Really Cool
Written: Jun 09 '09
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Pros: 100% hatched, got maximum amount of caterpillars, very easy, terrific instructions
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: This is a great company with a great product. This is an ecologically-safe and educational activity for the whole family.
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| sshelle's Full Review: Insect Lore Butterfly Garden |
My daughter loves science, and when she saw an ad on television for butterfly gardens, she decided she wanted one for her birthday. I wanted to make sure we got one from a reputable company, so I searched on the internet for a suitable butterfly garden. I found insectlore mentioned on a mom's blog, with several other comments about them (all excellent), so I went with them.
When you order these, as with all other butterfly gardens, you get a mail-in certificate for the caterpillars. I ordered the caterpillars and the habitat on the same day so that they would come together (who wants to wait for caterpillar arrival when the habitat is all ready?).
I was really pleased with ordering from insectlore. It was an easy website to maneuver through, and they sell lots of different 'bugs', so they know what they are doing. I like that the butterflies that you get ('painted ladies') are okay to release anywhere in the US, because they live throughout North America. So you aren't releasing anything that will take over native species' habitat. No upsetting the ecology of your area.
The insectlore site said to expect 3-5 caterpillars, and we got 5. They come in a little plastic cup with solid food on the bottom of the cup. They eat the food and then start making silky webbing. You don't need to add anything to the container, and you shouldn't even open it, as you would just invite problems. you also want to keep it out of direct light so that water doesn't condense inside and make the caterpillars sick.
Apparently the silky webbing the caterpillars secrete is all they need to get to the lid of the cup, which has a paper liner. It's a couple of inches above their heads, so I was wondering how they were going to get up there. But within a couple of days, all 5 caterpillars had made cocoons and were just hanging there. My daughter gave me updates every day as to how many were in cocoons. Within a couple of days, all of the caterpillars were in cocoons.
At that stage, you open the cup, remove the paper liner that the cocoons are attached to, and use a safety pin (not included) to pin it on the inside of the mesh habitat. After about a week, the butterflies start hatching. All 5 of ours hatched, and we released them. You can also keep them. Included with the mesh habitat is a green dropper to use to put sugar water on tissue or fresh flowers so the butterflies can feed. The butterfly life span is 2 to 4 weeks, and we didn't want to keep them caged for their whole lives (and then watch them die), so we released them. All of them flew away just fine!
The little instruction book that comes with the kit is terrific. It tells you what to expect at each stage and has a FAQ section with about everything you would ask about the changes you are seeing, the caterpillar 'dung', the silk webbing, what to do if a cocoon falls off of the paper disk, etc. I was glad I read the instructions all the way through, because when the butterflies hatch, there is what looks like blood all over the paper and sometimes in different spots around the habitat. It is not blood, but 'leftover tissue and coloring' from the formation of the wings. It looks like blood to me, so I'm glad I was prepared for that. It could alarm kids if they worry about that sort of stuff, so I would prepare your kids for that sight.
The habitat is mesh, and pops up (velcroes closed after use; during use the straps connect to make a handle). It has a satin-like bottom and a plastic top with a zipper (like what you get comforters and sleeping bags in at the store) that goes halfway around the top. It's not the most convenient design for feeding the butterflies, and I was afraid they might take the opportunity to escape whenever I reached in to feed them, but they didn't escape (or try). I'd prefer an access about halfway up the enclosure for easier access for feeding, pinning the paper on, etc.
Overall, I was very pleased with the habitat. We got 5 caterpillars, which all hatched into healthy butterflies, the butterflies were safe to release anywhere we wanted, and we rinsed out the habitat to use the next time we want to raise butterflies (or praying mantises, or whatever). It was a lot of fun watching the whole metamorphosis process, and my daughter kept watch over it for a couple of weeks, enjoying giving us 'updates' on the process.
I would highly recommend this for any nature-loving kids of any age.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 24
Type of Toy: Science and Nature
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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Epinions.com ID:
sshelle
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 in Pets |
 - Top 1000 |
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Location: Stillwater, OK
Reviews written: 353
Trusted by: 56 members
About Me:
Working on my Piled Higher and Deeper degree. . .
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