# How do i get an living plant in my terrarium that can be eaten by the animal



## Carthropod (Mar 9, 2020)

For god's sake.
I Have indian stick insects. they will be going with _Archimandrita tesselata_  in an bigger terrarium i think
I want live plants for keeping the ground helthy and for food for stick insects
But i dont trust a plant from a shop because it will be riddled with chemicals
reptile safe plants have less, but reptiles wont eat it so a bit isnt bad. im feeding little stick insects with it



SO HOW DO I GET A PLANT WITHOUT DAMAGING TOXINS FOR MY STICK INSECTS


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## Carthropod (Mar 9, 2020)

Carthropod said:


> For god's sake.
> I Have indian stick insects. they will be going with _Archimandrita tesselata_  in an bigger terrarium i think
> I want live plants for keeping the ground helthy and for food for stick insects
> But i dont trust a plant from a shop because it will be riddled with chemicals
> ...


Not going to add it with that speciee tough


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## Carthropod (Mar 9, 2020)

@ColeopteraC  here about the food


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## ColeopteraC (Mar 9, 2020)

Could you send photos of what your feeding you Indian stick insects. I’m pretty sure it’s bramble, hellish is an accurate description of bramble...  

Indian stick insects can also be fed on privet and multiple other food plants. Instead of buying chemical ridden garden centre plants find wild plants that Indian stick insects feed on within your local area (there are a lot of possible options, search it up) and dig up or trim branches of these potential food plants. If you’ve dug the plants up with their roots etc.  plant them in the aquarium as you would with garden plants. If you’ve taken branches  of your plant then put them in water for a week or so until roots start to form and plant it in the aquarium.

Hope that made sense...


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## Carthropod (Mar 9, 2020)

brar


ColeopteraC said:


> Could you send photos of what your feeding you Indian stick insects. I’m pretty sure it’s bramble, hellish is an accurate description of bramble...
> 
> Indian stick insects can also be fed on privet and multiple other food plants. Instead of buying chemical ridden garden centre plants find wild plants that Indian stick insects feed on within your local area (there are a lot of possible options, search it up) and dig up or trim branches of these potential food plants. If you’ve dug the plants up with their roots etc.  plant them in the aquarium as you would with garden plants. If you’ve taken branches  of your plant then put them in water for a week or so until roots start to form and plant it in the aquarium.
> 
> Hope that made sense...


bramble grows berries right, its not that


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## ColeopteraC (Mar 9, 2020)

Ok, the berries aren’t always there. I’d try to dig up a bit of what your feeding your Indian stick insects and put it in a plant pot. Grow it a little more (wait a couple of weeks) and then plant it in the vivarium. You’ll need to wait a little while to grow enough in the vivarium for the Indian stick insects to eat.


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## Carthropod (Mar 9, 2020)

ColeopteraC said:


> Could you send photos of what your feeding you Indian stick insects. I’m pretty sure it’s bramble, hellish is an accurate description of bramble...
> 
> Indian stick insects can also be fed on privet and multiple other food plants. Instead of buying chemical ridden garden centre plants find wild plants that Indian stick insects feed on within your local area (there are a lot of possible options, search it up) and dig up or trim branches of these potential food plants. If you’ve dug the plants up with their roots etc.  plant them in the aquarium as you would with garden plants. If you’ve taken branches  of your plant then put them in water for a week or so until roots start to form and plant it in the aquarium.
> 
> Hope that made sense...





It is a herbera i remembered it @ColeopteraC


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## Carthropod (Mar 9, 2020)

ColeopteraC said:


> Ok, the berries aren’t always there. I’d try to dig up a bit of what your feeding your Indian stick insects and put it in a plant pot. Grow it a little more (wait a couple of weeks) and then plant it in the vivarium. You’ll need to wait a little while to grow enough in the vivarium for the Indian stick insects to eat.


Thanks how long is a couple weeks, the plants in my garden are here for what i think over 3 years and they are eating that so that can be planted prob is that it neede somesort of wall or flat vertical surface to grow and it fill sort of fuse and grow stuck to it i will try it


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## ColeopteraC (Mar 9, 2020)

Ooh! Ok, over here we call that ivy. Basically, find more and put it in a glass of water. After couple of weeks or so it’ll start forming roots, you can plant it in your aquarium and supply it with some wood etc. It’ll also grow on the hides for the roaches so that’ll be fine.


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## ColeopteraC (Mar 9, 2020)

Carthropod said:


> Thanks how long is a couple weeks, the plants in my garden are here for what i think over 3 years and they are eating that so that can be planted prob is that it neede somesort of wall or flat vertical surface to grow and it fill sort of fuse and grow stuck to it i will try it


While at waiting get a jam jar or food container, fill it with water and poke holes in the lid, put the plant in the holes and this will keep it alive while still you wait for it to grow and keep your stick insects fed


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## Carthropod (Mar 9, 2020)

ColeopteraC said:


> Ooh! Ok, over here we call that ivy. Basically, find more and put it in a glass of water. After couple of weeks or so it’ll start forming roots, you can plant it in your aquarium and supply it with some wood etc. It’ll also grow on the hides for the roaches so that’ll be fine.


Oof i read this while preparing earth, coco fiber* but i will keep it for the terrarium itself it will be here tommorow


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## Smotzer (Mar 9, 2020)

You can try oak, rose, privet, and bramble. I’ve never used ivy.


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## The Snark (Mar 9, 2020)

ColeopteraC said:


> Indian stick insects can also be fed on privet


Just thought I'd check and query this. Privet is a well known highly poisonous plant that has caused the death of numerous horses. It contains Terpenoid glycosides such as ligustrum, syringin, and oleuropein. 
Is this similar to hornworm caterpillars thriving on wild tobacco and oleander?


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## Smotzer (Mar 9, 2020)

The Snark said:


> Just thought I'd check and query this. Privet is a well known highly poisonous plant that has caused the death of numerous horses. It contains Terpenoid glycosides such as ligustrum, syringin, and oleuropein.
> Is this similar to hornworm caterpillars thriving on wild tobacco and oleander?


I didn’t know that about it and horses, but it’s not toxic to phasmids!


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## The Snark (Mar 9, 2020)

Memories of sitting in a restaurant watching a hornworm horde strip the leaves off an oleander hedge. Invertebrates never cease to amaze me.


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## Carthropod (Mar 10, 2020)

The Snark said:


> Just thought I'd check and query this. Privet is a well known highly poisonous plant that has caused the death of numerous horses. It contains Terpenoid glycosides such as ligustrum, syringin, and oleuropein.
> Is this similar to hornworm caterpillars thriving on wild tobacco and oleander?


Wow, if im right POISON ivy is a doffrent species then herdera


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## The Snark (Mar 10, 2020)

It's a common mistake confusing Herdera, poisonous ivy, with the Rhus genus as R Toxicondendra, poison ivy.


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## Carthropod (Mar 11, 2020)

Smotzer said:


> I didn’t know that about it and horses, but it’s not toxic to phasmids!


any way i can order  it chemical free or something


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## Carthropod (Mar 11, 2020)

ColeopteraC said:


> Ooh! Ok, over here we call that ivy. Basically, find more and put it in a glass of water. After couple of weeks or so it’ll start forming roots, you can plant it in your aquarium and supply it with some wood etc. It’ll also grow on the hides for the roaches so that’ll be fine.


its not for the roaches tough food for phasmids


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## ColeopteraC (Mar 11, 2020)

Yes, 
The Phasmids will eat it.


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## schmiggle (Mar 18, 2020)

I've had great success using ivy for Indian sticks in the past, used to take it from a neighbor's yard.


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