How to Build a Butterfly Enclosure

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How to Build a Butterfly Enclosure

How to Build a Butterfly Enclosure. Keeping a butterfly in captivity doesn't require an elaborate enclosure. You can build a simple cage with materials such as netting, mesh or a cardboard box. Acquiring butterflies to keep in the enclosure can also be simple. Purchasing cocoons or pupae and allowing them to hatch inside the cage is usually easier than trying to catch wild adult butterflies.

Things Needed

2 yards bridal or thin nylon mesh netting, 36 inches wide
String or cord, 2 feet
2 circles cut out of corrugated cardboard, 14 inches diameter
Hot glue
Alternatively:
Cardboard box, 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot
Fine mesh screen, 2 to 3 feet
Duct tape
Long branch or twig

Step 1

Build an enclosure out of netting and cardboard circles. Fold the netting into thirds, creating a rectangle. Cut the string or a cord so you have one long and one short piece. Tie off the bottom of the netting, using the short piece. Put one of the 14-inch cardboard circles in the netting near the tied-off end. Create the enclosure's floor by placing the circle horizontally, with the tied-off end near the circle's center. Tie off the top part of the netting with the long piece of string, leaving enough length on the ends so you can use it to hang the enclosure from the ceiling. Create a ceiling by placing the other cardboard circle in the netting near the top, parallel to the floor. Use a small amount of hot glue on the circle's edges to keep it in place. Use the overlapping parts of the netting as a way to move things into and out of the enclosure.

Step 2

Build an enclosure out of a cardboard box and mesh screen, if you'd prefer a butterfly cage that can sit on a shelf or be moved easily. Tape shut the flaps on the top and bottom of the box, and then decide which side will be the front of the enclosure. Cut out a square area, leaving a 1-inch border around the hole so you can attach the screen. Also cut a small door in one of the sides. Make sure the door is large enough to get your hand through, and cut only three sides, keeping one side of the door attached to use as a hinge. Tape the screen to the outside of the enclosure, along the 1-inch border you cut earlier.

Step 3

Place a stick or branch in the enclosure. In the wild, butterfly pupae will spin their cocoons to hang down from the branches of trees and plants, so you should provide them with something to simulate this in the cage. They will also need a place to perch when they hatch, as well as after they begin flying around. Prop up or attach the stick so it's at a diagonal across the enclosure.

Warnings

Choose a type of netting or mesh screen for your enclosure that allows you to easily see through. If the screen is too closely woven or too dark, you won't be able to see your butterflies.

Warnings

If you purchase cocoons to place in your enclosure, they may come already attached to sticks. Do not pull them apart before putting in the cage; put the stick into the cage with the cocoons attached. Trying to pull the cocoon off the stick may tear it and kill the immature butterfly inside.
Whether you have cocoons, pupae or live adults in your enclosure, try to identify the adult form of the animal. Learn what it feeds on, and provide it with that type of food (or a plant that's as closely related as possible). For some butterflies, there are no food alternatives. For example, the caterpillar stage of the beautiful Monarch butterfly will eat only the milkweed plant. Adult Monarchs eat only liquids, such as plant nectar and sugar water.