View Full Version : caring for stick insects
mushpea
26-03-2009, 05:42 PM
has anyone got or looked after stick insects and could you tell me how to care for them please, i have looked on several websites and they all say different things about their food and what i should give them to eat , we are getting some this evening from somone who no longer wants them, bit of a rush thing but we have a habit of taking extra critters on speck:blush:
so any tips would be much appriciated thanks
sarah707
26-03-2009, 05:55 PM
We fed ours on privet hedge which was washed so it had water on it.
It gets tricky in the winter when the privet dies back... and I could be found lurking near people's hedges with scissors :laughing:
breezy
26-03-2009, 05:56 PM
Our ones would eat ivy or privet, but best ask the person you're getting them from what they're used to eating! they dont drink as such, just occasionally mist the leaves( not too much i drowned my first lot:blush: )Oh and dont keep them too near a radiator or in the sun!
If they escape they usually end up on the ceiling!
good luck, how many are you getting?
SimplyLucy
26-03-2009, 05:57 PM
All depends on what type of stick insects they are.......do you know?
Surely the people you are getting them from should be able to tell you how to look after them?
breezy
26-03-2009, 06:04 PM
forgot to mention they need a cuddle at night:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
mushpea
26-03-2009, 06:09 PM
not sure what sort, the were advertised on freecycle and my son has pestered to get some in the past so though this would be a good opportunity as they come with tank and all,, she said they were black but so far thats about it, will tellmy partner to ask her what sort they are tonight
Twinkles
26-03-2009, 06:20 PM
Mine were the Indian sort ( can't remember proper name ) and they ate only bramble.
Just a word of caution clean out and throw away whatever you are going to put in the bottom of the tank ( we had bark in ours )cos thats where they lay there eggs , or you will end up with hundreds of the blighters ! That's what happened to us , we ended up with six tanks of the blessed things :rolleyes:
jellytot
26-03-2009, 06:22 PM
forgot to mention they need a cuddle at night:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
PixiePetal
26-03-2009, 06:26 PM
Mine were the Indian sort ( can't remember proper name ) and they ate only bramble.
Just a word of caution clean out and throw away whatever you are going to put in the bottom of the tank ( we had bark in ours )cos thats where they lay there eggs , or you will end up with hundreds of the blighters ! That's what happened to us , we ended up with six tanks of the blessed things :rolleyes:
We had those too, took the three on holiday to Devon. Picked bramble in the mornings for them. Thought it was easier than getting someone to feed them :laughing:
PixiePetal
26-03-2009, 06:28 PM
We put kitchen roll in the bottom of the tank and sprayed it and the food plants with a misting spray. Take the paper out regularly and you will avoid 1000's of the little blighters. :thumbsup:
Princess Sara
26-03-2009, 06:47 PM
Privet hedge and Ivy (yum...) Spray a mist of water over the leaves once a week or so. They do not like direct sunlight or being above radiators.
And omg do they multiply! Burn the base!!! (sawdust, newspaper, bark, whatever you use) Lol. Or you'll end up with hundreds! they do not need a male to mate with, they just keep making eggs over and over again. If you find the little browny black seed looking things, squish them!
And don't let the children pull their poor little legs off like my brother did. :(
SimplyLucy
26-03-2009, 07:03 PM
Oh my goodness, sounds like you are getting black beauties (Peruphasma schultei). I don't know of any other black ones.
They really are beautiful. You can send me a load of eggs if they lay any.
They should look like this......
SimplyLucy
26-03-2009, 07:08 PM
Take a peep at this http://www.phasmidsincyberspace.com/PeruphasmaSchultei.html
They are climbers so they should be kept in a tall tank/cage.
Good luck.
singlewiththree
26-03-2009, 07:36 PM
Mine are the indian type too, I have 3 of them and am deliberately not cleaning out the cage as they tend to live about 18mths so when they die I want new ones :)
angeldelight
26-03-2009, 07:42 PM
Oh my goodness, sounds like you are getting black beauties (Peruphasma schultei). I don't know of any other black ones.
They really are beautiful. You can send me a load of eggs if they lay any.
They should look like this......
Omg am I the only one who does not like them
You all know what I am like with bugs and things like floaters
I dont like stick insects they give me the creeps haha
Angel xx
Twinkles
26-03-2009, 07:50 PM
Omg am I the only one who does not like them
You all know what I am like with bugs and things like floaters
I dont like stick insects they give me the creeps haha
Angel xx
:laughing: :laughing: Yes ! they are like wingless ' Floaters' :laughing:
angeldelight
26-03-2009, 08:39 PM
:laughing: :laughing: Yes ! they are like wingless ' Floaters' :laughing:
That is mean
:laughing: :laughing:
Angel xx
happytotschildminding
26-03-2009, 09:07 PM
We've got loads of them now they've all multiplied!!! They're really easy to keep (got ours in an old fish tank with bit of mesh over the top and feed them privet. You just have to be really careful when you clean them out that you don't throw any left on the privet in the bin!!!!:laughing:
Carol
LisaH
26-03-2009, 09:13 PM
No Angel you're not on your own!! I don't like anything with more than 4 legs:laughing:
A centipede has just dashed across my living room floor and I had to get my son to remove it, yuck yuck yuck:panic:
Twinkles
26-03-2009, 09:15 PM
No Angel you're not on your own!! I don't like anything with more than 4 legs:laughing:
A centipede has just dashed across my living room floor and I had to get my son to remove it, yuck yuck yuck:panic:
Hey ! That's leggist :laughing:
LisaH
26-03-2009, 09:21 PM
Hey ! That's leggist :laughing:
:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
claires
26-03-2009, 10:37 PM
Omg am I the only one who does not like them
You all know what I am like with bugs and things like floaters
I dont like stick insects they give me the creeps haha
Angel xx
No no no its not just you. I think they are orrible!!!:eek:
My DS (2) brought me a woodlouse this morning!:eek:
I had to very calmly and collectedly SCREAM GET IT AWAY NOW!!!!:eek: without frightening him of course!
mushpea
27-03-2009, 02:03 PM
Oh my goodness, sounds like you are getting black beauties (Peruphasma schultei). I don't know of any other black ones.
They really are beautiful. You can send me a load of eggs if they lay any.
They should look like this......
yes this is what we ended up with, i thought we were getting the indian sort and those are what we ended up with, bit scared at first casue they are more like log insects with the size they are :eek: but got over it and they are acutualy quite beautiful really, apparently not sutible for kids though so wont be keeping eggs, infact bought some indian ones today so that we can compare and study both types. bought them a bigger tank aswell cause they came in a really small one, off to the woods later with the kids to get them lunch......the stick insects not the kids:laughing:
SimplyLucy
27-03-2009, 02:04 PM
yes this is what we ended up with, i thought we were getting the indian sort and those are what we ended up with, bit scared at first casue they are more like log insects with the size they are :eek: but got over it and they are acutualy quite beautiful really, apparently not sutible for kids though so wont be keeping eggs, infact bought some indian ones today so that we can compare and study both types. bought them a bigger tank aswell cause they came in a really small one, off to the woods later with the kids to get them lunch......the stick insects not the kids:laughing:
Oh fabulous.....
If they do lay eggs would you be willing to post me a few? I love these but have been struggling to get hold of any. :D
Good luck with them, they run fast!
mushpea
27-03-2009, 02:15 PM
yes of course you can i will let you know if they do, they seem to be mating at the moment cause the male is constantly on the females back but i don't know how long the whole proccess takes??
my email is donna@donna73.orangehome.co.uk if you want to contact me seperate
angeldelight
27-03-2009, 05:31 PM
yes of course you can i will let you know if they do, they seem to be mating at the moment cause the male is constantly on the females back but i don't know how long the whole proccess takes??
my email is donna@donna73.orangehome.co.uk if you want to contact me seperate
Oh I would be having a fit
Horrible ha
xxx
breezy
27-03-2009, 06:58 PM
the stick insects think the same abut you and Enrique:ROFL1: :blush:
angeldelight
27-03-2009, 07:01 PM
the stick insects think the same abut you and Enrique:ROFL1: :blush:
Hey thats a bit mean
What did I do
:crying: :crying: :crying: :crying:
xx
breezy
27-03-2009, 07:04 PM
you let enrique on your back while the stick insects were watching:eek: :eek: :blush: :blush: :laughing: :laughing:
angeldelight
27-03-2009, 07:05 PM
you let enrique on your back while the stick insects were watching:eek: :eek: :blush: :blush:
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh
I am sooooooooo dumb
:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Angel xx
RedDragon
27-03-2009, 07:12 PM
This thread is very funny.
Stick insects, not my cup of tea. I don't think I would mind if they were stick like but they are not are they? Not the pics you have all posted.
Nearly put me off licking my nobbly bobbly.
angeldelight
27-03-2009, 07:13 PM
This thread is very funny.
Stick insects, not my cup of tea. I don't think I would mind if they were stick like but they are not are they? Not the pics you have all posted.
Nearly put me off licking my nobbly bobbly.
nobbly bobbly ? Dare I ask ??
:laughing: :laughing:
xx
RedDragon
27-03-2009, 07:15 PM
Best ice lolly in the world - has hundreds and thousands all over.
When they are 4 for £1 in supermarkets people think I have won a trolly dash.:blush:
angeldelight
27-03-2009, 07:16 PM
Best ice lolly in the world - has hundreds and thousands all over.
When they are 4 for £1 in supermarkets people think I have won a trolly dash.:blush:
o i c haha
:laughing:
xx
breezy
27-03-2009, 08:03 PM
Angel was thinking of Enrique again:laughing:
RedDragon
27-03-2009, 08:13 PM
Has he got a nobbly bobbly?
Is there a doctor in the house?
breezy
27-03-2009, 08:22 PM
Has he got a nobbly bobbly?
Is there a doctor in the house?
A nobbly bobbly?........................................... ..........................................
Probably:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
angeldelight
27-03-2009, 08:25 PM
A nobbly bobbly?........................................... ..........................................
Probably:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
:laughing: :laughing:
xxx
Thanks ladies and gents,:idea: I was thinking of getting a stick insect but you have just put me off!!! The thought of throwing away baby eggs etc... is not too nice.:eek: Good luck with yours. :thumbsup:
Twinkles
27-03-2009, 11:00 PM
Thanks ladies and gents,:idea: I was thinking of getting a stick insect but you have just put me off!!! The thought of throwing away baby eggs etc... is not too nice.:eek: Good luck with yours. :thumbsup:
Just get a tank and fill it with twigs. Tell the kids there are stick insects in there :laughing: the twigs will be just as interesting and less hassle to clean out :cool:
What a great idea!! Thanks. XX:thumbsup:
mushpea
28-03-2009, 03:37 PM
wish i thought of that, would have been a lot less hassl!!!
as for throwing the eggs away it does seem really mean but its either that or become over run with them and have them all squashed up in the tank, have seen people selling the eggs on ebay for fish food , not sure which is worse, feeding fish with them or throwing them!
Heaven Scent
28-03-2009, 04:04 PM
Just get a tank and fill it with twigs. Tell the kids there are stick insects in there :laughing: the twigs will be just as interesting and less hassle to clean out :cool:
Yeh - this is the best idea I've seen so far - I might even do it myself just before I'm due my next inspection - He he he it would be brill watching the inspector looking in the tank and telling the children she could see one knowing all the time that she couldn't - that would make my day.
You may think I mean but I just hate them and am allergic to furry things but don't like most of them anyway also hate the smell of their pee. We have a cat at the moment who is about 16 and has recentley been diagnosed with diabetes and DH cant stand the thought of injecting him and I'm allergic to him so cant touch him to do it so he may not last much longer so I've been trying to think of a new pet that wouldn't bee much bother to keep and a tank of privet seems like the perfect solution I could just let the kids spray it with water every day and we could go out into the back garden for fresh privet on a daily basis - wow brilliant solution thanks Twinkles.
I refuse to have the real thing because when I worked in a private school once the owner put a huge tank of them on a shelf right behind my desk one week-end and they were there when I got into work on Monday morning - boys did I have some wild nightmares about them for weeks - it was all very traumatic - Plus they multiplied by the hundreds but they died off too and everytime I thought I was down to 1 another batch would hatch yuk!!
I tried keeping gold fish once and that was a complete disaster as the tank kept going green and I kept cleaning it with bleach and the fish kept dying - I called them Ned and Mo after my parents Eddie and Maureen and that many died I decided it was a bad omen especially as they were all called Ned & Mo (I always had 2) that I gave up having fish.
Well I'm off down to the pet shop next week to get myself a tank for my privet - I'll let you all know how I get on - I could even post some photos if you like.
mushpea
29-03-2009, 10:31 AM
just had an email from the lady who gave us the stick insects, she has some giant land snail eggs that she is going to let us have so now we have
6 peruvain stick insects
2 guinea pigs
3 rabbits 1 of them a house rabbit
2 gerbils
1 hamster
2 fish
and now goodness knows how many snails
oh and i orders some of the indian stick insects too
so no need to go to the zoo anymore!!! :laughing:
Wow Mushpea:eek: , I thought I was the only mad woman with so many pet's!! I love all sorts of amimals and most people think i'm mad!! I have at the moment:
1 dog
2 cats
2 Horsefields tortoise's
1 3ft corn snake
tropical fish in a 3ft aquarium
goldfish in a small pond
I have been trying to down size my pets due to lack of time and energy!!:laughing:
mushpea
29-03-2009, 12:03 PM
oh dear i forgot to add my labrador:blush: , love him to bits but hes so dopey you sort of forget hes there till you trip over him!!!:D
angeldelight
29-03-2009, 12:04 PM
oh dear i forgot to add my labrador:blush: , love him to bits but hes so dopey you sort of forget hes there till you trip over him!!!:D
Sounds like my lab
At last a pet that I like haha
Angel xx
breezy
29-03-2009, 03:52 PM
just had an email from the lady who gave us the stick insects, she has some giant land snail eggs that she is going to let us have so now we have
6 peruvain stick insects
2 guinea pigs
3 rabbits 1 of them a house rabbit
2 gerbils
1 hamster
2 fish
and now goodness knows how many snails
oh and i orders some of the indian stick insects too
so no need to go to the zoo anymore!!! :laughing:
dont forget the monkey we look after on here:laughing:
Heaven Scent
29-03-2009, 06:38 PM
Oh yeh forgot about that one - I probably won't need my tank of privit then - I'll Just make a cardboard cage and put in a cardboard cut out of her. - I'm sure the inspector wouln't know the differnece. I'll put it amongst the bushes in the back garden and tell the inspector not to get too close cause she spits and picks her nose and flicks it at adults - but she's great with the children. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Just done some research on google, found some web pages on stick insects. Seems you need to wear gloves as they can BITE!!!!!!! They also get scared by loud noises like the phone ringing, dog barking etc... which makes them fly in terror!!! OMG not for me.:eek: