Caterpillar in Aquarium Garden

The first excitement of building an aquarium garden for a caterpillar shown in the previous video turns into excitement about taking care for my pet.

My swallowtail caterpillar GreTi left the carrot leaves untouched. 

So, I give GreTi romaine lettuce to try.

Time-lapse recording reveals GreTi is indifferent to lettuce as well.

 GreTi keeps searching for food...

Let's remove some of the carrot toppings to make room for dill.

Trim the dill to fit into the garden.

Here it goes.
GreTi rests on the top right here.

 I don't want to disturb her.

Oh, look, GreTi senses the motion...or perhaps the smell of dill ;)

Aha! My Greeny Tiger likes the dill!
Oh yes! Craving it.

Notice how fast cuttings of dill placed in water are rejuvenated.

I am making modifications to the aquarium garden while GreTi takes a nap break from munching dill.

You can see poop balls at the base of the garden.

I don't want the poop in my aquarium.

So, let's cover the hole in the base with a piece of plastic.

 It also prevents the caterpillar from falling accidentally into water.

 We can lift the garden with the base and everything on it to feed fish.

Cleaning after my caterpillar is a daily routine.
Here is how I go about it.

First I remove old leaves. 

Then remove the poop from the base.

The balls roll without smearing.

GreTi sleeps through all the cleaning.

Let's put the base back.

Add fresh leaves.
This time I brought leaves of a mulberry tree for my caterpillar to try.

 Put them in the water to keep them fresh.

 Also, I add a flowering Wild Bergamot.
It's not food for this caterpillar, but it looks nice in my aquarium garden ;)

Here GreTi is taking a post-meal nap.

And then GreTi does what I call...a hungry walk.

 Make sure the garden is enclosed properly.

There is no dill on the table this time... and there is no poop for that matter.

I better get some dill for my caterpillar now.

My green tiger makes fast work of 2 branches of dill in less than 1 hour!

Nothing, not a tiny stub left of the dill, but rounds and rounds of "brownies".

That is what we call The Hunger Games! ha-ha-ha

Have Fun and Happy Caterpillars :)