Indian walking stick bug?

[jejton]

I've wanted to try walking sticks but dont have ready access to blackerry or oak. Is there any other common vegetable that is ok to feed them?

 

[Vegas Chad]

romain has worked OK for me...

 

[hawaiianice99]

what states are these legal in exactly? i cant find anything.

 

[Vegas Chad]

Brad said that they are not legal in any state… Brad knows his bugs so im sure he is correct. That is not to say that you cant find them though.

 

[AndrewH]

I read it is because they are a pest. they will eat anything and do not need a male to reproduce. they will just keep giving birth to females. Is this true?

 

[Vegas Chad]

Brad is the bug brain… Well, that is to say he knows his bugs so if I am wrong he can correct me. But you are correct, 1 stick bug can turn into many many stick bugs in a short period of time. I have found mine (ummm that is when I -had- them) to be at times picky eaters. Sometimes they would eat romain and some times no, I got myself a black berry plant and they loved that, but one day they would only eat romain. *shrug* I dunno. They are cool bugs though.

 

[sruli]

Apparently, they decided the bugs were indeed food. The bugs are no longer in sight, and they would be difficult to hide. Good news.

They eat rose leaves, also, and Romaine Lettuce (which is probably what the feeders should get). I will be experiementing with other foliage, I would like to get certain carotenoids into their system, so I will be trying to get them to eat red things like rhubarb, red leaf, swiss chard. Keep you posted.

They are certainly legal in New York, and probably other states were the winter temperatures are such that they could not possibly survive. Perhaps not all species are legal in these states. I can say that M. Edentada is legal in NY. I *think* that all stick bugs are legal in NY.

Also there are about 30 species native to the US. Shouldn't be anything wrong with keeping one that is native to your area, and difficult to prove that they were not an unwanted infestation, even if there was a law against it.

Also, clearly they don't eat *anything*. But they do eat crop foliage. I tried giving mine Maple Leaves for example - I think that the leaves are too tough - I don't think that their mandibles are all that strong.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Chameleons LOVE stick bugs

Hi, I am currently breeding crickets, mealworms and the indian stick bug. I am just wondering if anyone has fed the stick bugs to their chameleon? Are the ok to feed to him? I can only gutload them with blackberry leaves so unless they hold some awsome nutrients, is there a point?

I feed my chams stick bugs regularily. They LOVE them, which enough reason to offer them periodically, if you ask me. I feed my stick insects a wider variety of leaves than just blackberry, and I believe they do offer decent nutritional value to my chams.

 

[dodolah]

dandelions, fine?

 

[sandrachameleon]

I invested in a Walking Stick colony... more aesthetic than cockroaches, smell nicer than crickets, lots of gut-load potential...
My chameleons do not seem to recognize them as food items... apparently their camoflage works too well! I have three walking stick bugs of various sizes peacefully cohabiting with my chameleons at the moment.

Wow that's a suprise - mine often take them right out of my fingers before I can even get the cage door full open. Perhaps your chams are used to more active food, and you need to blow on your stick bugs to make them move? Or if you ever cup feed, put the sticks in the cup so they can be associated with food. Or put the stick bug near the bottom of the cage and touch it / annoy it until it starts walking (usually they will naturally climb upwards) so that the movement attracts your chams attention.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I have extra stick bugs

Where can you find stick bugs? I saw them available on kingsnake a while back...but now I cant find them.
Brian

I have many Indian Walking Sticks and quite a few MacLeays Spectre (aka Australian spiny). I could mail eggs to anyone who wants them. It would be up to you to make sure you're permitted to keep them in your province/state though! Private Message me if you are interested. I'll send more details about the insects so you can make an informed decision.

I'd also love to get LEAF insects, if anyone has a line on where I could get some of those.

Sandra

 

[kenya]

I also have Indian walking sticks and Macleay's Spectre.

PM me if interested.