# stick insect enclosures



## metame (Sep 25, 2009)

i'm really interested in stick insects and wondered what people housed theirs in and if possible could they put up some pictures?

sorry, but im really curious!


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## Taz Devil (Apr 29, 2008)

Heres how my stick insect homes grew as I got more and more interested in them:-

I started out with a few *Indian Stick Insects* (_Carausius morosus_ which I kept in a large sweet jar that you see in newsagents and other shops that still weigh out sweets.









I then upgraded to a tank that is available from Wilco's (Wilkinsons)









Once my sticks out grew this (due to number of them not size) I then invested in one of those large folding greenhouses.



















Then I started getting a few more different species and gradually upgraded to varios other terrariums.



















Unfortunately after an operation on my back I wasn't able to keep stick insects due to the fact that I had to walk quite a way to collect all the food plants required to feed them all.


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## metame (Sep 25, 2009)

aw, im sorry to hear about your back 

but ty for the pics, thats awesome, thank you


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## Taz Devil (Apr 29, 2008)

Thanks. If you want something a little different from the usual Indian Stick Insects (_Carausius morosus_) try going for the Bud wing insects (_Phaenopharos khaoyaiensis_) as they grow to almost twice the size of the Indian stick insects, are just as easy to look after, they eat Bramble, Hawthorne, Hypericum and Raspberry (I managed to get mine to eat Ivy and Bramble). They grow to about 13Cm long.

When getting an enclosure for your stick remember that they require something that is 3x their height, so if the stick insect grows to a length of 13Cm you will require an enclosure that is 39Cm tall, this is because they moult by hanging upside down from a branch and sliding out of their old skin. The width and depth of the enclosure depends on the number of insects you want to keep.

Have a google around and you will find most of the information you require.

Hope this helps.
Rob

P.S. The green house once folded up and taped up at the bottom is ideal for a range of stick insects. Placing a plastic washing up bowl in the bottom will make it easier to clean out, and they are also cheap (I paid about £8 - £10 for the greenhouse). At the top I cut out a section of the roof and glued some fine mesh over it so that there was some ventilation.


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## metame (Sep 25, 2009)

thats a really amazing idea!

i wont be able to have any for a few months but you can never look too far ahead i dint think!

cheers


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## ....zoe.... (Jul 8, 2009)

i have two female phylium siccifoliums (leaf insects) they grow to a nice size and look like an oak leaf. 

they are a bit more specialist to look after as they require a high humidity. 

ive found for my two females that they are growing best without an enclosure at all, therefore i have them placed on a heat mat, and positioned in the window of my attic room as it gets quite warm when the sun is out, i then also mist spray them upto 4 times per day. 

they eat a varied diet of mainly oak leaves, bramble, hawthorn and eucalyptus.


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## Taz Devil (Apr 29, 2008)

....zoe.... said:


> i have two female phylium siccifoliums (leaf insects) they grow to a nice size and look like an oak leaf.
> 
> they are a bit more specialist to look after as they require a high humidity.
> 
> ...


Leaf insects are best kept after some experience with stick insects or something a little bit more forgiving.

I wouldn't recomend having no enclosure, you need some way to collect and clean up the frass (poo) they make, collect unwanted ova (eggs) and keep all your sticks in one place.

Some stick insects can flick their eggs some distance so without an enclosure to stop them you could end up with an unwanted explosion of stick insects as they require very little looking after to hatch if the conditions are right.



metame said:


> thats a really amazing idea!
> 
> i wont be able to have any for a few months but you can never look too far ahead i dint think!
> 
> cheers


Have a good look around at some of the good phasmid sites out there. Another thing to look out for is food for them, Indians will quite happily live on Privet leaves, but some of the other insects will require different leafy vegitation. Most eat bramble (Blackberry) which is usually abundant in summer, but can be harder to find in winter. A good place to look for bramble during the winter months is your local woods/forest.


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## ....zoe.... (Jul 8, 2009)

i ahve had plenty of experience and this is what i have found best, im sure other people have different opinions and they are welcome to that. 

i have previously had indian stick insects, bud wing stick insects, macley spectres and another large black species (big thorns on back legs) cant remember the name of it 

it sounds as though you are imaging my room to be covered in frass from these two and i ensure you it is not, i lean up the poo every morning and evening and when eggs start to arrive i will collect them up and take to be placed in an incubator in my college as my bedroom would be too cold for them to hatch out without warmth.


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## Taz Devil (Apr 29, 2008)

....zoe.... said:


> i ahve had plenty of experience and this is what i have found best, im sure other people have different opinions and they are welcome to that.
> 
> i have previously had indian stick insects, bud wing stick insects, macley spectres and another large black species (big thorns on back legs) cant remember the name of it


These would have been Eurycantha calcarata.
Image isn't too good but these are the spikes on the back of the males legs.









Sorry if I sounded a bit off hand.

Its just that any younger reader who reads this thread and reads that it's OK to keep Phasmids without an enclosure are in for an explosion of insects they will be unable to contain. Just 4 Stick insects can multiply into hundreds in as little as 10 weeks.

Do the maths each stick could lay upto 20 - 30 Ova a day. By the time the first lot of ova have started hatching they could have laid in the region of 5600 Ova, in a room, with no way to find them all.


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## ....zoe.... (Jul 8, 2009)

no worries i did not take offence, thinking about it i may try and get a funarium to place my girls in when they begin to pop their eggs out, i guess it will be a lot easier than having to collect eggs up off my floor ever so often :lol:

i guess im lucky that i have a college that will take a lot of babies off me if it ever comes to it, i also work in a pet shop so can also sell some through that outlet. 

i did not mean to give out the wrong information to other beginners was just putting in my experience


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