How do you take care of an eastern tent caterpillar?

Answer 1

• See-through container with a cover
• Sharp pin
• Green Leaves or banana slices
• Paper (of any kind)
• A few large rocks

1. • 1

     Before you collect your tent caterpillars, you need to set up the environment where they'll live in. Put the cover on the plastic container firmly and poke about 20-30 holes on the top of the cover with a pin. Since the sharp end of the pin is small, no Spiders should get into the container and, of course, your tent caterpillars shouldn't be able to get out.

   • 2

     Now, decorate the inside of your plastic container with luscious, green leaves to prepare the environment for the tent caterpillars. You can also add a few sticks here and there for the tent caterpillars to crawl on.

   • 3

     Tear or cut about 4 pieces of paper 2 inches wide and bend/curl them a bit so that you can rest the paper on the side corners of the plastic container. Your tent caterpillars will find these "paper tents" quite pleasing when deciding where to make their cocoons.

   • 4

     You're now ready to introduce your tent caterpillars to their new home! Capture one off of a tree with a stick or finger and gently touch the inside of the container so that the tent caterpillar can stroll right onto a nearby leaf. Capture a few more if you like. Your tent caterpillars will use both the leaves and the paper to make their cocoon. They'll also eat the leaves, though you might have to get rid of dried up leaves and add fresh new ones occasionally. The tent caterpillars will also eat slices of banana, but don't put too many slices in! 1 or 2 should do it.

   • 5

     If you want to keep your tent caterpillars outside, it's best to keep the container under a tree, with a flat piece of computer paper over the cover to protect the tent caterpillars from the rain. To make sure the computer paper stays put, put a few rocks over the top. The weight of the rocks will keep the container from tumbling around from the wind and the paper from falling off during the rain. Once your tent caterpillars have turned into moths, carefully open the container lid and watch them fly out of the container.

   • Tip
   • if u see that your caterpillar is not moving don't freak out it is most likely getting ready to go in to its cocoon so don't tush it but is you see that after 5 days it has no cocoon and it has not been moving it is most likely dead but check just to be sure

Answer 2

Many different animals eat the eastern tent caterpillar. These include frogs, bats, birds, mice, snakes, lizards, squirrels, skunks, and bears. Birds also like them too.