Raising Monarchs - How To Feed Adults (Help The Monarch Butterfly) 

i have a rescue butterfly (peacock species) who was in my back garden. he's been with me about 7/8 months now!! i didn't know they lived that long. he only has one antenna, one of his feet is damaged, and his wings are also damaged so he can't fly. he lives in a tank with native plants in (they are thriving! though i have to water them gently everyday) and i try and feed him as much as i possibly can. i never knew butterflies have so much personality till i got him, he is always cleaning his face and wiggling his antenna and generally just being cute. he's very comfortable around me now, he sits on my collarbone for warmth and likes me taking him outside to sunbathe. i think he must have been almost caught by a bird or maybe a gust of wind and that's where he got his injuries from? anyway, he is in good hands.

I came across a butterfly in my yard laying in the grass. Her front legs weren't working and she couldn't fly. I brought her and she still alive and thanks to your video I am feeding her at this point. I'm hoping feeding her will help I've named her Jemma. thank you so much for your video. I'll send pictures if you want I'm not sure what's happened to her or why she only has two legs and cannot fly. Thank you again. BTW I have followed your videos and raised 30 butterflies this year hoping to help in your efforts. It's been a great experience.

This was helpful! I had a female that eclosed on 10/16/22! And it was quite cold outside for several days, so I made the honey solution (the monarch wasn’t interested in my old coneflowers or mums), then used a pin to draw her straw out to pull from the small sponge with the honey solution. I think she drank, but I was able to release this past weekend when it warmed to 75 on Saturday! Halleluijah!

I did this for the first time... and was so nervous!!!!!!!! But it worked! And my butterfly was very happy. Thanks so much for these vids.

So in the beginning, you said “you might wanna spend some time with it after you emerged it from egg to adult” it’s truly incredible cause after I let the butterflies go, they stick around my area and lay eggs! I feed them in cause of bad weather, (wind, rain, etc) and I have to keep them in 3 days at least. Love your video Rich!!💕💓

Rescued a monarch butterfly on my evening walk. It was in the middle of the road flapping it's wings but not going anywhere. The wings aren't damaged at all it just seems tired/hungry. So i pick it up and took it home with me. Thank you for this vid, it helped me feed this butterfly.

This is so cuuuuute I LOVE when they open their wings while they’re eating

Thanks for the honey water tip. I live in southern Alabama now, from California, where I helped out the Western Monarchs. The warm season last a long time here and my caterpillars were given more milkweed to supply their veracious appetite . Then the adults kept dropping by to lay more eggs, so I ended up with more caterpillars out of season..To keep everyone warm, I tented my large flower box with clear painters plastic over curved arches and clothespins. Then as winter approached more covers and blankets, topped with plastic to keep them dry from the rain. All of the covers are removed each day so the caterpillars and milkweed can get sunshine. So far ....they’ve done very well. At this time Feb. 8th, I have 4 chrysalis and 2 end stage cats, and the milkweed is thriving in the box , with some recently purchased nectar flowers, and ready for the normal time of year when the Monarchs are plentiful. I know it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature, and I do understand that it’s not responsible to grow them out of season. Supposedly some of the Monarchs stay the winter around here in Fort Morgan and the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Ala. Hope my babies find their way. The pandemic has really kept me at home so I was able to observe their life cycle so closely that I learned more about them that I never knew. For instance their beautiful geometric eggs were a complete surprise. And their bright green jeweled chrysalis, looks just like an earring, with gold. There’s plenty more about these gorgeous and hardworking pollinators, to be discovered. Everyone needs to help out with milkweed so they will not go extinct. They need to be protected. Thanks again for your passion.

I’m in South Florida- back in December I released 3 monarch’s. The caterpillars came with the milkweed plants I bought. Well one of the butterflies hasn’t gone too far. She comes around a lot and likes to look into the screened patio where she was born. As if she remembers. She flies around in circles around me as if she’s saying hello. So she left a lot of eggs for me. I started with 25 but a few didn’t make it past a caterpillar adult I opened the door in the cages so if they want they can get out of the small cage and hang on the screen panels to air their wings and do their thing if they enclose when I’m not home. Plus, I want my private time with them before I release them. I’m so excited. And the weather here has been perfect

Thank you so much, Rich, for putting this valuable information out for consumption! It was challenging for me to educate myself on how to care for “Fluff”, our little guy we found on the sidewalk in September 2019 - he had likely had a collision with a car, and had 3 of 4 wing parts damaged. My daughter and I chose to help him. We placed him on a flowering plant for several days and, though he couldn’t fly, he seemed to be getting stronger. It began to get cold (I live in the northeast), so we took him in and learned all we could about monarch care (this was our first experience with caring for a butterfly - though we are nature enthusiasts, we believe in a hands off approach). Your site and videos helped me immensely in my learning curve! Fluff died yesterday, after spending 107 days with us. A very special time, made easier, thanks to you!

thank you! i found a butterfly with a bent wing and now i have to look after him

Hey! today i´m freeing my first Monarch Buttefly, thank you so much!

Love your Videos. I am a 10 year Honeybee Keeper in Western NC. I seen this Video about feeding the Monarchs. May I add to the Honey part? The Monarch Raiser if they are going to feed their Butterfly's Honey: They should buy Honey from a Well Trusted Local Bee Keeper. The honey you buy in the store is 90% of the time is not true Honey, It has Honey in it , It also has anything from white sugar water to maple syrup to chemicals (herbicides, insecticides, ...) in them. Thanks. Keep the videos coming. I am starting to study more about Monarchs and will try to raise some this summer 2018.

Thank you so much for your response. I did keep her and feed her for 2 weeks and 3 days. She has passed this am, but not without experiencing outside, I took her out every single day to hang out in the milkweed and the garden. Thanks again.

My wife and I are raising Monarchs here in Australia, so there’s not much reliable information available locally. We really appreciate your informative and entertaining videos. All the best! 👍

Hey Rich,what a wealth of information your channel has. I live in southern California and started my project on raising monarchs in Feburary 2020! Just released my first five monarchs out of about 25. What a GEAT experience to see them fly way with such anticipation gliding on the air currents! Absolutely Beautiful!! I will be expanding my efforts in the near future for more new flyers of the golden black monarchs!! Please keep those videos rolling! Thank again for all that you do for the monarchs. Jack and Lori.

Thank you so very much for all that you do! I have been raising Monarchs for nearly 16 years now, and you have taught me some very important things that I never knew until this summer.

My 6yr old son and I came across your videos. We live in Texas and it’s The 1st of November and we currently have 7 caterpillars we are raising. We will be giving them this mixture to try and help them make their trip. Thank you for all the great information and tips.

Just found a monarch yesterday with a broken wing that's beyond repair. I'm keeping it because I don't have the heart to let it die. Have been using confectioners sugar, but will get some honey too. Thank you so much for this video, I'd like to make it as healthy and happy as possible.

I want to thank you! And I hope you receive this comment. Generally, your series is my go to with Monarch Butterfly questions. This morning, I had a butterfly who wasn't flying after about 2 days... maybe a little more. I put her on a flower, didn't eat. So, I did exactly what you said in this video. It was easy, and she drank the honey water. Back on the flower, nothing. I did it one more time with the honey water... waited....And she finally flew away! Thank you so much!

Hey Mr.Lund with the help of your videos I raised 6 gorgeous monarch butterflies and your videos helped me in every step. Thank you so much for doing this cant wait to do this every season every year.

Thank you so much Mr. Lund. This video was so helpful, and it worked! Thanks to some nasty storms in the area the day after she eclosed, we had to keep one of our monarchs for a little longer than we'd intended, and this video was a life saver, possibly quite literally. Plus, feeding a monarch by "hand" was truly a magical experience, and it still brings me joy everytime I think about it.

I am becoming an enthusiast after the successful raising of a butterfly last fall. So this year I have expanded from one milkweed plant to many, thanks to nature and have built a large butterfly garden. Thanks for all the information, hoping to help lots more this summer and fall.

Thank you so much for this! I followed your directions and she (a migrator) is feeding like a champ! The weather will not warm up in Wisconsin for several days so we will be doing this for a few days. It’s also a nice bonding session between us. ❤️

Thank you!!! We had a butterfly hatch a couple of days ago but the weather has been cold and rainy and I didn't want to let her out. I gave her some flowers but she wasn't interested. But I did exactly what you said and she gulped it right down! So cool!

Thank you for all your videos , I’ve learned ALOTTT about how to properly care for the Monarch , you perfectly articulate your instructions and information so it’s clear and concise👌🏼 definitely grateful for you and your efforts

What beautiful butterflies. Thank you, for the tutorial on how to feed them.

Thanks for the wonderfully clear & succinct instructions on this! I've been rearing butterflies & ornamental moths for about 40 years -- it was a perfect hobby for me when our babes started coming along -- and I continue to do so, though mainly monarchs & Eastern swallowtails. Usually about 150 per year. One of your respondents below spoke of his successful J-formation guys suddenly losing their necessary-for-pupation form and dangling down, straight-arrow. This has inexplicably happened to me a few times as well, to my great despair. HOWEVER, the last time it happened I decided to step in for Mother Nature and try to manually "crank" him into the pupation. That is, because the tip of his head was already a bit green, I thought he might be ready to pupate, if only he were in the correct position. So I cupped my hand and let his helmet-head repose there, brushing lightly against my palm until the body was slightly bent, in J-formation. Then I gently revolved my hand, clockwise, in a slow and steady rotation, round & round. My intuition was that the simulated gyrations would stimulate the green-coating release (forgot the name for that). So I sat there cranking for upwards of three minutes, finally noticing the encouraging start of further greening. . . until, maybe about 10 minutes later . . . VOILA! Total coverage/success! I can't tell you what I hero I felt like! S/he eclosed normally! Try it! ~ Jo-Ann Langseth

I found one just laying on my back porch so I brought it in... I’m gonna try this. Thanks !

I keep reading caterpillars don't drink water. It's very dry where I live and I was misting the leaves of cuttings to increase humidity a bit. A droplet about the size of the Caterpillar's head landed in front of it. When it found the drop, it put its face in the drop and I watched the drop slowly disappear. The drop did not seem to have moved over the body due to surface tension. I will spare the rest of the details but I've now actually watched this behavior several times and there is a video "caterpillar drinking and eating leaves" which shows what I witnessed the first time. The last time, I could see the jaws moving but the drop was too big to get visibly smaller. However, due to the jaw movement and the fact that the cat left his face in the drop for several seconds, I'm pretty sure it was drinking. If nothing else, my thought was "it cant hurt since they would likely ingest very small droplets of dew in nature."

Hi! Our 1st butterflies “hatched” today and we are so excited. Your videos made it possible! This one may be the best yet as we are in Florida and are going to have storms for the next several days along with very high winds. Hoping this can hold them over until they can fly safely 💕

Mine just hatched its December! I just set him on a house plant with small vines. I dilute the organic honey with water and let it drip on the vine next to him and he drinks it. You don’t have to grab his wings or use a toothpick. They only need a small drop at a time not a huge bowl of honey water. ❤

So glad to have found your video. I have several monarchs in an enclosure and knew that I could not release them tomorrow because it will rain all day. You saved my day - or should I say you saved my monarchs. 🤗

Thanks Mr. Lund , for all your educational videos ! They helped me along the way on my journey . First time for me to raise caterpillars to 26 beautiful all healthy butterflies. It was a lot of learning and work but well worth it . This is a wonderful hobby but you definetely need time and commitment . My husband thinks I am crazy I have been redesigning my landscape for them . I have been going to friends and neighbors to offer my seedling from the plants , nobody want to give themselves trouble it seems I would have to go in their yard and plant it myself !!! I will do it at my son's house , he has a wild backyard .thanks a million !🦋🦋🦋😇

Thank you so much

Thank you for all of your videos!!! I have learned so much from you! You are a amazing teacher!This was my first year raising monarchs. Definitely not my last! I cannot thank you enough!!!!

Hi Rich, Just wanted to let you know that we've followed your advice this entire summer and successfully raised, hatched, and released 32 Monarchs this season, so far. THANK YOU so much!!! This feeding advice was particularly welcome since Fall has definitely arrived here in Ontario, Canada and we need to delay releasing our final four butterflies for 2-3 days until the weather is more suitable. We followed your feeding instructions "to a T" and everything went perfectly! Awesome videos. :-)

Love your energy and thank you for the useful information. I’m just trying to attract more butterflies to my garden.

I have learned so much from your videos. They are fantastic. Thank you for helping me release over 50 monarchs!

I find a lot of butterflies throughout my day mostly in the morning who sometimes I think are injured or maybe it's due to the wetness in the morning that tend to just be sitting on the ground just standing there and a lot of times I find it hard to figure out what to do I try not to touch their wings because when I was little and through most of my life everybody told me that if you touch the wings it could take off the powder or whatever that helps them fly so I try not to and I'll have them crawl onto my hand and I try to put them somewhere in the sun I don't know if sometimes it's an energy thing and they need some sort of nectar or something usually when I try to make a sugar water compound they don't really go for it that's actually what had me stumble upon your video but I think this is awesome and I will most likely be subscribing and checking out more of your videos

I love love your series on the monarch. This is my first year to raise monarchs and yourvideos helped me so much. I live in central Ontario Canada and am worried about releasing when the weather is getting cooler as we are into Sept and most of my nectar flowers are just about gone. This video was a life saver for my beloved butterflies and my piece of mind that they will be strong enough to make their migration. Planting milkweed next spring so happy to see that video also on putting elastic bands on pods. Had 13 eggsthis year hope to find more next year. Thanks for all your video they sure helped this newby.

This is my first time raising wild monarchs. One eclosed sometime through the night and fell to the ground. Unfortunately, the monarch was unable to pump fluid into either wing. I'm so glad I have been watching your videos. He took the nectar well this afternoon. Thank you for your help!

Thank you so much for this video! It’s December here in north Florida and we found a monarch chrysalis on one of my plants that I moved in to my house to protect it from the cold. It finally emerged today and I had no clue how to feed it before I release it in the morning. Thank you from me and I’m sure from the butterfly, too!

That’s awesome! Thanks for the video. My wife and I found very useful.

Love all of your videos on raising Monarchs. This is my first year raising them and with the help of your informative videos, I was able to raise 4 this year! The first was an egg that a female deposited onto my milkweed. I just happened to look out into my backyard at that very moment! The next 3 were caterpillars, 1 in the 2nd instar and the other 2 in the 5th. I've released 2 so far (1 female, 1 male) and just waiting for the other 2 to emerge from their chrysalides. Now I can give them some food once they emerge so they will have enough strength for their long trip. Thank you so much!!

Thank you for your help with the honey recipe. Few days ago I found what looks to be an Anise Swallowtail butterfly and think it had just emerged and unfortunately his wings are a little wrinkled. He's almost perfect but I guess a little bit of wing wrinkle prevents flying. He stays outside on the flowers during the daytime and I bring him in at night and feed him. He seems slow today and I don't think he has much time left. Your other video on what to do for a disabled butterfly was very helpful. Thanks for your help and keep up the great work as butterflies are really one of Nature's miracles

Thank you - this video helped me learn how to feed a poor crumpled wing butterfly I have. I was able to feed the butterfly successfully!

I have 3 monarchs that eclosed during our FL coldspell! Your video helped me feed them, I was really having a hard time with this. Hopefully, they will be released in a couple of days. THANKS!!!

You Sir are awesome! Thank you for caring.

Thank you.... hurricane coming and I have many soon to eclose... was worried about feeding them until weather will allow us to release! Your videos have been an essential part of helping me do this!

Wonderful piece of work Congratulations

This was an amazing experience shes still hanging out in our home she seems to be getting her energy back. She been super close to me. I wish I could share my video

Beautiful work I love it enjoy Every moment of it I am in this hobby love it

Again, thank you for sharing your experience with us. I have fed more than 5 monarchs on winter or raining days and after that they look much better. I enjoy raising them and we try to help them

I found a super monarch on my grass September 11. She struggled to maintain balance and couldn’t fly so I brought her in. Her wings look a bit deformed and I’m feeding her this honey solution couple times a day. Thanks for all you do to help our winged buddies.

Thank you for your much appreciated advice.

OK I will admit I am watching all your videos,...this old lady has her first two caterpillars.. planted tons of milkweed, and is fascinated! Such a peaceful way to relax! Thanks so very much! I may be addicted!

I raise monarch caterpillars in my classroom each year, and I always cut an orange in half and lay it in the bottom of the enclosure when one ecloses. The butterfly sticks their tongue in to drink the juice with no help from me. I don’t know where I learned it, probably another teacher.

Thank you for this video... love it and this helps my daughter!!

Thank you SO MUCH! I am a true novice with 5 chrysalides in an aquarium that will hatch in a few days. So exciting. I will be planting milkweed again next year and will help as much as I can.

Hi Mr. Lund, I came across someone asking what to do with a newly enclosed Monarch this late in the season. I sent a text telling her to give it Sun for energy and locate a suitable flower if there is one available. I sent her a link to this video which is the best advice I could give. I have 2 chrysalis left. I don’t know that they will enclose because it’s been well over a week and a half. I learned about raising monarchs from an environmental science class that a student I assisted was in. The students raised their Monarchs by feeding milkweed, cleaning the enclosure, and waiting for the chrysalis to enclose. The students tagged and then released their Monarch. It was an awesome and rewarding experience. I raise monarchs in the summer here in northeast Pennsylvania. I have native milkweed growing in my yard. I collect eggs as soon as I see monarchs in the summer. Thanks for the informative video. I am going to use your honey/water method from here on.

I have raised monarchs for 5 years but have always been able to release them the same day-till this year! Because of weather, we have had to keep a few in our house for 2 days. I tried your method of feeding them and it worked great! The second time we tried to feed them they actually started to put their proboscis out looking for the honey water! Waiting till later today to release the 10 we have in the house. THANKS FOR YOUR INFORMATIVE VIDEO!!!

I found a fallen cocoon on the ground and three days after the monarch came out deformed so I have to care for him I named him Mark and your videos help me so much keep it up

Thank you so much for this video. We are taking care of a monarch that has injured wings and cant fly right. This video is really helpful

Hi. I’m in Florida It’s October 10, 2020. And I realized it’s late season for monarchs to hatch. I have 2 that came out of the chrysalis this morning. I’m so glad I found this information.

Thank you Mr. Lund❤️ Happy Thanksgiving 🦃

So glad I found your video. I rescued a butterfly on my morning run. It was definitely hungry! Your method worked perfectly!

Today I found a butterfly that was cold and was sitting in the grass for hours so I took him home and I make like little habitats with like dirt grass and tree branches in jars and I had a huge one so I put them in there and I'm trying to learn how to take care of him for the winter so thank you for this video!

Today I came across a monarch on the ground. It was on mulch in a garden that apparently had many caterpillars. Today was extremely windy and the monarch’s top part of the wings on both sides are over 50% damaged, one of them is so curled and twisted backward. One of her back wings is damaged too. She was getting pushed around by the strong winds that I had to take her. I hadn’t the heart to leave her. Didn’t know I’d adopt a butterfly today! But I’ve got her in an enclosure with some grass, flowers, watermelon and some sticks for her to climb on. She seems to like being on my finger a lot and she’ll hop back on me after I struggled to get her off, haha. But I’m afraid this girl’s wings are beyond repair. I’m worried about how living in an enclosure will affect her though. I’m afraid she’ll be unhappy because she’s not fulfilling her instinctual need to fly to Mexico. Do you have any suggestions? I’d appreciate any advice. Thank you!

Hi Rich.My Milkweed plants are all covered with beautiful flowers and the Monarchs are returning to lay eggs.Started raising Monarchs end of last month.I found 21 eggs which I raised 19 0f them to adult hood and tomorrow the last to survive will be set free. 2 went into Chrysalis and them turned black after a few days. I'll take that average any day. Have another 15 eggs in O G take out containers. I have a very high tech breeding set up.Will move the cats to larger jugs when they are 1/2 inch long. I am also collecting seeds from my plants which now takes it to another level. And the beat goes on. Your season must also be getting into high gear also. Take care and good luck this season. J Costello

My grandchildren came across a Monarch butterfly and thanks to your video we know how feed it now.Thankkyou for your help.

Thanks for this!! I’m in Southern California and we have loads of chrysalises within a few feet of our milkweed plant this year but one put itself in a bad spot that fell down and I brought it inside. It came out yesterday evening and I put it in my baby’s pack-n-play with something on top lol. Of course the weather today turned cloudy, cold and windy so I wanted to see if I could feed it until the weather cleared up a bit! Thanks for the video!

Thank you for this great video

I found a monarch on my front lawn that wouldn’t fly even when its wings and legs were intact. I gave it some honey/water solution and it seems to be doing much better now!

Thank you you’re being so helpful to me and my little guy

I just found this video.. I found a monarch with bad mangled and missing wings in my backyard yesterday evening. It is drinking up the nectar so well! Thanks for making these videos. I doubt I'll be able to patch up the wings but at least I can keep it comfortable for now.

Always great informative videos. Appreciate you sharing all this useful info. I have a question for ya. Should one be concerned what water they use in the mixture? I mean, much local water has chlorine in it. Would spring/bottled/or filtered water be the mix to use with the honey?

Thank you!! Wish I would have seen this before.. I just gave Gatorade to 2 monarch butterflies that were struggling with the cold front we got today!! Tomorrow morning I’ll try the honey solution and hopefully release them in a few days when it warms up again!! Greetings from TX!!

Thank you!

Hi! I accidentally got into breeding monarch butterflies (I got some plants which had catterpillars on them!) and everyday I'm more amazed at how incredible this animals are! Watching them go through all the stages is magical and wonderful, and your videos are being really helpful for me as I have a lot of doubts and concerns ^^' now my butterflies are about to emerge, I hope everything goes fine! Thanks a lot for your channel and keep up the good work! Best from the Canary Islands (Spain) ^_^

Thank you so much!! I have one that has a crooked wing and I was so worried!!

Thanks so much!!!!! Rain here all day and night! Three have emerged this morning. I expect at least 3 more later today or tomorrow. This will help.

Thank you so much for telling us how we feed them

I love this video,thank you...I have two caterpillars left and it's beginning to be harder to find food for them...Their almost to cocoon stage,but this will definitely help with their journey down south....I love Monarch butterflies actually butterflies in general...I've gotten everyone involved ,well I was gonna take some butterflies down to a nursing home and allow the elderly set them free but it's hard to tell when their going to hatch but this video of how to feed them will also help with that.

Thank you so much for your video series on the Monarchs! They have been so helpful my second year of raising them. Today I fed my 16th butterfly this season (first time feeding) and released it. I have 4 more that will hopefully eclose soon as it's starting to get cold here in MN. I plan on feeding them before their long journey. My question is, does the honey have to be organic? I used 100% raw unfiltered, but not organic. I have organic agave nectar in the cabinet...would this work as well?

no doubt this video is amazing, some times we find injured monarchs here, this would really help

Thanks I'm going to need this.

I found three butterflies singing backgrounds and flying

I had a black swallowtail that has been overwintering in my garage eclose. It's supposed to rain all day today and tomorrow. Thanks for the helpful video!

I rescued a deformed butterfly in my biology class after the butterfly project. We released all the non deformed ones thankfully :). I feed my painted lady butterfly sugar water and a little bit of Snapple.

thanks so much for this video...there is helpless butterfly which its wings are bent in my house so this is helpful for what it can eat

Thanks so much. Have one girl that emerged today, late October 2019 in San Jose, CA. I will feed her tomorrow and send her on her was to the coast of CA for winter.

Thank you so much I did the butterfly stage with my home daycare we have 6

Thank you this helped me so much

Thank goodness for your videos. Live in Florida. Thought i would give raising Monarchs a try as a hobby. Did get carried away with the number i collected . So i have two that have emerged and they are beautiful. Other google sites recommended orange slices , no particular time to set free etc. so now i made the honey solution, and will feed them as it s going to rain today. But i must have 20 more getting ready. I thankfully learned they may be to close together. In addition i used the pop up netted laundry bins which worked out great. The Monarch here are still producing eggs . It's about 70 daytime but 60 at night. I am guessing that they know best and i can release mine. Again thank you so much

thank you

That's awesome that you tagged him. Did you look up any of them to see if they were found and where?

Thank you for the insight..I have reared a couple dozen with very good success.Recently had two in row had wing issues .. one released as you outlined .the other is living in patio ..but it will be time to put him on a flower.as he is in decline.thanks for the fyi

Very Good!

Hi! I’m a big fan of your videos, they are very informative and helpful! Also dig your T-shirt collection. :) I’ve only been raising monarchs few weeks, and on a much smaller scale, and I have the first one that needs to be kept inside at least 48 hours due to weather. I’m SUPER nervous about the feeding shown in this video, specifically catching/holding the monarch and using the toothpick to extend the proboscis. I’m not the most steady handed person and it gets worse when I’m nervous. I’ve read elsewhere that you can hang a saturated sponge or cotton pad from the top of your enclosure, or stick a slice of watermelon in there. What are your thoughts on these methods? Sticky legs are no good, but a damaged proboscis is no good either. Thanks in advance!!