Giant Stick Insect care advice needed!

[SaintNevermore]

Hello, this is my first thread, and the reason I made an account (although I'll definitely be lurking, since I'd love to get into keeping more invertebrates ). I'll preface this by saying I would never buy an animal I have no idea how to care for - my mom had bought them (I'm a uni student staying at home), and when she shoved privet in with the first hatched, I realised she'll definitely let them all die. I've spent the past three weeks extensively researching Roborovski's Dwarf Hamsters even, legendary for being easy to keep - the very concept of impulse buying infuriates me!

My mother bought some eggs off of ebay, unsure of seller, of the Giant Stick Insect Phobaeticus Magnus. She had bought this tiny Zoomed(?) enclosure for them. From what little info I could find, I'm well aware they'll need a major upgrade to an enclosure about 120cm tall as they grow. They currently have a sprig of Hawthorn and some Bramble, refreshing every few days. The food is rinsed in water before being put into a dish of water full of pebbles.

We've had 5 hatch, the newest being last night. The first died, and I couldn't tell why, I then moved the eggs into a different container so I could put actual substrate in the enclosure. Two hatched while we were away and died in the box. Then the fourth hatched and he's still going strong a week later, and we had one hatch last night with some issues with two legs being stuck together. I have gone ahead and trimmed them so they can at least move independently, and it's otherwise acting normally.

My only stick insect experience is with Indian Stick insects, and I was 10 at the time, so not really my responsibility. I've had kind of a hard time finding any information of this species such as lifespan, when they moult, what to do if they're not eating, exactly how much to mist, etc. I mist every couple of days at the moment. I bought a ~4.8 gallon tank at a charity shop recently intended for something like Sun beetles, but looking at it today I could swap the current inhabitants (caterpillars from the garden) with the sticks so they have more space to grow.

Anything helps - I'm a bit in the dark and want to do better by these guys.

 

[crabb0h]

I want to say something but I can't... I must refrain myself from it.... Must... not... say it....

 

[SaintNevermore]

Stickie update! I had moved them into the larger enclosure, which I realised was getting way too humid for the caterpillars because of the cling film, and now humidity is high, and all three current sticks are eating, moving, and plump! I should've known from researching reptile care in that humidity can make a huge difference. I have pretty high hopes for these guys now. I wonder when they're going to moult?
P.S. get stickbugged lol

 

[crabb0h]

Stickie update! I had moved them into the larger enclosure, which I realised was getting way too humid for the caterpillars because of the cling film, and now humidity is high, and all three current sticks are eating, moving, and plump! I should've known from researching reptile care in that humidity can make a huge difference. I have pretty high hopes for these guys now. I wonder when they're going to moult? View attachment 359259
P.S. get stickbugged lol

Thats awesome! Glad you were able to figure out the situation!
P.S. You said what I was thinking the whole time lol

 

[RGBReptiles]

Every Stick Insect i have kept i had them in a screen enclosure, most stick insects love honeysuckle so i would usually purchase one from a local nursery, clean and make sure there isnt chemicals that could be harmful to the sticks, and i would mist the enclosure on a daily basis to help humidity when molting and to also water the plant. worked pretty well for a few years until i decided to get out of that part of the hobby and froze the soil and eggs i had in the cages.

 

[SaintNevermore]

Every Stick Insect i have kept i had them in a screen enclosure, most stick insects love honeysuckle so i would usually purchase one from a local nursery, clean and make sure there isnt chemicals that could be harmful to the sticks, and i would mist the enclosure on a daily basis to help humidity when molting and to also water the plant. worked pretty well for a few years until i decided to get out of that part of the hobby and froze the soil and eggs i had in the cages.

The only issue here is while a mesh enclosure works fine for most, our plastic one was clearly not good enough at keeping humidity, whereas in this tank they seem to be thriving. On that note - good news!
Our first moult! He's doubled in size! I was so excited, hopefully the next two follow suit, and then I won't be able to tell who's who, especcially once ole' legless gets his legs back. I really need to mark them with something.

 

[RGBReptiles]

Thats awesome, glass enclosures are definitely better for keeping humidity in