Apparently internet research is a win! I’ve managed to keep my two stick insects alive so far!
I learned that since they were clearly new hatchlings (since they were attached to their egg casings still), they can take a little while to actually start to eat. They were fairly active and now they’ve slowed down a bit in activity and no longer run around like little sticks on too much sugar.
They also occasionally keep all their legs in place and just move their body back and forth (swaying, it looks like dancing). And incredibly docile, they easily go onto my fingers and walk around a bit. Plus they’ve eaten! I’ve seen evidence of their munching on the leaves I’ve given them – they’re so adorable. Also, a response to them actually eating now is that they leave very little amounts of frass (poo) onto the bottom of their jar, I’ll need to clean it soon.
These little guys are so incredible! How long are they? You should be very proud, you’re being a wonderful insect mommy! I’ll be back for more stick baby news. 🙂
The length of their body is ~2cm right now, a lot of the time they put their antennae together too, so that they’re more stick like. 😀 I’m just happy that they’re eating now, lol.
These little guys amuse me, even though I’m not very keen on any insects. I actually think they’re quite cute.
Do they leave little holes in the leaves? For some reason, when a creature leaves all these tiny holes in a leaf, the leaf has the tendency to creep me out with all the little holes. xD
When doing my online research, I found that there’s quite a few specie of stick and leaf insects that are native to Australia (granted, not sure where in Australia, but it’s still interesting! Better than where I live, where there are no native species).
They eat along the edges of the leaves, so instead of having the natural jagged-ness of the bramble leaves, they leave a smoother outside rim to the leaves 🙂
Aww, they’re quite cute, for insects. (I never thought insects could be cute!) I’m glad they’re doing well!