Stick insect advice please

[clemettethecoalitionbreaker]

Dear all,
We are getting some stick insect eggs tomorrow and my DC are very excited. I was just wondering how to care for them (once they are hatched). The person I am getting them from says vaguely that they just need a branch of bramble in a tank but this seems a bit too simple.
Any tips would be gratefully received.
Thank you.

They're really easy, not too hot, not too cold. Don't keep in direct sunlight.
Tank should be fairly shallow, for some reason they don't seem to like deep tanks.

You need to look up specific tips for the type you are getting though.

They are good fun!

There are types!! Oh my.
(Thank you)

I had stick insects when I was in my teens, and basically all I had was a tank (with a lid - they are masters of escape!) a layer of soil on the bottom and used to add various branches daily for them to eat, you need to clean out the bottom of the tank every week, eggs are layed all the time and they hatch well, I went abroad for two months and my mum was brave enough to chuck some new leaves in for them daily but she wasnt brave enough to clean out the bottom of the tank properly - if they went near her hand she would scream lol, I came home to loads of lovely little baby sticks, hense everyone in my family ended up with pet sticks!

Mine used to love music, if you put on certain singers they would dance! They balanced on the back 4 legs and waved the front two in the air, they were either dancing or they were trying to get my attention to put the music down!

yep there are different types

i used to keep mine in a big mesh cage, rather than a tank, they seemed to like it better

lots of fresh bramble to eat. iirc they like it a bit humid so we used to use a fine spray bottle and mist some water over them every day too

Ok

you are likely to have Indian stickies as these are most commonly kept as pets
they take around 3 months to hatch
once hatched, put them in a tank with a piece of kitchen roll on the bottom (not soil, too hard to clean and not great for them)

they eat bramble, ivy or privet ( a favourite usually)

they shed their skin 5-8 times before they are mature
once adult, they no longer shed and their front legs turn red

mist the tank with a fine water spray
replace foliage every week ( be sure to rinse it as chemicals and residue from car exhaust is poisonous)

once mature they will lay tons of eggs
give them away, keep some, and what you don't need freeze to kill humanely before disposing ( they will lay 100s, don't keep too many, overcrowding can cause limb damage, I have 8 in a medium fish tank)

tank should have ventilation, but no big gaps of they will escape!

Hth

don't let cats get hold of them.

legs all over the kitchen and legless sticks twitching.

ugh.

Brilliant - thanks everyone.

Oh also, they sometimes get the empty egg stuck on their back legs after hatching, if they are struggling you can gently hold the egg down whilst they pull their legs out.

And if they lose a leg before they are mature, it will grow back at the next shedding

they poo loads! but it doesn't smell ... once they start laying eggs at about 6 months old, they turn into egg-machines ... at least once a week, you'll need to clear the eggs out otherwise you'll be overrun - if you put them in the freezer for a few days they won't hatch

they often play dead - drop to the bottom of their home and stay there motionless - you can tell they're still alive cos they have all their legs tucked in into a streamlined position

try not to handle them straight after moulting as they're quite fragile for 24 hours or so, but after that you can hold htem if you want to

ours are in a butterfly net which they like as they can climb up the sides as well as on the ivy - (ours only like ivy for some reason - tried them on privet which grows like wildfire in our back garden but they wouldn't eat it grrr)

we've had ours for a year and a half now and the novelty has definitely worn off ... I'm the one looking after them and even when our iconic first insect 'Twiggy' died dd was completely unfazed ...