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Filed Under : by thesimplethings
Friday, August 13, 2010
So last night we went out to get some more milk weed for our dear caterpillars and low and behold we found another one. This guy was big and fat so I knew it wouldn't be long before he turned. Turns out I was right ;)
I went to put the boys up to bed and checked on them. This guy was on the top, but still crawlinga round. When I came down about 30 min later he had attached himself to the top of the cage and had begun shrinking himself up. So I brought the cage over to the computer desk so that I could keep a close eye on him. Even though I raised one when I was younger, I have never seen the process of transformation so this is all new and soo very exciting for me. If you know me at all, you know that I took pictures of each step...I'm a bit obsessive :) Sorry they aren't very clear. The tank is plastic and doesn't make for good pictures. I didn't want to disturb him too much so I just did the best I could.
I went to put the boys up to bed and checked on them. This guy was on the top, but still crawlinga round. When I came down about 30 min later he had attached himself to the top of the cage and had begun shrinking himself up. So I brought the cage over to the computer desk so that I could keep a close eye on him. Even though I raised one when I was younger, I have never seen the process of transformation so this is all new and soo very exciting for me. If you know me at all, you know that I took pictures of each step...I'm a bit obsessive :) Sorry they aren't very clear. The tank is plastic and doesn't make for good pictures. I didn't want to disturb him too much so I just did the best I could.
If you look to the left side of the caterpillar you can see the silk they use to attach themselves.
Starting to let go
Finally hanging in the J :) It took about 20 min for him to fully let go.
The thing that surprised me, and I'm not sure why was the fact that he's still moving a bit and almost twitching around. You can also see the green from the chrysalis forming under the skin. According to the research I've done they stay in the J for about a day before the chrysalis is fully formed.
My original big guy is still eating like mad, he's not much smaller than this guy at all, just not quiet as plump. My prediction is that he'll start the process in the next 24 hours. :)
Have I mentioned how much I love these caterpillars? I just adore them :)
Go ahead laugh all you want Scott, and apparently we're adding Brian to the list of teasers :)
1 comments:
Your too funny Mel! This is awesome. But for the sake of consistency keep Brian on the teaser list since you can't prove it is him that wrote this praise for what you have done and all the hard work you have out into it.
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