Uncle Milton Butterfly Farm Live Habitat - Observe Caterpillars Transform Into Butterflies, STEM Toy, Great Gifts for Boys & Girls Ages 6+

10 /10 my caterpillars love it. The sponge for the sugar water is an excellent idea. I’ve never seen it in any other butterfly habitat, I would recommend this to anyone looking to get into keeping butterflies or an already experienced butterfly keeper. I Will be buying from this company again

This thing is so neat! I dont know who had more fun, me or my kids! It's easy to put together, easy to mail off and get the caterpillars and easy to do! I love little kits like this!

My daughter loves watching grow!

I got this for my classroom when we did life cycles. It was hard to maneuver and get the chrysalis’ in once they formed in the cup because only the bottom opening was wide enough (we ordered 2 cups of caterpillars.) A couple butterflies fell when they emerged and their wings got stuck on the bottom plastic of the habitat, which resulted in the butterflies getting stuck and their wings deforming and those butterflies couldn’t move or fly and died. I suggest paper towel or something on the bottom to help combat this, or go with a better habitat.

Its a pretty encampment and easy to put together but there are NO Catepillars that come with this kit and thats my fault for not reading more into it. My kids are dissapointed they have to wait a few weeks for the catepillars to come. It came with a freee catepillar code that you have to purchase separatley from their site. so we are still waiting. wish it came together but i understand why it doesnt as well.

This butterfly hit is so awesome.. love it

My 4 year old was so excited to get this for his birthday. Now we are all sad and disgusted. Of the 6 caterpillars, 4 turned into crysalids. The other 2 caterpillars were CANNIBALIZED when they ran out of food. (The instructions say there’s enough food that comes with them and have no instructions for giving additional food. Caterpillar body parts were everywhere and the bottom of their container was full of poop. You could tell what poop was from the cannibalized caterpillars because it was darker. So gross. The first two (partial) chrysalids were attacked by remaining caterpillars, so they fell into the poop. Once the other two caterpillars hung from the lid and turned into chrysalids, I scooped the two that were laying in poop and moved them to the bottom of the butterfly enclosure, just in case. To my surprise, both emerged as butterflies…..or tried. One got stuck, half in and half out. Unable to move off its back, and with one wing still stuck in the chrysalis, I placed a piece of fruit next to him so he could at least eat something until his slow, pathetic death arrived. He lasted 2 days like this. It was very sad to see. The other butterfly that had been laying in the poop as a chrysalis emerged with shrunken wings and legs that don’t work well, so he can’t really walk or fly. It’s sad to see. As for the two that had hung properly at the top, they are both deformed too. One is missing eyeballs and doesn’t seem to have full use of its legs. It’s wings are curled in, unable to move/open. He stumbles around blind, often crawling ontop of the other crippled butterflies. The healthiest butterfly can walk around, but it’s wings are also curled and don’t function well. It’s pathetic to watch these butterflies hobble around the cage, and they clearly won’t survive outdoors. I emailed about the cannibals and only 2 hanging crysalids, and Uncle Milton’s said they said new ones. I don’t think we can even handle another set after watching this pathetic crippled farm. We did everything perfect, as the instructions stated. We watched the tracking of the caterpillars and my son sat outside, waiting for the mail person to deliver them, so they were immediately brought inside and into the described correct temperature environment. They still ended up dead or crippled.The butterfly enclosure has also been awful. The net that goes around is kept on by elastic. If you try to get your hand in to add fruit or sugar water, or help a crippled butterfly that’s struggling on its back or glued to the ground, the whole thing starts coming off and slingshots any butterfly that might be on the net. It’s awful. Speaking of glue to the ground…the butterfly enclosure has a shiny photo paper on the bottom to make it look like green grass or plants. When two of the butterflies emerged, their wet meconium was on this photo paper, which their wings touched, and it caused them to get stuck to it, like glue. One butterfly must of tried hard to get off, because i found part of a wing still glue down in the morning after it emerged from its chrysalis. One of the others must have gotten sugar water on its wing and then fell on its back onto that paper, because I found it stuck there. So I grabbed a water dropped and added a few drops of water to his wing until he was able to unstick himself. This whole experience has been awful. These poor butterflies are just hobbling around and it’s so pathetic and sad. DO NOT buy this for you child. You’re better off doing the ladybugs. I wish I could return this and get my money back, but I bought it several months ago for my sons birthday and we waited until temperatures were appropriate around here for caterpillar delivery, so now it is too late to get a refund.

This habitat is great! If one takes their time, there shouldn't be any issue with the fitting of the covering. I ordered this kit for my 4 year old grandson. Was easy to assemble, and the cover went on fine, just needing a little stretch here and there. Start at the top and don't rush, it's supposed to fit tight, a little tugging is all it needs.Once assembled, order your caterpillars with the enclosed coupon. Open the bottom and attach the cup to the top, or one can do what I did. I simply inserted a few small branches into the habitat, and left the cup (food) near the branching. As the caterpillars got larger, they soon ventured out of the cup, up the branches where they established themselves into chrysalis. I didn't like the idea of a crowded top, and the branching worked out great for the caterpillars, and me. Once all the chrysalis appeared, I removed the cup of food, and inserted a small marigold pot into the bottom of the habitat. It took a bit of time, but in the morning I'd find one butterfly. The second day another, on the third morning, all were flying within the habitat.NOW: I thought it was getting a bit crowded in there, so I ordered the "Rest-Cloud" 15x15x23 inch butterfly habitat from Amazon for 12.99, and I'm very happy I did. I transferred everything (minus the branches) into the new habitat, (I've left my review of that item on the Amazon page). I STRONGLEY ADVISE to make this additional purchase, as I'm hooked on these little 'guys', and I plan to purchase more to release in my coming New England (Massachusetts) garden.I have no complaints on this habitat, it's assembly, quality, or the way its performed. I'll continue to use it for the chrysalis stage, then transfer into the larger habitat.PLEASE NOTE: This habitat or the larger, I suggest using a paper towel on the bottom of each as these little critters 'poop', and that can lead to illness in the butterflies if exposed for a period of time (gets into their food source). It also make the keeping the habitat clean to the eye.GREAT PRODUCT!