General Chat

OMG how gross are they ???????? Dad just bought Eldest the Stick insects she wanted for her birthday..........I remember them as being like...........well sticks...... but these things are huge and VILE.....*shudders*.

Why o why do I have to have a kid that hates Barbie.................xx

Oh they are fascinating, the kids used to breed them in the airing cupboard...lol

Sue xx

Do you realise that within a couple of days you will have thousands of the ruddy things?

Yeah.TW...........I'm hoping we're just rubbish at keeping them lol xx

Then you'll have TWIGLETS LOL

lmao McB..........They are sooooooooooooooo creepy. I don't remember them moving this much lol xx

pmsl aw poor muffy

bar ya dad from buying presies ever again lol

Check your bed tonight McMuff hehe

ewwwwwwwwwwwwww McB........I hadn't thought of that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *sobs*


Stray.........He wanted to get her bleedy *unusual* ones........if I'd known that I'd have agreed to the hissing cockroach she wanted in the first place lololol xx

McMuff My niece who lives in Santa Barbara has a four foot long iguana, it lives like one of the family all over the house, it even goes out in the car,

McB........I'm cringing here.

I was brought up to be scared of spiders......and insects that move fast due to my mothers absolute terror of them......I swore I'd not react to them despite my deep dislike ........when I had my girls I vowed to change so I broke the cycle........and I've done quite well to keep to that. I thought I'd be able to cope with stick insects and I will have to..........but god I don't like them at all lol xx

LOL

Sounds like you might have the big spiny stick insects. They tend to be all female.
Watch out for the rare males........they are harmless but can fly. They also have a mean alien look.

My daughter has bred the things. They can breed without males and theoretically produce only females if they do that.

However after several years of all female broods, last year she suddenly found a male in her new lot of hatchlings.

She was at Sheffield university and asked some experts what they thought.......they were flummoxed too. It's not supposed to be possible.

Stick insects were OK but I wasn't keen on the Giant Congo Millepedes she had for a while.

Sue

OMG Sue you're right.........they do look EXACTLY like aliens !!!!!!!!!! I feel sick :0(

I didn't know they could breed without a male either............WTF!!!!!!!! lol xx

LOL

They live for several months and then they die.
You ignore their terrarium and forget to clean it out. The gravel/grit in the bottom is probably mixed with a couple of hundred eggs by then.

Several months later you suddenly notice the tank appears to be full of ants. Nope they are mini stick insects and they are expert escapologists. They need very fine netting or a glass sided cage or they can get out.

LOL
Younger daughter nearly went spare when she realised the first lot of hatchlings were all over the bedroom she then shared with big sister. We were picking them off the curtains and walls.

That time we managed to give a load away
......having shown my Girl Guides rather a lot of them wanted them! Mean of me but we were getting desperate!

So when they finally die........if you want any more save a few eggs but clean out the tank of all the rest.

Fortunately daughter took hers with her when she left home.

Sue
x

*pukes*

I think she'll be cleaning the tank out daily then lololol xx

Forgive my ignorance,

I googled "stick insects" and came up with nothing..

What are they spiders??

Lindy ; )

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://monkeybizness.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/goliath.jpg&imgrefurl=http://monkeybiznessblog.com/2007/04/22/how-to-train-your-stick-insect/&h=480&w=640&sz=39&hl=en&start=2&usg=__YlyPh3VvvXk5hSjmE4r_gc_SAGg=&tbnid=cBdVR0B0Wx0_OM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstick%2Binsects%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG


This is a nice version of the monstrosities my dad has brought lol x

He he he

We used to have the usual stick like ones but there's a picture of the Giant Spiny ones at the top of this page
http://www.amentsoc.org/insects/caresheets/stick-insects.html
That's a female. The males are decidedly creepier. They are thinner and nastier looking.
http://www.thegreenscorpion.com.au/showcon.toy?cid=58396

This is interesting.......it seems looking at the last paragraph that unexpected male insects have been seen by other breeders.
http://www.geocities.com/brisbane_hoppers/StickInsect.htm

Sue

Oooer Muffy

Think I prefer the sort we used to have LOL

Sue
x

No Lindy

Spiders are arachnids with 8 legs.

Stick insects are tropical insects.

Lots of different types but they look rather like sticks or leaves.

Sue
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