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

I ordered this for my daughter in "like new" condition from Amazon. When I went to order the butterflies the coupon code had already been used. I contacted Uncle Milton customer service and they gave me a new code. Only 3 of the caterpillars were alive when we got them in the mail, and only 2 made it to being a butterfly. Uncle Milton offered to send out another set of caterpillars. My daughter LOVES this habitat and uses it every time she catches a butterfly, caterpillar, or random bug in our yard. Considering how much use it gets the net now has a hole in it. I went online to see if I could purchase a replacement net for it. I was unable to find one, so I contacted the company asking if they sold a replacement. They said they would send one out on Monday! I'm so happy with this purchase. It has been so much fun and the company has REALLY gone above and beyond!!!!

My family loves this! The netting is super hard to put on and take off but the butterflies seem to love the build!

I was not thrilled that i had to pay additional shipping for the caterpillars. They arent even shipped in a special way. Just sitting out baking in my mailbox. Nonetheless, the caterpillars were fine and my kids loved watching them grow. The habitat is super cute, easy to assemble (for an adult) and fun to look at, even when its empty. We use it for other bugs when we dont have any caterpillars or butterflies.

I bought this as a Christmas gift for my daughter and waited until the weather warmed up this spring to order the caterpillars. Overall, it was a fun and educational experience and a good value for the money. Be aware that the “free” caterpillars cost a few dollars to ship, so if you are giving this as a gift know there’s some expense involved for the recipient. Pros: 1)The habitat net fit the cage 2) All 5 of my caterpillars lived and turned into butterflies 3) The whole process was pretty cool to watch, I might have enjoyed it more than my kid Cons: 1) The habitat was harder to assemble than I expected 2) The net is tight and when you lift the edge to put water in the pool it pops off and yeets your butterflies all over the cage 3) The pool with sugar water becomes a butterfly death trap after day 1. When the sponge gets sticky the poor little critters get stuck to it. I was able to free one but the other got its wings stuck and ripped off and thus was it’s demise. If I order this again I’ll probably try some other method of feeding/watering them. We released the 4 remaining butterflies today and watched them flutter off into nature! Overall I would recommend but deducted one star for the design flaws of the habitat.

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!

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.

The habitat was decent. I like that it can be hung up high because our cat liked them a little too much and may have eaten a butterfly and a half... but after hanging them in the spare bathroom and keeping the door shut, we resolved that problem... the problem with the habitat that made it lose stars, was the mesh cover. It fits horribly and takes at least 7 hands to get it in place. I ended up supergluing the bottom band to the plastic lip around the habitat. We will just have to access it from the top from now on... the mesh also tears very easily. It had some small tears when we got it that have become bigger tears... but overall the habitat is decent. Over priced for the quality but it is effective.

Perfect for my class and our butterflies

No me gusto

Good for kids keep them entertained and the learn

Very bad item cause butterfly was not included and with refund I had issue it’s take long time