leaf insect setup

[chrisacres]

Would it be ok to put a giant spiny stick insect in with 2 or 3 giant leaf insects? Theres masses of space and vast amounts of food so competition for those things would be minimal. Enclosure space is at a premium in my invert room so im looking at ways to free things up. Thanks brothers and sisters.

 

[klawfran3]

Would it be ok to put a giant spiny stick insect in with 2 or 3 giant leaf insects? Theres masses of space and vast amounts of food so competition for those things would be minimal. Enclosure space is at a premium in my invert room so im looking at ways to free things up. Thanks brothers and sisters.

I wouldn't do it just because you could end up mixing up the eggs laid by them. I don't see any problems that would arise as long as they share the same food source. They're herbivorous.

 

[ftorres]

They should be fine as long as both species are eating the same food plant. Phyllium sp and Extasoma can share bramble and oak, but Extatosoma loves eucalyptus.

Make sure temperatures and humidity are good for both.

Don't worry about mixing up the ova, they are very different.

Good luck

 

[buddah4207]

I wouldn't, leaf insect look, well like a leaf which the giant spiny will assume it is. Ghost of the trees, or something like that is a great book by Orin on this subject.

 

[charlieg]

A bit off topic, but where would I look to buy a leaf insect or walking stick?

 

[Liverwort]

They're illegal in the USA, but I just saw an ad for them on a different forum a couple days ago. I don't really want to share it though because I don't support this, so sorry.

 

[Leonie]

Illegal in the USA? I'm from Europe so I'm not sure, but I'm a member of a website that shares insect ova worldwide and I've sent multiple packets to the USA and customs let them all through. Maybe because, to be sure, members are supposed to write something like 'phasmid eggs as fish food' on the package, but I'm pretty sure that if they were illegal customs wouldn't accept them. That's my thought. You can find the answer somewhere online I'm sure. Also, there are some very nice stick insects native to the USA and they're probably not illegal to keep.

On topic, I've never kept stick insects with leaf insects but here are the main reasons not to:
Leaf insects need a lot of space and food plants otherwise they'll nibble on each other, the chances sticks will nibble on them are even higher. They'll just think they're food.
Leaf insects need good ventilation (open side or top), but also humidity and quite some light. For the best result it's even recommended to have an air flow going on, like a ventilator in the room that creates a soft breeze. Stick insects are usually less demanding. In any case, they would need the same conditions (temperature, humidity, ventilation) to keep together (also for keeping sticks together.)
They would also need to be of similar size and would need similar food plants. This so there would be a fair competition and small nymphs would find the right food. And personally, I wouldn't keep species with very different behavior together either.

Good luck!

 

[Liverwort]

Yeah, I've heard there's a substantial amount of exotic phasmid keepers in the USA and they can be advertised publicly without issues, even though they're illegal. I recall someone on this forum saying that some ova were labelled as "bead samples" on the packet! The ova get through customs easily despite being illegal because they're so inconspicuous. Stick insects native to the US still aren't popular either because it's illegal to pass them through state lines.