How to Make a House for a Pet Butterfly

Raising a caterpillar and watching it turn into a butterfly is a rewarding experience and a common science project. You can keep the butterfly as a pet afterward rather than releasing it; you should never release a butterfly that is nonnative or is a pest species. A butterfly usually needs a larger house than a caterpillar requires, but you can make a suitable one with cheap or free materials.

Things You'll Need

  • Scrap wooden poles, dowels or other wood strips
  • Saw
  • Nontoxic all-purpose glue
  • Nails
  • Hammer
  • Drill
  • Screws
  • Screwdriver
  • Canvas
  • Muslin or fine netting
  • Roll of hook-and-loop fabric fasteners with sticky backing
  • Scissors
  • Tacks
  • Piece of branch
  • Saucer
  • Cane sugar
  • Sponge
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Instructions

    • 1

      Saw the wood into 12 pieces, each 2 feet long.

    • 2

      Connect four of the pieces of wood in a square by gluing, screwing or nailing the ends together. Make another square with another four pieces. Allow the glue to dry.

    • 3

      Use the remaining four pieces of wood to connect the two squares together to form a cube. Use glue, nails or screws to connect the pieces. Allow the glue to dry.

    • 4

      Cut two pieces of canvas, making each a 2-by-2-foot square.

    • 5

      Glue one piece of canvas to a side of the cube all the way around. This is the bottom of the butterfly house.

    • 6

      Cut a 2-foot by 8-foot length of muslin or fine netting. Attach this around the four sides of the cube using glue or tacks.

    • 7

      Cut the roll of hook-and-loop fabric fasteners into four 2-foot strips.

    • 8

      Adhere the hook half of the hook-and-loop fabric fastener strips to all four edges of the second piece of canvas to make a roof.

    • 9

      Adhere the loop half of the hook-and-loop fabric fastener strips to all four top edges of the butterfly house.

    • 10

      Place the piece of branch and the saucer in the cage.

    • 11

      Make up a sugar solution of one part sugar to four parts water.

    • 12

      Soak the sponge in the sugar solution, then put it in the saucer.

    • 13

      Put your butterfly in the house, close the roof and secure it by lining up the hook-and-loop fabric fastener strips.