How and what do you feed a wooly bear caterpillar?

To take care of a Woolly Bear caterpillar you must feed it and give it water, air, and an appropriate environment. You can use a cardboard box that has air holes and be sure and make some covered Windows so you can watch it grow! You can also order a special net cage that you can hang up in order to see them clearly. It doesn't cost much, and teachers often buy them for their classes.

Woolly Bears are born during warm weather. If you find a baby you should put cuttings with leaves on them in its cage so it will have something to climb on and leaves to eat. The best cuttings are from the same plant you found it on.

An adult Woolly Bear caterpillar likes many kinds plants, especially bitter ones. It eats clover, birch, grass, sunflowers, dandelions, weed, nettles, maple, herbs and aster. You can feed it spinach and cabbage from your refrigerator, but it would prefer to eat food from the area it lived in when you caught it. It would also love to have some flowers or fruit to munch on. Sprinkle the bottom of the cage with clean, grass every day so it has something to eat when it gets tired of climbing on the branches. Take the old grass out before you put the fresh grass in.

Woolly Bear caterpillars do drink. Sprinkle the leaves lightly with water in the morning so it can drink the "dew."

As adults, they like to find a rock or a hole in a log to hide in, so be sure and give it a place to hide. They are looking for a place to sleep (hibernate) in the winter just like a bear. You will know when it is preparing to hibernate because it will become nice and plump. If you live in a warm area, it may not hibernate, but if it does, you do not have to feed it. It will stop breathing and its body will become very cold to preserve the energy it usually gets from food.

In the spring, you must be sure it has tall enough branches to hang its cocoon on; it will spin a fuzzy, warm cocoon to stay in while in changes into a moth. This mysterious process is called "metamorphisis." If you search online, you can see photos of the adult Isabella tiger moth that will eventually eat its way out of the cocoon.

When it comes out, do not try to help it. Struggling to get out of the cocoon is what makes its wings strong so you can release it into your garden and watch it flutter happily away.