Macleay's Spectre Nymph Feeding
I had all but given up on my spectre eggs. I knew I might be in for a nine-month wait, but after mailing from the UK, being too cold, too dry, then too wet and molding slightly, I thought I was out of luck. This morning however, 5 months after the tiny parcel's arrival, I got a call from my boyfriend telling me to come home right away because my spectres were hatching!
Two came out this morning, and a third this evening. There are about 15 more eggs, so we'll see how many more pop up over the next few days.
My question is, does anyone know at what point the nymphs generally begin feeding?
I would expect them to come out of their eggs and be ready to chow down, but so far none of the three has done anything but occasionally walk across the blackberry leaf I've offered.
My pet-keeper paranoia now has me frantically Googling for more information on feeding and keeping nymphs. I would hate to have the little things starve to death after waiting so long for them to hatch. I've read suggestions that while adult spectres can be kept on blackberry greens, nymphs are better served by their native eucalyptus gunnii. Would they be young and confused enough to starve to death rather than eat something else?
In addition to the blackberry, which I can get from my back yard and know with a fair degree of certainty is pesticide free, I do have access to oak leaves from a local college campus, and what I believe to be eucalyptus gunnii (based on a visual id from gunnii pics on the web) from a fancy grocery floral department. The problem with the two latter alternatives, of course, is I have no way to know what chemicals they've been exposed to. I can wash them thoroughly, but that only goes so far.
So, spectre keepers, what's my best bet? Should I leave the nymphs with the clean blackberry and have faith that they'll eat it before starving to death, or offer thouroughly washed but still dubious oak and eucalyptus, risking poison, but hopefully avoiding starvation?
I had all but given up on my spectre eggs. I knew I might be in for a nine-month wait, but after mailing from the UK, being too cold, too dry, then too wet and molding slightly, I thought I was out of luck. This morning however, 5 months after the tiny parcel's arrival, I got a call from my boyfriend telling me to come home right away because my spectres were hatching!
Two came out this morning, and a third this evening. There are about 15 more eggs, so we'll see how many more pop up over the next few days.
My question is, does anyone know at what point the nymphs generally begin feeding?
I would expect them to come out of their eggs and be ready to chow down, but so far none of the three has done anything but occasionally walk across the blackberry leaf I've offered.
My pet-keeper paranoia now has me frantically Googling for more information on feeding and keeping nymphs. I would hate to have the little things starve to death after waiting so long for them to hatch. I've read suggestions that while adult spectres can be kept on blackberry greens, nymphs are better served by their native eucalyptus gunnii. Would they be young and confused enough to starve to death rather than eat something else?
In addition to the blackberry, which I can get from my back yard and know with a fair degree of certainty is pesticide free, I do have access to oak leaves from a local college campus, and what I believe to be eucalyptus gunnii (based on a visual id from gunnii pics on the web) from a fancy grocery floral department. The problem with the two latter alternatives, of course, is I have no way to know what chemicals they've been exposed to. I can wash them thoroughly, but that only goes so far.
So, spectre keepers, what's my best bet? Should I leave the nymphs with the clean blackberry and have faith that they'll eat it before starving to death, or offer thouroughly washed but still dubious oak and eucalyptus, risking poison, but hopefully avoiding starvation?
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