Features:

  • Professional Version: Monarch butterfly habitat is more square, sits straight, does not rock or move.
  • Five mesh panels for good airflow. Clear vinyl window panel for students and families an unforgettable opportunity to watch caterpillars change into chrysalides and then emerge as beautiful Monarch, Painted Lady or Black Swallowtail Butterflies.
  • Collapsible design for easy storage and reusable, the unfolded measures: 12 x 12 x 12 inches. The wings of a new butterfly are not risk of breaking when trying to stir up.
  • Large zipper side opening for easy feed your butterflies, then release them into the wild. Butterflies will often land on little hands and faces before flying away.
  • Includes a quick start guide manual to raise butterflies.
Never knew how much I needed this

I had been using a mesh laundry bag to protect my monarch caterpillars then a friend told me that these zipper mesh habitats were a thing! I already had six caterpillars in my laundry bag when this arrived. It is great! One side is clear so you can pretty easily watch the caterpillars. It was a lot taller and wider than I thought it would be. More than enough room for six caterpillars. It would easily fit a pot of milkweed - probably two. The front flap zips tightly so there isn't a gap between the zippers (there are two zippers meet in the middle of the front). This zips on the side and not on the top so you don't disturb the pupas if not all of your "cats" have "gone J" yet. This is sitting outside near the milkweed plants and I had to place a rock in the bottom of it to keep it stable (a fairly common thing as it is lightweight and can fold away during the winter). Cleaning out the bottom can be a little difficult with the rock in there and a couple of pupas hanging from the top. Even with the paper towel liner. But there's really not much you can do when one or two caterpillars are ready to pupate and the others are still feeding. I am so glad I bought this. The caterpillars are "safe" from predators and I can keep an eye on them. I've heard the black mesh makes it easier to see the caterpillars through but with the clear side, I didn't have any trouble at all watching them. If you have any interest at all in raising caterpillars (or have kids) - this is a great thing to have and the price is right!

I was almost knocked out by one of the sides as I unfurled it from it's closed shipping position- funny but it hurt

The Terrarium arrived quickly and well protected. One word of warning- be careful when you open it. I was almost knocked out by one of the sides as I unfurled it from it's closed shipping position- funny but it hurt. The terrarium is well made and I think I got very good value for the price I paid. The netting is soft but strong and the zipper opening allows for you to add large branches inside. The plastic window on one of the sides has a lot of wrinkles from shipping but you can see everything clearly. I'm thinking an hour in the summer sun will smooth it out. Our Mourning Cloak caterpillars are happy crawling all over the place. The terrarium's length allowed me to fit longer Willow branches inside which is great because searching for fresh canes every day was taking up a lot of time. I used a plastic plant liner on the bottom to collect the caterpillar droppings (wow they pop a lot.) 2 cups from 7 Eleven in a nested position keep the branches fresh.

Butterfly Habitat Cage

We are raising a few Monarch caterpillars this year. This cage is perfect- one side is see through, the other zips open on the side, so we can add more plants without disturbing chrysalis'. It comes with a great info sheet-in color- how to raise butterflies, preparing the cage, finding the caterpillar eggs (for many caterpillar types), how to care for the caterpillars, how to care for the chrysalis with pictures of the stages and finally, how to care for the butterfly once it emerges. The caterpillars are eating alot of milkweed, and the side opening zip is such an awesome feature!

This works SO much better. I put the vinyl side down - so ...

I purchased this as well as a cylinder enclosure. This works SO much better. I put the vinyl side down - so the caterpillar "frass" can be easily wiped up as well as when the butterflies emerge, they usually drop what looks like blood. The caterpillars can easily pupate on the top mesh panel - on the cylinder style enclosure, I had some spin chrysalises on the top panel which opens up - difficult to clean the enclosure without harming the chrysalises.

Works fine for housing runaway cats. Safe place to cocoon.

Side zipper is great. Don’t disturb cocoon on top. Well made. Put a pot with milkweed inside and retrieved three roaming cats and put inside. All 3 have cocooned. Wish it was a little taller all my plants are too tall and can’t cut back right now because of current residents. Brought 4 pots into lanai after predatory wasps kept killing cats. Now have cocoons on screen, ledges, pots etc and find cats roaming near pool etc. Have released 4 butterflies back out into the world. Using to contain roaming cats so they don’t get stepped on or fall into pool. So far so good. If it were about 6 inches taller I would order a second. Hopefully they all emerge as healthy butterflies and can be easily released.

A company that stands behind its product.

Original cage was not able to sit straight but since I needed it for my caterpillars I did not return it. I wrote a review stating that, and without my asking the owner sent a replacement as a gift. This one is perfect and I am very impressed with the company. Every item will not be perfect - it is important to have a company that cares about its customer and product quality. I have ordered another smaller cage from this company. I have not been able to change my original feedback though it has been less than a month. ??

Great habitat to raise Monarch butterflies

Ordered this after I found 2 Monarchs munching on a Milkweed plant I bought from Lowe's. Read up on Monarchs and saw that I needed a habitat for them to keep the predictors away. Brought them inside @ the habitat come in one day. After about a week as chrysalis's they "eclosed" or emiraged as butterflies. Totally amazing. After about 4 hrs I released them outside after their wings were dry. Hate to see them go, but we found another 2 or 3 instar cat munching on our milkweed plant. Looks like we have another cat to raise & release. The Restcloud habitat works great for me, a first time user. Don't know if it will work with 20 cats. The problem is having enough milkweed to feed them all. I just bought another plant at Lowe's. I don't know if it has eggs from the nursery, or whether a Monarch will lan on it & lay eggs. But as soon as I see cats munhing away it will be placed in the habitat & come inside. The habitat is well worth the price & is of very good quality & construction. I am now the Monarch "expert" in my family due to the purchase of one milkweed plant. I'm sure that you, your children, family & neighbors will enjoy raising & releasing Monarch butterflies.

liked the reviews

This little mesh terrarium is a butterfly life-saver! When I found 7 tiny caterpillars in my garden the night before a hard freeze, I panicked. I brought them inside but wasn't sure what to do with them (and just to specify, these were monarch caterpillars, the kind that migrate, not overwinter, as cold temperatures will kill them quickly). I put them in an old fish tank and scoured Amazon. I found this terrarium, liked the reviews, so took a chance. It arrived 2 days later much to my delight and surprise! I transferred all of the caterpillars to the new home. It is tall enough that I could even put in potted milkweed instead of having to cut leaves (as I was having to do with the fish tank). The mesh terrarium is small enough to fit on the kitchen table without being in the way while still being large enough to include 6 potted milkweeds and tall enough that the caterpillars can form chrysalis at the top of the mesh without disturbing (or being disturbed by) the milkweed and caterpillars below. It is also very easy to clean out if lined with paper towels at the bottom to catch the frass. The door is easy to open with 2 zippers. As an update on the status of the rescued caterpillars, two are in chrysalis at the top of the mesh, and the others are still munching and growing! This little tent saved the life of 7 caterpillars (which have turned out to be 6 Monarchs and 1 Queen). I've already added another of this same terrarium to my cart because you never know when you just might need two! HIGHLY recommended if you're interested in raising caterpillars/butterflies by choice or by accident. Something else I'd like to add is that once the weather warms, this will be so easy to pick up and carry outside to acclimate them to the temperature without exposing them to predators--there are even carrying handles on this little terrarium!

Off-label use: KEEP FRUIT FLIES AWAY!

I should be ashamed since I have no time or interest in raising butterflies (that's what the garden is for), but BOY I am so pleased to finally find a way to keep fruit flies away from vegetables on our kitchen counters! Last year was sheer hell with so many fruit flies everywhere, I was spending about an hour a day trying to vacuum them up, essential oils completely failed, then in the dead of winter with weeks of freezing temperatures I *still* found some sleepy ones. THIS MEANT ALL-OUT WAR. Although... then I found these marvelous "habitats." After locking up a few tomatoes inside this little "habitat" I was overjoyed to see that the nasty little fruit flies absolutely couldn't get in no matter how hard they tried. Success!!! Since then I've ordered and received three more of these wonderful "habitats", completely cleared a 4' long countertop to house all our summer tomatoes, apples, oranges, lemons, onions, sweet potatoes, avocados, and all the other fruits and vegetables that the fruit flies love the most. They can't get in! FABULOUS!!! We may never win this epic battle against the flying minions, but at least we can keep them away from their favorite treats. It's working, the only solution that has ever worked for us in keeping fruit flies off our fresh produce! I'm absolutely thrilled and already sold on these "habitats" even though I don't know the first thing about raising butterflies indoors. For that I'm sorry, although keeping up with the flower and vegetable gardens here is probably the best I can do indirectly for our favorite pollinators. Anyway, these little pop-up "habitats" are the best invention of all for protecting produce -- THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INVENTING THEM!!!

Great help in raising butterflies

Right now I have the habitat set up and it is working very well. We have an overabundance of Monarch chrysalises and I really need more space for them. Luckily, the habitat arrived and I've taken advantage of the extra space it has given. I also appreciate the ease in cleaning up after the caterpillars that are munching away at the base of their home. The side opening is also a great feature. It is so much easier to do what needs to be done at any point in the habitat from the side rather than the top. It is larger than a butterfly garden I have in another place in our building and that might be a drawback to some butterfly lovers. My living room has enough space to accommodate the habitat and I enjoy having folks come to see the tenants. I also found the price reasonable. I had ordered two but gave one to a friend who helps me in raising the butterflies. She is also very pleased with the habitat.

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