But because stick insects are capable of laying around two to three eggs every day of their adult lives, it can also mean that there is the possibility of them having hundreds of offspring throughout the course of their very short lifespans. Stick insects tend to go through various stages of maturity before reaching adulthood. The nymphs will shed their skins around five to nine times in the few months before they become adults.
Each time they shed their skins, they will grow a little bit more before finally reaching maturity and full adulthood. At this point, they will stop growing and will no longer shed their skin. Stick insect eggs typically resemble seeds and are typically a brown colour. They range in size depending on the species of stick insect that you have. If you own a common Indian stick insect , the eggs will be around 2mm and will resemble round seeds.
They are dark brown in colour. When you see the eggs on the floor of the container, it is a good idea to remove them carefully with a pair of tweezers and place them in a separate container if you are planning to let them hatch. If you do not want to keep the eggs, you can pass them on to someone who wants them, sell them, or dispose of them. If you are going to dispose of the stick insect eggs , you will need to freeze them first.
This is the most humane way of killing the developing nymph as it is both quick and painless. Although the eggs can be left in the adult tank, it is easier if you move them to another container until the nymphs hatch. Eggs do require more moisture than adult stick insects , so you will need to ensure that the container is sprayed regularly while at the same time making sure that mould does not grow.
The temperature of the container should not exceed 30C. Generally speaking a temperature in the mid-twenties is optimum for developing eggs.
You should also take care when buying plants for your garden. If you buy plants from a garden centre, the likelihood of these plants having been sprayed with insecticides will be extremely high. These chemicals could cause your stick insects to become ill or even die so any leaves that you are giving should be thoroughly washed beforehand.
Breeding stick insects can be a great way to earn some extra cash, but are you ready to do this? You should know that although stick insects are relatively easy to take care of and maintain, you will need to ensure that the eggs are kept in the right conditions, as discussed in the above paragraphs. Knowing how to look after Indian stick insect eggs is important before you get started.
Each stick insect female adult can lay around two to three eggs every day, which over the course of a lifespan can equate to hundreds of eggs, hence hundreds of nymphs. This is something you need to be prepared for. Managing stick insect eggs is important, particularly if you are not interested in breeding at all. Maybe you purchased a stick insect as a pet and had no idea of its ability to lay eggs that would hatch without being fertilized by a male? If so, the idea of your stick insect laying hundreds of eggs might be filling you with dread.
If you are keen to avoid lots of nymphs, or if you want to keep them to a minimum, it is important to know how to humanely dispose of the stick insect eggs. To do this, place the eggs you do not want in a receptacle in the freezer. The cold effectively puts the growing nymph within the egg to sleep which is the humane way of killing it and you can then get rid of the eggs.
I am a content creator by profession but exotic animals are one of my great passions in life. Over the course of my adulthood, I have had the pleasure of looking after stick insects, terrapins, an Egyptian tortoise, giant African land snails, a crested gecko, a Chilean rose tarantula, a couple of curly-haired tarantulas, and a selection of millipedes, centipedes and worms!
Most people are curious about what type of food their stick insects will eat, especially if they are new to the world of keeping stick insects as pets. Indeed, there are many misconceptions, The first thing you need to know about stick insects is that they are herbivores. This means they only eat plant matter. In general the larger species are the ones which take longest, though not always. You can either leave the eggs on the cage floor and let the stick insects hatch as they want, in this case it is useful to keep some common Woodlice such as Porcellio scaber in the cage to help keep down the fungus.
Or you can collect the eggs each time you clean the cage and keep them in separate containers until they hatch. In this case the eggs of the burying species will need to be gently reburied about 1cm deep, and the rest will need to be kept on some absorbent material such as sand.
All will need to be kept in a warm place and spraying with moisture occasionally will help. Stick insects can lose limbs for a number of reasons and you should be careful to avoid any situation which may cause your stick insects to lose limbs.
Some of the common causes of lost limbs include:. Stick insects undergo incomplete metamorphosis. It is possible for a stick insect to regrow a lost limb but only when they moult again. This means that, if your stick insect is an adult, then it won't be able to regrow the lost limb. Further information on Stick insects and Leaf insects. Remember Me. Many species of stick insect can be kept together, but different bulky or pinching stick insects may harm each other.
Stick insects should be kept indoors at living room temperatures or slightly above. Greenhouses may well be too hot. Cages can be heated by an electric light bulb up to 40W inside, blacked out by cloth over a frame, but this is usually not necessary as room temperature will suffice for most species. If you do use this method, be extremely careful that the electric wiring is safe for humans and insects even in the damp, and that neither the cloth nor the cage can catch fire.
Cages should be 30cm or more in height reaching cm or more for the longest species so that the insects have room to moult. Fishtanks and plant propagators may therefore need to be stood on end.
Permanent cages can be built in many ways. Temporarily, cardboard boxes with a large hole cut in the lid, covered with cellophane or perspex fixed to the outside with sellotape and with small holes punched for air, are easy to make.
Alternatively cellophane or netting can simply be fixed by a piece of elastic around the sides of a thicker box without a lid. It should be noted that some netting will not keep small insects in and it may be eaten by larger species. Plastic sweet jars can be used for smaller stick insects but need small holes punched in them to reduce condensation to prevent drowning.
Don't leave cages in sunlight as they are likely to get too hot.
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