Stick Insect Care

Welcome to our stick insect care area. Here you will find our care guide to stick insect.

Stick insects are one of the easiest pets to care for and enjoy being kept communally in small groups. This kit is for the Indian Stick Insect (Carausius morosus), one of the most commonly kept species and perfect for beginners. Indian Stick insects usually live for around 9 months to 1 year.

Housing:

Stick insects like to be kept at room temperature, away from direct sunlight or draughts. Temperatures of 18c to 22c are ideal.

They need a cage which is around 3 times their height to give them space to shed their skin. This 30cm cage is perfect for Indian Stick insects which grow to around 8cm in length.

Setting up the habitat for your insects:

  • Open the pop-up cage and place it in a location away from direct sunlight and draughts
  • Place one paper liner in the base of the cage
  • Fill the water pot with tap water
  • Collect some fresh stems of either Bramble, Privet, Hawthorn, Ivy or Rose
  • Cut stems to size and Insert into the water pot
  • Lightly mist the stems with the spray bottle (every day or two)
  • Gently introduce your stick insects onto the leaves

Daily Tasks:

·       Check the food, replace if necessary

·       Spray the leaves lightly with water

 

Weekly Tasks:

·       Clean out the cage

·       Collect any eggs and put them into the egg hatching pot. (eggs take 4 months to hatch)

Food Plants:

Indian Stick Insects eat a variety of different plants including:

·       Bramble (Blackberry)

·       Privet

·       Hawthorn

·       Ivy

·       Rose

You should replace the leaves weekly or more frequently if needed to ensure your insects always have access to fresh food.

 

Take care to collect leaves from a location where you know they haven’t been sprayed pesticides and are away from main roads.

 

Breeding:

Indian stick insects are parthenogenic, this means that the females lay unfertilised eggs which then hatch into female stick insects.

Once the insects are fully grown they will begin to lay eggs. These can be collected and placed into the incubator pot. They don’t need to be sprayed, just open the tub once per week to refresh the air in the container and keep at room temperature. The eggs take 4 months to hatch. The newly hatched nymphs should be kept in the container with food which is regularly replaced until they shed their skin for the first time. Then the insects can be moved to the airy pop up cage.

Handling:

Stick insects like to be handled gently and are completely harmless, but care should be taken as rough handling can result in the insects losing a leg or being injured.

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