There's no chance I can keep all of these alive, so of course I've gone ahead and named them all after people I especially likepic.twitter.com/zrONB2KgC9
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MOTH UPDATE (1/2):
all cecropia (bottom half) are doing well; the Patricks appear to be molting (they're starting to turn yellow!)
The upper-left 4 had to be moved to other host plants because they HATED the sweet gum tree they were on; I found all of them on the floorShow this thread
MOTH UPDATE (2/2):
Michael tried to fend me off by regurgitating "distasteful fluids" & sadly seems to be all tuckered out
lil Tommy seemed to be flagging but looks to be eating now!
sadly, Tasha, Riva & Cami appear to be too cool to eat
the other poly are doing A-OK
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Currently working out deals with random northeastern Etsy dealers for weekly shipments of tree branches because I was brilliant enough to order species that couldn't survive a day out here on their own
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I just heard LARGEST MOTH and the rest was muffled out by the sounds of me thrusting cash into cyberspace and imagining a vibrant utopia with lasting peace between man and moth
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MOTH UPDATE #2:
Michael, who I'd assumed to be a goner, has decided life is worth living
Riva has decided mmm OK, maybe I will eat after all
Cami & Tasha still don't seem to understand the fundamental concepts re: not starving to death
90% sure tiny Tommy is dead 
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MOTH UPDATE #2.5:
all the cecropia (spikey black ones) are absolutely killing it — top notch eating, fam
special marks for Patrick #2, who is beginning to show some colorpic.twitter.com/l0bju1JUH5
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MOTH UPDATE #3:
as of yesterday, both Tommy & Cami had departed this earth. RIP beloveds
I left for 24 hours & returned to chaos. 3 of 5 oak saplings were stripped bare & Andy + Visakan were MIA. Ripping my apartment apart to search for tiny bugs was super super funShow this thread -
MOTH UPDATE #3 (cont.):
Andy & Visakan were found desperately climbing furniture. They are traumatized. God forgive me
I underestimated the caterpillar appetite & etsy dealers seem unable to grok the severity of the situation or why a random person wants a bunch of leavesShow this thread -
So basically, I'm going to have to drive to a state recreational area where — legend has it — oak trees grow, surreptitiously harvest them w/o getting caught by a ranger & hope to god the caterpillars will accept a slightly different food species. These are novel problems for me
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There are moments when one may pause and reflect, and ask themselves such questions as "did I, in some way, bring this upon myself?" And I must admit that when one's problems are directly related to the residential care of giant silkmoths there is only one plausible answer there
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MOTH UPDATE #3.5:
a few of the cecropia are well into their second instar and they already look super coolpic.twitter.com/woZR9fpvHB
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The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so I've said less about the cecropia. They're developing at very different rates:
Marc & the Patricks are at instar 2 (yellow)
Matjaz *just* molted into instar 2; you can see his shed skin beside him
the others are still at instar 1pic.twitter.com/iGdbReTSFX
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A pastoral scene from my long hike in search of caterpillar food. The upshot is that I apparently correctly identified coast live oak, bc Riva & Visakan seem to be eating it. It looks very different from the white oak they've had, so I'm not certain the others will take to itpic.twitter.com/TnT3WFmUVg
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I keep bothering the Patricks because they're JUST SO PRETTYpic.twitter.com/AKgz9o6TFL
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The Patricks: um hi this is our leaf The Patricks: do you seriously have chocolate on your fingers The Patricks: can you just not k thanx
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End of conversation
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