I cannot get any Papilio species to feed.

    Hello,

    I have a Papilio glaucus and polyxenes but both won’t feed. I force fed the P. glaucus but it only ate for around 10 seconds. I am using butterfly nectar with a pinch of salt. If anyone has any idea please let me know. This is why they are not living. I already tried uncoiling the proboscis.

    Thanks,

    Ethan

  • ANZEIGE

    Try feeding at different times of the day. They should sit and drink for several minutes.

    If you are using wild caught butterflies, I have read that keeping them in the dark for a day

    after capture will help them to adjust to captivity, I learned this after capturing Papilio rutulus

    and they did not last long either, sounds similar to your problem.

    Butterflies take a lot of room to pair naturally, I've only hand paired a couple Papilio species,

    but they should stay coupled for at least an hour.

    It's best to not put salt in with the nectar as it can cause them to dehydrate if they drink it all the time, you can try putting some in a small dish with a wet towel on the bottom of the enclosure. Do you use kitchen salt or rock salt, the butterflies prefer to have a mix of minerals, so it might be best to use Himalayan rock salt if you can get it easily, some supermarkets have it.

    To get them feeding its best to have the feeder under a bright light preferably one which has UV and gives of a bit of heat, maybe a 30w-50w reptile basking light? they should feed for about 30 seconds to a minuet, 2 to 3 times a day, unfurl the proboscis and place it in the nectar you should see the end moving about if they are feeding. If they refuse to feed it might be best to change the concentration of the nectar, as if it is too dilute or too strong they refuse it as well.

    Kevin

    Yeah, usually I feed them in the morning. My black swallowtails usually only live 2-3 days.

    Chris

    Hello Chris! Funny. I was told to put salt in the dish. I’ll try doing it separately. Can I expect a wild butterfly to do as well as a raised one? I do have a Uv heat lamp in there. Here is my setup.

    I would think a wild butterfly should be able to survive well in captivity, but like I mentioned earlier,

    after my experience with rutulus, I read that they'll acclimate better if kept in the dark for a day after

    being captured.

    I also think it's only males that need minerals, and perhaps females that are gravid, try gatorade with the

    nectar.

    You do have a large cage there, but it could probably use more light, think about how bright a sunny day is,

    I use full spectrum led lights, they don't produce much, if any heat, and are bright, as well as inexpensive.

    I bought my panel from eBay for about 25 bucks.

    Hi Kevin,

    Yes, usually my cage is pretty bright in the afternoon when the sun shines via my window.

    I’ll try some of your tips.

    Now my Papilio glaucus is acting strange again. It’s becoming very active in the dark. My polyxenes is also struggling. When I turn in the lights it seems to strangely help but I have to keep their day and night cycles. Is there anything I can do?

    For me it depends on the quality of honey used. Of course a cheap Chinese honey kill them in a few days, like basic sugared water. I did not see any problem like these you mention, even when I used already crystallized honey to feed them.

    I have kept mourning cloaks during nearly a year feeder with honeyed water, so for me it is worth it.

  • ANZEIGE

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