GA received a butterfly habitat for a birthday gift in September, 2007. We ordered the caterpillars in November. They arrived, but were all dead. Poor caterpillars and poor GA. I called the company www.Carolina.com and explained what happened. They immediately sent more caterpillars via Fed Ex 2 day. We got the second batch of caterpillars and a few of them were moving but not all and by the second day there was no movement at all. I waited a few more days to see if they were "in shock". Still nothing. I contacted Carolina again and spoke to one of the biologists there, explained what happened and she graciously sent another batch of caterpillars.

Third times a charm, I guess, because the third batch arrived and there were 6 very active caterpillars. They remained active, eating most of the food in the cup and doing what they should be doing. In the end, 4 of the 6 caterpillars climbed to the top, attached to the cloth and hung upside down to form their chrysalises. We then moved them into the Butterfly Habitat to wait for the butterflies to emerge.....

We did this on Sunday, January 20th. Today, January 25th our first Butterfly emerged!!!

The red stuff is just a waste product, not blood, but it still looks pretty gross. I expect the other 3 will emerge in the next day or two. How exciting!