Reptile & Amphibian Forums

okay after about a month i just got some hornworm moths but now i don't know what exactly to do with them so could someone help me out and say what i should do a about food egg laying etc. thanks

Hawkmoths basically feed a day or so, mate and die. When they emerge from their cases they need to be able to hang vertically to unfold and dry their wings and need a large space to fly in or they will not mate. They will drink nectar. They deposit eggs on vertical surfaces such as large leaves. I've never had much luck with them once they emerge but that could be due to larvae health problems, genetic disorders from mass producing the larvae, or because they happened to be all one sex. I tried to set up a refrigerator box cage with panels of window screen for them. Hung strips of rough cloth from the top center next to a small hummingbird feeder and a small light bulb at the top. You could do an online search on tomato hornworm or hawkmoth life cycles that could tell you more. I had large chams who would eat the moths so I usually just fed them once they emerged. They have large spines on some legs.