Everyone is encouraged to participate to learn how to raise a caterpillar into a butterfly! We often receive feedback from parents that they feel they get more out of the experience than their kids. 

Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult who will help them provide care for their caterpillar.

We are not a butterfly farm. All of the caterpillars we provide are collected from our habitat on the host plants we grow. What this means is we have little control over how many eggs are laid, or when they are laid. You may receive a caterpillar or a chrysalis, depending on what’s available at the time of the workshop.

There is a chance your caterpillar may die unexpectedly, or has been parasitized. If this happens please let us know and we will replace the caterpillar or chrysalis. We want you to have the intended experience of raising a butterfly. Naturally, our ability to replace any caterpillar or chrysalis is subject to their availability.

You will need to provide daily care for your caterpillar until it becomes a chrysalis, an estimated 7 days maximum.

For caterpillars raised April to August:

Once it becomes a chrysalis it will not require daily feeding. It will need to be monitored daily  for 7-12 days until the butterfly ecloses. 

For caterpillars raised in late August and September:

The time is the same for the caterpillar.

The chrysalis may hibernate for the season. If no butterfly has eclosed after 14 days of becoming a chrysalis it is safe to consider that it has gone into hibernation for the winter. You will then need to provide shelter for it for 6-9 months. 

We want as many different families or individuals as possible to be able to participate because our  limited availability of caterpillars.

Once you learn how to raise caterpillars you can do it again every year provided you grow their respective host and nectar plants.

Some additional items from may be available for purchase. We will indicate what those items are at the time of registration.

We do not offer refunds because we cannot guarantee you will successfully raise a caterpillar into a butterfly. We will offer a refund if we do not have caterpillars available to conduct the workshop.

We will replace or exchange any host plants  or caterpillars upon request during the year of purchase provided we have the items to be exchanged available.