[rebekah]

Hi,
This is my first post so excuse me if this is not the correct forum.
I read a reply by Jacqui as a response to someone with a similar problem saying she had some success with cutting the bent part of the wing to help the butterfly fly.
I think I would like to try this with my boy.
He is not diseased with OE, it was simply a matter of him not having enough room to dry his wings properly. he was born 5 days ago and eclosed earlier than I anticipated and had his chrysalis in an odd spot.
He lives on a large bush in my garden in the day hanging out with other butterflies and I bring him in at night to a large bouquet in my bathroom with dimmed lights where he happily settles for the night and drinks sugar water.
I have noticed he is learning to fly a bit and think he would be able to do much better with the bent part cut, but of course am very hesitant to do this!
As I have said his two fore wings are just bent, not crumpled.
Any advise?
We did actually try wax paper and a warm iron as soon as we discovered him to straighten the wind but without much success.
Any advise would be appreciated! Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Would hairspray conta8n chemicals that could affect the butterfly?

[rebekah]

Thank you so much for the advice re hair spray Fiona! I haven’t heard of that before.
Much appreciated!

Rebekah

[FiLeBeau]

WELL DONE Rebekah! Great news!

I will trim broken or bent wings up to 40% to enable flying.
But if a newborn with curved or bent wings from eclosing in a tight space
can actually fly with no intervention thats my first test before I do anything.

As an alternative to triming I also often spray bent or buckled wings with a quality hair spray and hold in firmly in my hand until they dry straight. It depends on the damage to the wings.[I cover the Butterfly’s face and body whilst I spray in two short bursts].

Best wishes
Fiona

[Jacqui]

Great to hear Rebekah!

[rebekah]

Thanks for advice.
When I took him out to the flowers yesterday, he actually flew away and roosted in one of our trees for the night! So it’s worth noting that some monarchs that have slightly bent wings may just need some extra time to help them learn to fly with wonky wings.

[Jacqui]

Yes you can trim off the wings Just be sure to do them equally Hold the four wings together when you do

[Author]

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