Got me some walking leafs

[MacCleod]

I always liked them, and finally had the opportunity to buy some
Meet my 2 Phyllium celebicum

I presented them oak and blackberry leafs, but one of them prefered the oak leaf.

 

[Steven]

nice nice nice,.... :}
were did you get those?,... hehehehehe

 

[Bob]

Great ! Once they start eating, you have it made!! They will lay eggs in about 6 months. Mist lightly once a day.

 

[MacCleod]

Some guy told me that this species need a male to breed. According to him, only P. giganteum is parthenogenetic.

I thought all Phyllium species where that :?

What's your opinion about this, Bob

btw if you have more usefull hints and tips, please keep me informed

 

[Bob]

I think all phylliums will be parthenogenic with out a male but in my case I had only 10% hatch rate in 6 - 8 months. Male ferlilized ova will hatch in about 3 months if kept moist. My fertilized Bioculatum had almost 80% hatch in three months! Chances of getting a mature male and female at the same time is lucky though.

 

[Bob]

All most forgot......
I use blackberry for food because the leaves are on the branched even in winter...not so for oak. If you are going to use oak you might want to posibly freeze some leaves? You just don't want to run out of food in the winter.

 

[Bob]

Here is my simple set up.
Cut blackberry (sorry these are all over Oregon) to fit cage and place in a x cut in a plastic containerfilled with water.
Cut all the thorns off.
Place the phasmids on the leaves and shut the cage. Once a week will do it and keep stress to a minimum.Then mist once a dat or so. Try and not to hold them or it will stress them out. I lost an adult that way.

 

[Bob]

oops for got to turn the photo.

Happy as can be.............

 

[Steven]

They look indeed happy and healthful Bob,...
hopefully my fellow belgian invert-hobbyist can breed them
go go go Gino

 

[MacCleod]

Thx for the tips Bob.
It looks like my nymphs prefer oak instead of blackberry.
I offer them two kinds of food at the moment.
Should I take the oak leaf out, so they have to eat the blackberry :?

I don't know if it's necessary to freeze some leaves.
Here in Europe we have "summer oak" and "winter oak".
In fall, the summer oak looses it's leaves, but the winter oak stays green in winter
At the moment I'm feeding them with summer oak, cause I didn't found any winter oak yet.

Next weekend I'll make a walk to the forest, lookin for some winter oak

 

[Bob]

>Should I take the oak leaf out, so they have to eat the blackberry ?

I wouldn't if they are eating oak. Use blackberry if you can not find oak in the winter. Just use what you have.......................

I think they eat mango leaves in the wild. Maybe oak is related.

 

[MacCleod]

Hey Bob, I followed your advice, and put some oak leafs in the freezer, just to be sure

 

[Bob]

I never tried freezing leaves.....don't know if they will dry out or not.
I just answered your Mombo email.....sorry I don't read my email at home to much. My daughter is always using it.......teenagers....

 

[Navaros]

You can freeze oak in ziplock bags.Make sure the branches are dry and squeeze all of the air out of the bags, should work for you just fine.