stick insects

[Mr. Mordax]

could i put the eggs outside, they would prob die though as its too cold and birds would eat them

I'd keep the eggs indoors. If you want to kill off excess, just leave them overnight in a household freezer.

yes what small plant would fit in a 8x5x5 ,with room to molt,when do they molt, i need more info on the moulting process

i ment from like ASDA OR TESCO food you can buy?
coz i have nothing in the garden.

I don't think you could get a whole food plant to fit in there. Anything that fits would probably be defoliated before it could grow new leaves. Are there no brambles growing wild anywhere near where you live?

Their molting process is like most insects; they hang upside down, their back bursts open, and they slowly squeeze themselves out. Leave them alone for several hours when you see them doing this (upside down does not necessarily mean they're molting; a lot just rest that way) to let their exoskeleton harden. They usually eat the old exoskeleton to regain the nutrients.

do i spray the tank once a day
also my sister will need to look after it does she just feed them,and spray
what about there wee/poos.

and what do they feel like?

Once a day should be fine, unless you have a spell of very dry weather (and if you live in England like I think I saw, it shouldn't be a problem ). If your sister is looking after them, just make sure she changes out the food when they've eaten the last of it and mist daily.

The droppings are nothing to worry about. They come out in these nice little pellets that are easy to sweep out (if they even produce enough that you need to clean them out).

And they feel like a BUG ON YOUR HAND!! Sorry, couldn't resist. The little ones (like Indians) don't really feeel like anything on your hand, and their exoskeleton is kind of rough to the touch. The big ones have hefty foot-pads and claws that have a good grip on your skin.

 

[phil2]

good they sound good,just gota persuade the parents a bit more lol.


just the problem now is the stupid feeding situation
what else do they eat as a staply,something i can buy from a shop?

if i open the tank to get droppings out or something wil they escape?can they squeze through the top slots at the top.
will 1 be happy alone

can they be kept together say i got 2
so male and male or male and female or female and female?

are they ok with the handling process.

 

[Wade]

Some phasmids will eat romaine lettuce and dandylion leaves, but I don't know if that would be appealing to Indians or not. Organic is best in order to avoid pesticides.

Wade

 

[phil2]

so what am i going to do about food.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

Nothing comes to mind that you can get regularly at a store . . . I just patrol the streets at night looking for escapee blackberry brambles.

Escaping: Some sticks run around if startled, but they don't usually get far, and are pretty easy to wrangle. Adults shouldn't be able to get through those openings. First instars might be able to, but I rarely see sticks try to go through narrow openings.

And like I said earlier, it won't matter how many you have. They do fine individually or in groups, and it's unlikely that you'll get a male.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

I had one species eat lots of romaine lettuce but they never grew. All but three from an entire clutch died as very old first or second instars.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

For food, Phil: almost anything, if not anything, in the rose family should be good. Check out this article, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosaceae, and see if any of these are locally available for you to get a few leaves from once a week.

 

[phil2]

so if i get a baby it might get out

i can get strawberrys but there dear, say i get 20 strawberrys in the tub,how long wil it take for them to eat all that.

there only seasonal.

do they eat cabage.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

You can cover the tank with fabric or netting (or even an old nylon stocking) to prevent escapes.

They won't eat the strawberry fruit, only the leaves. I've heard that some will eat ivy, and I know that's available year-round. You could try that.

I don't think they would eat cabbage.

Anywho, while I enjoy helping out, I have to get to work -- I should have started over an hour ago. :8o

Good luck, Phil!

 

[phil2]

ok well what if i get one and get stuck then with feeding,if i canat get none

my local garden centre prob has some stuff so i can go there and take some leaves etc ,how long will they last
how much do they eat?

 

[Mr. Mordax]

If you only have one or two, they won't eat very much. I have two adult Extasoma tiaratum with lots of adults / juveniles of a few smaller species, and I change out tall blackberry leaf bouquets about once every 10 days or so (not quite every other week).

 

[Stylopidae]

The zoo I had my interniship at had a colony of phasmids going for 20 years on nothing but romaine lettuce.

And to answer the first half of your final question...it's all good

 

[Vermis]

That's one of the biggest problems with phasmids, IMO. You need to put in extra effort to find the proper food. I don't know much about feeding romaine lettuce to them, but it sounds a little like a stop-gap measure.

If you want my advice, it would be other people's advice. Specifically, the Small-Life Supplies website. There's lots of info there, including some warnings about using plants from garden centres or supermarkets - full of pesticides, from the sounds of things.

Indian stick insects don't fly. No wings.

Setting the tank on it's end might work; but again I'll suggest cockroaches. You could imagine them as flattish stick insects that are a lot easier to feed.

 

[Mr. Mordax]

The zoo I had my interniship at had a colony of phasmids going for 20 years on nothing but romaine lettuce.

Must have been a different species than the ones I tried feeding romaine . . . the ones I was talking about were M. extradentata.

 

[edventurous77]

wont indian stick insects eat privet aswell, im sure i fed the ones i had as a kid on privet, privet is really easy to get in liverpool everyone has privet bushes in there front yards.

 

[phil2]

ok well once i know i can get the food and persuade parents i might be able to.
my lps are putting in a order on monday and said could get stickies in on tue,
one other thing i want is that it can live in the tank all its life,



and no way cockroaches
hate them.

do you get twigs to go in the tank etc from outside.

 

[phil2]

do they all eat privets

 

[Vermis]

The stems of the food plant might be enough to climb on. If you want extra sticks I'd recommend the dried-out remains of old food stems.

As far as I know only Indian sticks eat privet. But I fed mine bramble and ivy (no nearby privet!), and I admit I haven't kept up with my phasmoculture (phasmiculture?). Remember to keep away from streetside hedges!

And cockroaches are luverly. Get a couple of chunky madagascan hissers sometime. Aw, go on.

 

[phil2]

so let me get this straight,i get food from outside,i get things like ivy( i have varyegated ivy in the garden is that ok,what else can i get to feed,why not from streetside hedges?

 

[Vermis]

Vehicle fumes!

Ivy from your garden might be all right, but again you have to be very careful about garden chemicals - pesticides, weedkillers etc.
Frustrated yet? I know how it feels.

Take a look at the Small-Life link I posted, read through the site, especially the 'Ask Doctor Phasmid' section. It's all there, and more.