having a secure top to the cage, with plenty of vent slots where the cats can fasten their silk before shedding their skin a final time, is a fantastic feature. Now I won't worry so much about the babies wandering off and getting eaten or stepped on!

The ten day old shed his skin again sometime last night. I think he's fourth instar now (but he might even be fifth!). So I'm really glad I got the new cage when  I did, rather than putting it off. He's starting to get plump and velvety - quite pretty.






Daily size comparison shot for the larger cat:

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