Hello! Yesterday I found an injured American lady (by my guess) butterfly outside — it seems to have a small tear in its wing. I brought it inside last night from the cold and gave it a sugar water cup. It doesn’t seem to have actually drank any of the sugar water, and is now mostly just lying on it…

Sometimes you can very gently use a toothpick to uncoil the proboscis and direct it to sugar water. If you try this be very patient and use a steady hand. If a butterfly is really exhausted sometimes it’s unable to drink on its own. Sugar water should perk it up. As for enclosures, I like <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/y.js?ad_domain=amazon.com&ad_provider=bing&ad_type=prad&eddgt=SmV2IO8XdrrPq0VWl6sCtQ%3D%3D&rut=f699fd5fca3ad62f1324542a08e8a365f6baf2315cfa1302a750ad9c456434ad&u3=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Faclick%3Fld%3De8KUe_s5nYM_ERpU8OviSO_DVUCUzDzR296rS6XlkaBjqS%2Dafixqk6G0Hvueay2Z5xmFVytc8k3kHsF5bI50G39oHuzjSh9a3xVi%2DxnqC3HDX7pV4dAn8kEO2o5pPAtG3dx5eXgiHB_28T1EMaUgjHnr4xS9igMuJr%2DHOBCSltEQW3Z4_CgEx41xHJ0CVZl5yEKrZTQR7fmDkemr8ranT_YEXnTrKAkXEBljx2RBOgzquP7wyhk8zt99DA9%2DOyyev0hWvggY4pzEcNo1THR1R__o3rHqEJrHXyTP6mGwikX%2Ds4RC672lDM5uYx0LmOjFK5SCnS4GpP6bj8VXnXm_3UpK_Tf0eB4TWXy12c2xHu15wTn8sY83UCF5v5KR4AavrneOQuLt4UfLORBQX%2D4jX9W4dE1uvChw44WvPaaXd5A7g1bG7q5OWyuXnMRDwHNQK3hrkzBvnAvoDsRWsFMyu_VJNMNTIfCef7Lk51BC5DBtLG0u9CVWtisoIEtwEUma1Nq7fEXgruzWdkV7Ei24mCmhUL3SklEHovpjvo72PMRLjNrlndWeeAEO6FXYP4k48i1bVCr%2DxppLyGZdjKvF21eyzo_nuku_yQPhZzJKe0SPASTIL4yfFmnPxWg3csfL_aMxl41940gqi42IMU8e_sNcDcjyKIcfF2aZuySYUXdvwq3hlI838AyQru7Ls16OApS9B2Uo0s8YmIxsHVCrTsTjiFIcYzLQMBSqgg9a8e52tLwFw0ylEyiWNYoHw9k9O3Q2lBRQ%26u%3DaHR0cHMlM2ElMmYlMmZ3d3cuYW1hem9uLmNvbSUyZlJFU1RDTE9VRC1CdXR0ZXJmbHktSGFiaXRhdC1UZXJyYXJpdW0tUHJvdGVjdGlvbiUyZmRwJTJmQjA4MlgzTDY0ViUyZnJlZiUzZGFzY19kZl9CMDgyWDNMNjRWJTNmdGFnJTNkYm5nc210cGhzbnVzLTIwJTI2bGlua0NvZGUlM2RkZjAlMjZodmFkaWQlM2Q4MDYwODA2MzU1MDk1OSUyNmh2bmV0dyUzZHMlMjZodnFtdCUzZGUlMjZodmJtdCUzZGJlJTI2aHZkZXYlM2RjJTI2aHZsb2NpbnQlM2QlMjZodmxvY3BoeSUzZCUyNmh2dGFyZ2lkJTNkcGxhLTQ1ODQyMDc1OTAzMDY1OTYlMjZwc2MlM2Qx%26rlid%3D492b143b1bd0113aec5873356fa8cf6a&vqd=4-304880643393103784037626014436921462717&iurl=%7B1%7DIG%3DFBCAD3F665204DFEA49FBDA0C4F907BD%26CID%3D06268214C01C6491082B970DC1FA6555%26ID%3DDevEx%2C5078.1" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">this one f…

Thank you! I tried doing that and directing it towards the soaked paper towels, but I couldn’t really tell if it was drinking or not.

Hi! Welcome to the forums. I see a lot of these as my garden has both a preferred nectar source (H. patens) and the desired host for caterpillars (P. foetida), and I can tell you, sadly, if it is on its side, you are likely too late. If you want to give a preferred last meal, offer a chunk of mush…

Thank you :') At first I thought just the wing was a little torn and it could possibly recover, but I’ve seen this morning that its right legs are injured/missing too, so you are definitely right. I am hoping I can get it to drink a little nectar since I don’t have any bananas.

If you have strawberries (even frozen) you can mush one up and offer that. But it is unlikely to drink at all once it is on its side. (Sorry.)

PD: Please don’t let this experience put you off trying next time. All these lived!

Caring for injured butterfly?

Nature Talk

echonellia October 15, 2024, 2:45pm 8

I won’t :) If anything it has made me want to try raising a few butterflies sometime!

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Caring for injured butterfly?

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