I pin paper towels on the side of the cage with one end touching the shavings. :!: They have to hang on a vertical surface to straighten their wings. IMPORTANT!!! :!: The moths MUST have something to crawl up on immediately when they come out or they'll be deformed. If you want to raise a lot of moths, you'll need something a lot bigger.

I use this size because it's what I had after my sweet Jackson's Chameleon died. (about 18'x18'x30') It's made of mesh, which allows the moths to rest on the sides during the day and lay eggs on it at night. I used a 38 gallon mesh vivarium for the flight cage. The containers go inside the flight cage to wait for emergence.

When they're good and hard, I move them into community containers, still buried aspen to maintain humidity. The cats dig down to the bottom of the shavings (some people use potting soil) and scratch around for a day or so. Don't use styrofoam or paper cups, 'cause they'll chew right through, and then you'll find find them wandering through your house! (voice of experience, here) Just make sure to seal them - paper towel and a rubber band works. I use the rings to seal the jars with a paper towel so the cats don't wander right out the top! Those big plastic drink cups work, too, if you don't have jars. The aspen bedding sold in pet stores works great, but not pine or cedar. At that point, I put them in individual pint canning jars filled with aspen shavings - one per jar. ('caterpillars' - the entomologist in me hates to call them worms!)Īs soon as the cats get about 3 - 4 inches long, they they stop feeding and do nothing but crawl around - wandering. Invictus gets quite a few, but I try to end up with a minimum of 15 or so big cats. I started with eggs that I bought from Great Lakes (they are terrific!) and raised them on the artificial diet that GL sells. If you're really interested, and you're willing to do the extra work, then here's what worked for me: I've raised a few generations in a row, but kinda lost interest after a year or so because it's not exactly easy.

Download breeding hornworms