Next week I am going to have stick insects delivered to my house - I think they're Indian ones. Does anyone know what containers are best for them?

Stick insects are pretty neat! I've never had one as a pet but I've seen wild ones outside. I've never looked into their care but I assume they would do fine in a ventilated aquarium. If it's a tropical one, it might do better in a glass aquarium to hold in heat and humidity while a temperate species would do fine in one of those open-air reptile cages.

Okay, but I need time to buy those. Would a small tub do for now (if it has pinholes in it)? The are babies about a centimetre long each and I've got four. I feed them Rubus (my friend gave me a few bramble leaves when she gave them.) I also have Raspberry leaves from the Rubus genus (from the garden) in their small tub. They ignore it but love the bramble.

I think Indian Stick insects are pretty hardy but they are a metre away from a Radiator which should be okay. I'm not used to handling them and one has lost a leg from being meddled with - will it recover?

They're pretty tiny then. They should be ok in a tub as long as it's secure so they can't escape and has ventilation.

The leg may reappear after the insect next molts its exoskeleton.

It's got little pinholes for ventilation and a tiny cup of water as well as leaves which I covered with droplets. They seem to be abandoning the bramble now, and climbing on the sides of the tub and lid of tub. I'll attempt to send a picture soon.

I'm also getting a little bored of the little critters. Do you know anything that will get on with them? I've obviously ruled out tarantulas, scorpions, Giant African Land Snails, sun spiders, lizards, frogs and rainforest cockroaches. I would like a bug which is easy to get from the garden. And no - in the uk we don't have wild stick insects. I'll be okay with something from the pet shop but garden is better. Ideas:

Stinkbugs/Sheildbugs
Vine Weevils (they bite me!)
Slugs (the tub is very damp, but the leaves aren't)
Snails

And last can you do a page (fishpondinfo site) with all you know about stick insects?

P.S. I've seen little brown dots on the bottom on the tank that are either pieces of shedded skin or droppings.

P.S.S. Can stick insects fly?

I really know very little about stick insects aside from the basics (that mostly apply to other animals too). I only have pages on my web site about animal species that I have actually had. The exceptions are for pond animals because I wanted to try to cover more species including ones I've never had or seen. I don't want to write what would basically be copying information from other web sites about animals I know little about.

I think that stick insects can fly, at least the wild ones here. I checked the internet which says that males fly but females can only glide. I don't know if that applies to all species or just some. Other sites say they can't fly. I've seen some fly on nature programs on TV. Another site said that some species have "regained the ability to fly" but the site wouldn't let me read the article (one of those sites where you have to pay to subscribe).

Okay, another bug has lost a front leg too. Both lost leg insects have already done a nymph-adult moult (from the brown spotty nymphs I got into green bugs that look like the adults in my local shops.)

One is still brown but apparently looks like it's stuck while moulting - it has a trailing shedded exoskeleton behind it, and a back leg is not functioning as it's caught in the old skeleton.

For other invertebrates that shed their exos (such as the beautiful tarantulas and scorpions) are best left alone and may die if handled or moved around during moulting. Is it the same for my stick insects?

My critters seem to be non flyers because I can see no visible wings or a wing protection casing (as in beetles and ladybirds/ladybugs.)

Is there any place in your tub that you can put a rock? The bug just might need something alittle abrasive to help pull the exoskeleton off. Just an observation..if something is stuck it usually gets rubbed off.

It sounds like they're too small for you to try to pull off any loose skin because they're so delicate. You don't want to injure them.

It's likely that any wings that develop only exist in the full grown adults. You have little babies. I have big roaches that only get wings once they've molted to their adult coloration.

They are now all dead. The last ones died a few days ago. I am willing to try again but I don't know where to get small stick insects from.

Sorry about your stick bugs. At least on your next round you'll have what you need and will have better luck.

Ok, what's a Stick Bug? :blink: Is that the real name or is it slang? Someone enlighten me please.

I'm sorry about the stick insects.

Never mind. I found this on Wikipedia.
Quote---
The Phasmatodea are an order of insects, whose members are variously known as stick insects (in Europe), walking sticks (in the United States of America), ghost insects and leaf insects (generally the family Phyliidae). The ordinal name is derived from the Greek "phasma" meaning an apparition or phantom, and refers to the resemblance of many species to sticks or leaves.
End Quote----

I just love Wikipedia. It has made me a little bit smarter. B)

I've heard people calling stick insects names like 'stickies' and 'Mr Stick'.

This post is a little old but... sorry about your stick insects... I've always thought they were pretty neat, but I don't think my parents would ever let me keep bugs in the house!