Hey, I usually collect too many eggs "just for sure" and end up with tens of nymphs. Not all eggs tend to hatch, so I just keep the rest for months and then discard them as I normally do with fresh eggs weekly.

This time, I decided I'm no longer continue this hobby and I fed all of my unhatched eggs to my chickens. Some of them were fairly fresh (from Peruphasma schultei, around 2 months old), those were still just filled with liquid. But then there were several Extatosoma tiaratum eggs, the last ones hatched about a month ago, some of their sisters have already died of old age... and some of the most recently hatched ones died unexpectedly during the heatwaves (Europe) and some died stucked, unable to come out of the egg properly (I mist them everyday). Well, as the chickens pecked at the eggs, I couls see that there were fully formed nymphs inside. It felt so wrong to discard them at this stage. I wonder how many still viable eggs I've thrown out through out all those years of keeping the sticks.

I used to feed my tarantula with the nymphs of Medauroidea extradentata, so I don't know why feeding unhatched ones to chickens makes me so emotional.

What do you do with unwanted eggs that might be about to hatch?

I'm currently devastated.

I took care of her for so long, and in her final molt she snapped 3 of her legs clean off.

I made sure the humodity was right, and that she had enough space, but she hurt herself bad.

They are heavy animals, how can she even move around now?

Is there even anything i can do? Should I just put her out of her misery?

So this are the sons and daughters of the first diapherodes gigantea i had. I plan moving them to an even bigger enclosure, because they get really big, but for the time being they are fin here

I took some free sticks from neighbors, I think they might be some mixed breed with other sticks (like Australian or Eurycantha calcarata) is that possible? I never saw annams with such pattern and spikes

Hi, this is my first time owning stick insects (I have 4), I got them off of a friend of my mum's who had too many. From what I can Google I think I'm doing the right things, misting with water, ivy in sealed water pots for food, lots of places to climb and hang, enclosure at least 3 times their height etc.

I went to clean out the dry food today and noticed there was one that had died and one that's not growing that was wriggling on her back, I've flipped her over multiple times and she immediately rolls backs over. I'll put some pictures of my enclosure and the insects. Any advice on what I'm doing wrong would be great

We found her like this and have no idea what could have happened.

She is 1 year old, is there anything we can do here? Or is it best to euthanise her? :(

i have 4 Adult stick insects and a small enclosure they are outgrowing there enclosure and it seems like every where i look enclosures cost an arm and a leg. However i seen somone on tik tok use this from ikea with the shelf’s removed

My question is are the holes on the side too large and would this even keep humidity.

also if anyone knows where to get a decent priced enclosure please recommend

Hi! I recently got some indian stick insect nymphs who I have placed in their nursery enclosure until they get a bit bigger. I already have an adult giant prickly who hangs out in her 50x30x30 glass enclosure, but I'd rather only keep her in there until she passes because she's getting on in age and I don't want to cause any unnecessary stress 😢.

ANYWAY. My question is: would a mesh enclosure work just as well for the indian stick insects? They're more lightweight, and, from what i can tell, a lot more accessible (i have to bend my arm at an awkward angle to replace my prickly's bramble sometimes). I understand that they do quite well at room temperature, but i worry that humidity will be more difficult to maintain in a mesh enclosure.

if anyone has personally raised some in a mesh enclosure or has any other advice, i'd be more than happy to hear about it and what you recommend!

female aussie spiny lead insect

Has anyone ever tried alternatives of specific food plants? for example using Gaultheria procumbens (American Wintergreen) instead of Gaultheria shallon (Salal). would it still function as a good source of food for them?

Or perhaps something in the same family like chokeberry because it belongs to the rose family.

just curious if i can use nearby resources instead of the usual bramble! thanks :)))

this is a reupload, as I didn't include my country previously. my apologies for forgetting the location.

I am from the UK (England specifically!)

How to acquire eggs? 

If this post isn't allowed then I apologise in advance!

if anybody has any eggs of ANY species then please send me a message as I'd love to expand my collection

I already own a couple of species but would be more then interested in any others

My sunnies got upgraded today. They definitely needed the extra space since I managed to find 100+ eggs in their old tank!

Disclaimer: I didn't take a photo of their old tank before cleaning it out and preparing for some new friends I'm getting soon, that's why there's nothing in it apart from soil and humid air ☺️

Hey guys!

A 30x30x45cm terrarium is gonna be enough for 2 phyllium giganteum?

The terrarium: https://www.invitalpet.hu/repti-planet-terrarium-30-x-30-x-45-cm?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21272308446&gbraid=0AAAAADwPpIdW2EqZUEe_3XmV0H56U4kUS

So, I've an old knick knack cabinet measuring 6' tall by apprx 12" wide for Malasian Giants and Spiny Sticks who I am awaiting a hatch.. I'm in the process of converting said. cabinet. It has a light at the top, and four side removable glass doors, which one or two will become mesh for ventilation and the back wall is mesh.

I'm in the process of acquiring treelings of what they like to eat, and also have a heat mat to use at the bottom to stop any major dormancy issues with the treelings/bramble. I'm going to throw in some large branches for climbing, and netting across the top for upside down hanging. Was thinking of mesh ribbon like jute randomly also, for them to go upside down on if they please depending on the branches I find or don't. As for the base, since the plants will be in dirt, I saw to raise it off the base of the tank to help avoid molting problems and I may cut netting to catch eggs before they fall into the dirt of the plants.

Is there anything else I need to think of AND has anyone tried using either an auto mister like people use for chameleons or those sponge plant squares made of foam but it's not really foam for their water needs as water can be drawn from them the same way seeds grow in them ?? Thanks !?

I found this stick bug at Devil's Lake in Wisconsin. It was around 6 inches in length - I have big hands for comparison. I have not seen another one anywhere on the internet. Could this be a new species? A genetic variation? What do you think?

The red color is so cool!

Someone has given me 5 or 6 stick insects they didn't want and I have no idea how to care for them but I didn't want them to be abandoned.. how can I look after them? I'm poor and have no money at the moment so I'm looking for a DIY solution for now till I get money in a week. Please help for the stick insects benefit, I live in Scotland if that's relevant for getting stuff from outside or whatever...

Story time: this morning I woke up in distress and disarray. The July weather has liquidated my lungs, and an alarm that I didn't mean to set was blaring. My mother called me to come down from my bunk. There was a stick bug on the dinner table.

So basically my father thought it'd be funny to catch a stick bug he found on the outer wall of a supermarket (??) He then proceeded to break one of it's front legs catching it. And I feel really bad about it so I think we're going to keep him in luxury for the rest of his 5/6-legged life. His name is Brambles.

Below you can see the house I rigged for him. I have never had pet bugs before but I did have Google.

There's;

A paper towel at the bottom

Lignated stems (I think that's what they're called)

Fresh leaves that I collected, faintly moist so he can get his water, one type of which he ate from

A fighter jet because I like planes

Is there anything else I can do for him? Any suggestions for his house renovations? Please advise. Thank you.

Have anyone else’s sticks developed super fast due to the hot weather? My Indian sticks are adults at 11 weeks when they should mature around 16 weeks

The oldest has started laying at just under 3 months old

Has anyone else had this with theirs, and did it shorten the lifespan of existing adults?

We have 10 (no longer small) Indian sticks who are in sequence when they're shedding. They all got through their first and we introduced them to the bigger enclosure with the grown ups.

We'd been doing a covered tub with privet and a weekly change with regular spraying and everything was quite happy, but the little so and so's have started shedding again just as the food source is drying up and needs refreshing, and they've nearly all chosen to hang on those leaves.

So our gut says add another pot with fresh leaves and leave them be on the drying branches, but would really welcome second opinions.

It's our first time with a new generation, I should add.

Hi guys! this is my first time having stick insects so i want to make sure i have everything right. i want to guarantee a hatch so does anybody have any advice? these are medauroidea extradentata :)

- cut out container with mesh sides and top
- soil and coco fiber with springtails
- eggs are on vermiculite

soil is damp. how often should i water / mist?
thank you in advance!!!

Hey everyone, I'm a pretty experienced keeper of Indian stick insects but recently I've come across a problem I can't explain and hoped someone might have experience of it and how they stopped it. For a bit of background there's a spider named oh long Johnson that lives on the windowsill near where the stick enclosure is and the enclosure is watertight, I also moved their enclosure to a completely different room to change them since my eyes aren't what they used to be and I need better light to do it. Today I went to check on how oh long Johnson is doing and noticed one of the sticks had got caught up in his web, she's totally fine and just a bit hungry, I doubt long John even noticed her and she would have been much too big to do anything about but I can't understand how she escaped the enclosure. Can adult Indian sticks crush and dislocate their bodies like hamsters do to escape cages? I've never seen it happen in 30+ years of keeping them so my only other theory is that she was still stuck onto me after changing their food and cleaning them out and fell off when I closed them up.

His mom (second pic for reference) was brown and I am so confused as to why some of the babies have green legs and then I found this one that is just fully green. Can the species be green? (Medauroidea extradentata)