Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Some of my hornworms have now turned into moths, I thought it was going to take longer,diapause, so i didnt have time to give them a stick to crawel on. I have 2 cripples that cannot fly, poor little guys. Can they still mate or should i just feed them off??? Also how long will it take the females to lay and they eggs to devople and hatched. Lastly if i dont want to use a plant what is a good way to get them to drink from the sugarwater??

two more have come out and although they flutter their wings it seems as if they cannot fly.. what do i do and will they still mate without being able to fly?

I'm sorry to hear about the crippled moths. I think I said in the article, as well as the posts, the importance of the stick. And that if unsure about diapause length always assume it will happen within 3-4 weeks. Remeberr that the length of diapause is mainly "programmed" during their early larval stages. If you live in a warm region there are other triggers that will be present.

If you have more pupae coming you may as well feed these to your cham (ugh! I cannot believe I just said that!!) As for the seconf two it takes about 7 hours of being left alone on the branch for them to fully expand and harden their wings. So if they had something to climb on jsut let them be over night.

As for feeding without offering flowers - you will have varied results. The rearing box article discusses how to make a feeder for them. I have never used one except when I raised the crippled moth (and mine was a bit different - there are pictures in the ChamNews article), but you have to be pretty dedicated to do it. They should find the sugar-water feeders if they are in a large enough cage where they can fly and hover.

Here is a site for the eclosion video
videos: http://insected.arizona.edu/manduca/mand_adult.html
and here is the rearing box/feeder site
feeder: http://insected.arizona.edu/manduca/Rear_reargbox.html

hope this answers your questions and PLEASE REMEMBER THE STICK!
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she is on the loose!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

thanks for the help lele. I have had two more come out today and i did have the stick ready for them. They are just sitting around though, sometimes they will flap around but overall i dont see much flying, do they only fly to drink and then chill and they dont walk around to much. Really most are just sitting on the screen doing nothing, is this wrong?? Also will they still mate if they cant fly? ill email you pics of my setup if you want..

well for one thing they only fly ar night. If you notice how huge their eyes are it is for their dawn/dusk flying! If a male and female are present they should mate. Some things to look for re: mating. The female will stick out a little scent gland from her abdomen - like a little pencil point - this is where the pheromones come from. The male will "smell" them with his antennae. If you notice this gland on the female you can gently hold the male at his thorax right behind the wing and pass his antenna along the scent gland then release him, this will stimulate him, but more than liklely he will figure it out all on his own - seeing those pheromeons in action is amazing. If I put out a female promethea she will have 6 males trying get to her!! This moth is known to have flown 21 miles for a female. Their sensory organ (antennae) can pick up a single molecule of her sweet perfume!

Did they unfurl their wings fully? Feeding is crucial. If you never see them eating it may be due to their captivity, cage size, location etc. Post or email me pics would be great.

lele
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she is on the loose!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

they are in a glass tank, i think that could be the problem seems like the just hit the walls. whats ur email and ill send u pics

they will see it as open air and slam into it. They also have a 3-5" proboscis (tongue) and need a LOT of flying room. A minimum of a 2'x2'x4' all screen cage. The Manduca Project has a how-to for one a bit smaller, but that would be an absolute minimum. You really need to get them into something larger. Depending how handy you are you could make one quickly and cheaply out of 1/4" hardware cloth (wire mesh) The opeing has to be right size if you want to call in a wild male. Would give deatils now b/c I don;t knwo how much effort you want to put into this. But you need to do something or you will have some very sad and battered moths

Do you have more pupae? You could put them in the fridge while you get something larger setup. I'll send oyu an email...
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she is on the loose!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet