leave it on the floor until it has had a chance to fully pupate--at least 24 hours after the chrysalis is formed--before you move it. I usually take a drop of fast drying glue and attach the BST chrysalides to a piece of paper I can attach to the side of a container. I don't know that you'll have luck getting it back in the girdle.

Hi,
the easiest way with * fallen* chrysalides is, to not glue or mess with them too much, they might get messed up..
Just get yourself a washcloth(dry) and lay that down on the bottom of your eclosure, then put the chrysalis on top and that's it, the Butterfly will eclose without any harm or problems..Try it out, I promise it will work..
I am trying to find a pic of mine..
Butterfly-Greetings
Susanne(SUE)

Here is a link that might be useful: Goldrim SWT's

I put them in the cylinder-shaped butterfly cage and lay the cage on it's side, so either way it crawls out it ends up at the top of the cage to hang dry. Absent that, I'd use the washcloth and attach the washcloth to the side of the enclosure, with part of it laying on the bottom, with the chrysalis laying on it. This way the washcloth becomes a ladder for the bf to climb up off the ground right away.

If you do decide to hang it with thread, make sure you don't wrap the thread around the "head" area where it will eclose from.

My first black swallowtail cat made his chrysalis on the stick. My second one, despite my coaxing, has assumed the position on the side of the large plastic container I have him in. He hasn't made his sling yet, but I'm sure it's too late to move him at this point. I'm not sure what to do. I'm afraid he'll fall when he emerges because he won't have a stick to grab onto to hang and dry. Any recommendations?

Easiest thing I've found to reattach a fallen chrysalis of any species is to take a low temp glue gun and just spot glue them onto a stick, paper towel, or a metal grid (which I use)

Also if you need to move a chrysalis from an awkward location, take a small paintbrush (hobby style works fine) and completely soak the area around where the chrysalis is attached. This will soften up the silk pad that the chrysalis is attached to. Then using a straight pin (or in my case a small dentist's tool) lift the silk pad that the chrysalis is attached to and place with a spot of glue in a better location.

Put a chopstick/popsicle stick/twig/etc. in the container so the butterfly has something to climb on.

If you look at the picture I have on the Raising Butterflies page, you can see the popsicle stick the caterpillar is crawling up. More often than not, our best-made plans FOR our little guys don't work out and the larvae will pupate NOT where you intended but where THEY want! I always keep a bunch of chopsticks and popsicle sticks around for this very reason. In fact, just this week, a caterpillar pupated on the side of a container and I had to do just this very thing. :)

Thanks for your quick responses. It's comforting to know you've all had similar experiences. I'm sure my little guy will be just fine, thanks to all of you.

Okay, so my little guy pupated on the side of the container. I was interested on what color the chrysalis would be since he's not on a brown stick or a green stem...but a clear plastic sidewall. It looks like he's going to stay green.

{{gwi:528171}}

Hot glue gun or crazy glue-like is not a good idea. It could damage your little friends. Simple tacky glue (non-toxic) works just fine. Just put one dot where it Was attached, wait a few minutes for glue to get tackier, then stick it right on, no problem.