New member just captured a stick!

pie rat

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 18, 2010
Messages
5
Hi all,

Brand new to the forum and the world of bugs and stuff! I recently captured a Western Short Horned Walking Stick (Parabacillus Hesperus). I have never kept an insect before and started to read up on them. Since learning more, I have become quite interested in these little creatures. However, I'm a little concerned about the well being of the little guy I captured.

This little guy was hanging out on my screen door for two days. I was reading up on them the whole time and decided to hold onto him for a little while. He only has 4 legs, I've read that they will grow back though. He kind of struggles to climb around the habitat I made him, but gets around ok. My real concern is that I only saw this guy eating once. It looked like he was chomping on the bark of an almond tree trimming I gave him. Do they eat the wood parts of trees like that? Or was he just checking it out? I figured they would only eat leaves and greens, so I didn't know. Since then, (yesterday) I haven't seen him eat anything when I peek in at him. Is there something I should be feeding in particular for a Western Short Horned? I really can't find much info about this species, so any suggestions would be helpful. I did manage to find this link that gave foodplants for western short horned listed as
Foodplants: Acacia; Robinia; Rubus fructicosus agg.
http://phasmid-study...rus-Hebard-1934
That's all I've found. I couldn't find any of those on my property, so I went to home depot and grabbed a :liar:"sample":liar: of an acacia since it was on that list. He's expressed no interest in it yet. I really don't want to starve it! I really need to know what native or non-native plants this guy would eat so I can go find some!

Hope to get some info here, thanks for taking time to read this!
 

kevin88

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 28, 2009
Messages
49
Rubus sp. which are berry vines. Blackberry, boysenberry raspberry etc. Give them a try

Kevin
 

pie rat

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 18, 2010
Messages
5
Rubus sp. which are berry vines. Blackberry, boysenberry raspberry etc. Give them a try

Kevin
Thanks Kevin, I'll do my best to find some, not sure if I'll be successful though because those are not common here in Las Vegas and definitely not native either. There must be something these guys eat around here that's native, right? I don't mind buying something for food, but I don't think I'll find the berry vine locally. Anything else I can try that I might be able to pick up at a grocery store or nursery?
 

pie rat

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 18, 2010
Messages
5
Thanks! Now there's something I've got lots of! The praying mantis hang out on my roses, so I should have thought of that! What parts should I offer? Flowers? Stems? Leaves?
 

pie rat

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 18, 2010
Messages
5
I think it's bad news for my stick today. It doesn't seem to be doing well at all. I did put some rose plant in there, but I made it walk a bit and it's legs were kind of not moving normally. He is kind of falling over and not getting up well. I feel bad. Makes me wonder though, if it was on my screen door for 2 days, maybe it wasn't doing well to begin with? I don't know, I'm just speculating. Too bad though, I think it's the end of the line for this one.
 

Musicwolf

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Messages
283
I'd be careful of feeding any plants from Home Depot as well - - - they spray with pesticides. I raise several species of butterflies and ran into this problem early on.
 

pie rat

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 18, 2010
Messages
5
That's the first thing I thought of when it started to look pathetic. I double checked that I didn't put anything from my property that might have had pesticide on it, for sure none of my plants did, we only spray a few of our plants here that have bad bugs. So, I thought about the branch I took from home depot and started to feel really bad because the way he's walking looks like poisoning.

For my first time with one of these guys, I feel like a murderer if that's what it was. I think I'll have to start over with a purchased specimen, proper habitat and better care instructions. I'll report back here!
 

Louise E. Rothstein

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 10, 2005
Messages
430
Vegetarian diets may be deficient.
My Vietnamese sticks did take some woodland Drosophila pupae:
perhaps your Western stick should have had some too.

However,the "happening" might have happened before its capture.
Sick animals are easier to catch-your Western stick might have already been ill...possibly from the same poison that might have finished it off.

And disease may have also been a factor.

Please sanitize your next stick's home before its arrival...

But leave no chemical residue.
 

Bugs In Cyberspace

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
721
Though cannibalism is not unheard of in captive colonies of stick-insects, I've never heard of anybody recommending anything but an exclusive diet of plants for these bugs.

I suspect this bug was either at the end of its seasonal lifespan or it starved to death. These are commonly found in grasses and may also consume same. Males are shorter lived than females.

If you sweep your local grasses with a sturdy sweep net you will likely find many more. 9 times out of 10 they are encountered on screen doors of homes.

I doubt it was disease or any lack of sanitation or pesticides, etc.
 

AntyBarbie

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 31, 2010
Messages
4
I have kept the vietnamese type many times aned found them hard to kill. The native sticks on the other hand I couldn't keep alive. Grasses? Hmm, didn't know about that. I'll have to check it out.
 
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