Keeping Spiny Leaf Insects as Pets: Phasmid Facts and How to Care for These Kid-Friendly Bugs.
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Keeping Spiny Leaf Insects as Pets
Spiny Leaf Insects are popular as pets because not only are they fascinating to watch, but they are very easy and inexpensive to care for and do not take up much room. Also, they are prolific breeders and the females can live for 18 months – a tad longer than your average goldfish!
My son, like many children, is fascinated by insects. For his eighth birthday he asked for Spiny Leaf Insects. About a day before his birthday I realised that I had absolutely no idea where to get them from. Imagine my surprise and relief to find that they are sold at many pet stores, both here and around the world!
We now have two Spiny Leaf Insects. One is large – about 13 cm (5 in) long, and the other, who has doubled in size since we got her three months ago, is about 5cm (2 in) It has been fascinating to watch her grow, and she has just shed her first skin, which they eat after shedding! (See the bottom of this hub, to see photos of her eating her second shed skin - updated Sept 10.)
Spiny Leaf Insects are not a true leaf insect but a species of stick insect. The Spiny Leaf Insect is otherwise known as the Giant Prickly Stick Insect and Macleay’s Spectre. It is native to Northern Queensland.
Phasmid Facts
Phasmids are insects that eat leaves and look like leaves or sticks.
There are around 3,000 different species of phasmids in the world, and 150 different species in Australia.
The female Spiny Leaf Insect can be distinguished from the male by the small spikes on her body, although in very young insects these are hard to see.
Choose female Spiny Leaf Insects as pets if possible for the following reasons:
- The female lives for 18 months, whereas the male only lives for around 6-8 months.
- Females grow to 20cm (8 inches) , males to 11cm (4.3 inches).
- Females do not need a male to reproduce. The interesting thing is that without a male to fertilize the eggs, all the eggs she lays will be female. This is called parthenogenesis. They can lay thousands of eggs during their life span. We have only had our insects for three months and the large insect has laid at least 70 eggs during that time.
- Male Spiny Leaf Insects can fly. Females can’t, so if you need to take them out of the cage they can’t get too far!
Stick insects aren’t affectionate pets. They will tolerate being handled, but be careful not to hold them by their legs, as they can easily become detached! Hold from the body. The spikes on the female Spiny Leaf Insect are not dangerous, just a fraction uncomfortable, and the insects do not bite. I recommend teaching your kids to enjoy watching them without touching. When I change the leaves I keep the branch that the stick insects are on in the cage until they have moved on to the fresh leaves. I have never had to handle them at all.
Some other stick insects, such as the American Walking Stick and Pink Wings have a defensive chemical spray which can be painful and cause temporary blindness, so be sure of the kind of stick insect you are buying.
These Spiny Leaf Insects are really interesting creatures to watch. Their heads seem to be around the wrong way, and when they eat it looks as if their head is splitting in two. My son has their cage next to his bed and at night, when it is very quiet, he can actually hear the large one munching! When they are disturbed, they sway from side to side, like leaves in the breeze.
Insect Habitats
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Getting Started
The pet shop where you buy your stick insects will most likely sell the appropriate equipment for them.
You will need:
- a terrarium or appropriate enclosure to keep them in. A decent-sized enclosure is recommended as they need to move around and climb to get to leaves. Ours is around 12 inches high, and 13 inches wide, although I have since heard that vertical cages are best. It needs to be aerated. Ours has a mesh top, although I'm not sure how we're going to stop the nymphs from escaping once they hatch! Our cage also comes with a lock, which is handy if you have small children who may like to take them out without adult supervision.
- a small vase filled with water to keep the branches in to make them last longer.
- a couple of study sticks at diagonals across the cage for the stick insects to climb on.
- some lining for the bottom. Our cage came with some tan bark, but I have also heard of people using shredded paper.
- a spray bottle for misting the leaves. We have a spray bottle from the gardening section of the supermarket that releases a fine mist.
Caring for Spiny Leaf Insects
- Their leaves need to be changed every few days to a week, depending on how dry they get. If you have eggs, it's a good idea to leave a couple of soft young leaves on the ground as well in case the eggs hatch. Otherwise you can cut the edges of a leaf to release its scent and make it more appetizing to nymphs. Apparently the nymphs not eating can be a problem when breeding stick insects.
- Spiny Leaf Insects, or indeed any of the species of stick insects available as pets eat leaves. The Spiny Leaf Insects eat eucalyptus leaves, but can also eat Rasberry and Rose bush leaves and Hawthorn and Wattle tree leaves. We have only ever given them eucalyptus leaves.
- There is differing opinion about how often you need to mist your stick insects. The pet shop told us twice a day, but others say once a day and others say several times a day! We have been spraying twice, and they seem to be doing fine. When I say spray, I mean a light mist. It moistens the leaves and adds some humidity to the tank - their native environment is tropical North Queensland, after all.
- The bottom of our cage is lined with tan bark, and according to the pet shop owner, the droppings do not need to be removed as they just break down over time. Again, I have read different opinions about this on the web, but our insects seem to be doing fine so far. It is recommended to also keep some common woodlice in the cage, as they keep down any fungus caused by excess moisture.
Breeding Spiny Leaf Insects
Spiny Leaf Insects just drop their eggs into the ground. You can see the egg present in the adult insect for a couple of days before it finally drops.
The eggs resemble unpopped popping corn kernels in shape but are brown and white and slightly smaller. They have a sticky bit on the end, called a capitulum which is attractive to ants. This is for a reason – in the wild, ants collect the eggs and carry them into the ant nest where they are kept safe from other predators. When the nymphs hatch, they resemble little ants with red heads and are able to safely escape. We found out how attractive the eggs are to ants when we put the stick insect cage outside on a table one day. Within two hours there were about fifty ants scurrying around the cage, even though there had been no ants in sight when we put the cage out there!
I have found varying opinion on how to care for the eggs. The man from the pet shop assured us that it is fine to leave them on the bottom of the cage, whereas other sources on the internet recommend removing the eggs and keeping them in a separate container on a bed of sand or tissue paper. Ours are still on the bottom of the cage. None have hatched so far, but that is not surprising - they can take anywhere from 2 months to 2 years to hatch.
Photos of our Small Spiny Leaf Insect Eating her Second Shed Skin - Sept 2010
References
www.australianmuseum.net.au/Leaf-and-Stick-insects-order-phasmotodea
www.ozanimals.com/insect/spiny-leaf-insect/extatosama/tiaratum.html.
P&K Pets Info Sheet #11 www.pkpets.com.au
www.abc.net.au/creaturefeatures/facts/spinyleafinsect.htm
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Hi Charlotte, Thanks so much for reading my hub. Our small stick insect was only about an inch long when she first shed her skin. Now she's over 2 inches long and my son thinks she's about to shed her skin for the second time because her skin seems to be getting much lighter, but we're not experts, so we'll see. I will update this hub with pictures when she sheds - before she eats the shed skin as they do. I'm not sure if hanging upside down has anything to do with it - ours spend most of their time upside down. Maybe it's easier for them to eat that way and they feel better camouflaged by being underneath a leaf? Not really sure. Best regards, May.
Hello again, Charlotte, My son was right - our spiny leaf insect did shed her second skin a couple of days ago. I have added some photos above of her eating the shed skin.
Brilliant hub on stick or spiny leaf insects. Great pictures, I use to love watching the praying mantas and similar ones as a kid. They are fascinating to watch.
Hi Eileen, I'm hoping one of the eggs will hatch eventually so I can put up a photo of a nymph! Thanks so much for reading my hub.
Wow what an awesome Hub. I love these Stick Insects but never seem to be able to find them on our property.
My 4 year old grandson is right into insects and goes around all day picking up snails and spiders, anything that crawls, from our garden, you have given me a great idea for his next birthday present he would love a Spiny leaf insect I'm sure!
Hi agvulpes. Thanks so much for reading my hub and commenting on it. Yes, I bet your grandson would love a spiny leaf insect for a pet if he is fascinated by bugs. It seems most pet shops are selling them these days, but you can also buy them from kids who are breeding their own.
Hi MayG, Thank you for your Hub. My Son had Spiny leaf insects which died about 4 months ago and we kept the eggs. Well our first one hatched yesterday (9 months later) and we are very excited. I am concerned that it is not eating. Do you know how long after hatching that they will begin to feed, I would hate for it to die. P.S I have taken a photo, but not sure if I can post photo's on your Hub.
Hi Dani A. Thanks so much for visiting my hub. I'm so glad that finally an egg hatched!! Apparently the hardest part about breeding new insects (and I say this based on what I have read on other websites, since none of ours have hatched yet), is getting the nymphs to eat. They recommended putting some soft, fresh young leaves on the bottom of the cage, and slightly tearing the edges to release the scent of the leaf to entice them. I hope this helps. No, I don't think you can post pics to my hub. Thanks so much for commenting. I'd be very interested to hear how you go.
hi i have two female SLinsects [spiny leaf insect] and have alot of eggs do you have any tips or methods to make them hatch thanks.
Hi luket, Thanks for reading my hub. No, unfortunately I don't have any tips on getting eggs to hatch. I think it just takes time! If you come across any ideas elsewhere, I would love to hear them. None of ours have hatched yet either, so I think we just have to be patient! I hope yours hatch soon.
Hi there, Your hub was a very interesting read. My sisters Leaf insect just had its 3rd shed and it grew wings. It was sold to her as a female. It has grown to about 10cms now
Hi Cassie, thanks so much for reading my hub. That is in interesting that your sister's leaf insect grew wings - our young one, which was sold to us as a female, is starting to look very different to our other fully grown female. I will be interested to see if she turns out to be a male instead! Thanks for letting me know.
I would like to know what country or state the owners/buyers of the spiny leaf insects above are living in. I live in Maine. We have no spiny leaf insects in this state for sale.
Hi Anne, thanks for reading my hub. I, and I think probably others that have commented here, are from Australia. The spiny leaf insect we have is native to Nth Queensland, but there are many other kinds of stick insects available in other countries.
Hi MayG, Just giving you an update on our insects. We now have 14 that have hatched, all butt 3 have had their first shed and 4 have shed twice. In regards to getting them to feed it just took them alittle time (day or two) and they started to feed. As for hatching the eggs, I suggest to remove them from the main enclosure, place into a plastic (throw away)container that has a whole cut out of the lid and fly wire glued on. Place a napkin on the bottom and spray the eggs every couple of days. It is a long wait, can be up to 2 years as I have found out for them to hatch, it took 9 months for ours to start and we still have approx 500 - 600 eggs left. I also dated the containers in one month lots so once it was around 7months I transfered them into a terrarium for hatching.
Hope this is helpful Dani.
Hi Dani, Thanks so much for the update! That is fantastic that 14 have hatched! Thank you, I will take your advice and take the eggs out of the cage.
Hi, my name is dionne I have 3 children, 5 years, 3 years and 2 years old. My oldest kept asking for a kitten or puppy, so I came to a comprimise after not having the time for such a pet. Their nan bought them a spiny stick insect each. We have had them now for about 5 months, they have all shed their at sum point or another, what a joy to watch.. we have 2 females and 1 male, our youngest thinks they are fab and as a 2 year old nothing phases him, the other 2 children however on realising the male could fly r now a bit aprehensive,,lol....
they have been living on blackberry leaves all this time, I tried them with privet hedge but they did not seem to like it. It is winter time here in South Wales U.K and all our blackberry bushes now have a sort of black spot on them. I was hoping you could maybe help me as in what else I could try them feeding on. We struggle to get eucalyptus leaves over here and i'm not too sure which sort of rosebush leaves they can eat, i don't want to give them the wrong 1's... thank you so much for your time in reading this. Hope you can help, Reguards Dionne, from a very chilly South Wales U.K...lol..xx
Hi Dionne, Thanks so much for reading my hub. I'm sorry, I really don't know what else you can feed them - I really have no idea what kind of plants in South Wales still have leaves on them! We've never fed them anything other than gum leaves (not in short supply over here!!) Can you find out where they came from and ask the pet shop for suggestions? Sorry I can't help more. I would be interested to know what you find out. Good luck.
Where can you buy them or can you sell me any
Hi John, Well, where you buy them obviously depends on where you live. In Australia (which is where I am), you can buy them from pet stores such as Pets Paradise. They're around $27 each. Otherwise sometimes kids who breed them sell them, but unfortunately we are still waiting for our eggs to hatch. Hope you find some. Thanks for reading my hub.
I've had my pricklies for 2 month I got them off a friend who breeds them! I have two females and one male I havnt seen them mate and I havnt found any eggs off the female how old are they before the start laying because they are not big. My male is about 2 1/2 inch and my females are 3 inch and 2 ich?
Females shed 6-7times and are about 4 months old at there last shed. Will start laying approx one month after last shed. Male will be on females back most of the time once mating starts.
Hi Ady. Our little stick insect started laying as soon as she was fully grown. Because we have 2 females, I haven't seen any mating, but remember, they don't have to mate to be able to lay eggs.
Hi Dionne,
i have just been reading your comment and noticed that you asked for feeding suggestions. We feed ours mainly on oak leaves and they seem to love them. They change colour slightly but lighten up when we feed the on eucalyptus again. We moved to Oz it's much warmer ;)
Hi,Can anyone help? Our much loved female stick insect shed her skin today while we were out.When we came home,we found her lying on the bottom of her house,as if dead.She had torn off her two left back legs (they are still in the shed skin) and her two front legs are deformed. The two other legs seem to be normal.I have 'googled' and am told that losing a leg is ok,but with this much damage Im worried she wont survive. we have put her in a long flat container now so she can eat without climbing.This is (as far as I know) her first shed,but she is quite large(approx 4 inches) Some say a limb will grow back but only on a nymph.Can anyone give me any advice? She is a much loved pet. Thank you.
Hi Laura, I hope someone who reads this can help you. It would be surprising if this is her first shed at 4 inches - ours would have had about three sheds by that stage, but as they often eat the shed skin maybe you never noticed? There are so many types of stick insects I guess they vary a lot. Anyway, I hope she is okay.
In relation to the Spiny Leaf insect above in a comment, had lost legs and not handled the shed very well.
This happens when there is a low humidity level in the enclosure.
It's quite common for Spiny Leaf Insects to die during shedding if the humidity is too low...
Hi the injured insect mentioned above should be ok as long as she has acess to food, she is still growing so in her next shed she should grew back new legs, and replace the deformed ones. Next time she sheds make sure that ,if you havent already, the cage is at least three times as high as the insect is long.
Hi Blueberry and Jack, Thanks so much for reading my hub and assisting other readers in the comments section. Greatly appreciate your input!
Hi I commented on this wall about 4 month ago my experience and knowlege of pricklies has got alot better but I have a worry! One of my females ( the largest one ) has been laying eggs for a couple of week now and she swelled up quite alot which I presumed was normal due to the amount of eggs she is laying (20-40) a week. This actually made her abdomen quite soft and vulnerable! I have always fed them bramble and had no problem but she must of slipped, fell or moved into a thorn while I was not there and she had a puncture on her body. When I discovered it it was not bleeding it just looked like a small dry brown hole and she still seems ok! Should I be worried about her dying! Also were could I get rid of the eggs as I do not wish to keep them all? PS sorry for the essay and please return comments as they will be greatly appreciated.
Hi MayG, do you happen to know why the insects change colour so often? we have two young females and one of them changes colour almost every day. Usually from light to a dark burnt orange with almost purple edges. very cool!
Ady Re: Eggs that you have.............Contact a fauna park and they should take them for you. Kyabram fauna Park in Victoria will take them, you could always post the eggs to them. Hope Prickles is OK.
Hi Ady and Sfioretto, sorry I haven't responded. I've been away... Ady, I hope your female stick insect was ok. Yes, I'm having the same problems with the eggs - I don't want to throw them away, but we have 20 young stick insects at the moment! I am going to try some local pet shops to see if they would like to take some. Also, my son is asking around at school to see if anyone wants some.
Sfioretto, I have read that they change colour depending on what kind of leaves they are eating, but mine don't change at all because I always feed them gum leaves.
Yes thank you she is ok now. She has a really soft belly and I keep them on bramble so I've just been blunting them before I put them in the tank. Thanks :)
thank you very much me and my dad are going to make a enclosure tomorrow our of fly wire and wood then im going to get some hope it works out
:)
Hi 'not telling'. Fantastic, I hope you enjoy having them as pets. I wish I could give you some of ours! We have too many!!
My friend has given me her spiny leaf insects due to her going on holiday. And the biggest one is laying eggs, and the eggs are going white is that bad or is it ok??
Hi I really want a spiny leaf insect but I don't want babys. I was wondering if there was someway to stop them from having them? If not that's ok becase like you said you can always sell them!
Thanks.
Hi Serena, I think the eggs will be ok. They seem to be very resilient! Our adult stick insects, Mini and Gracie died months ago, but their eggs are still hatching!
my friend has two spiny leaf insects and one of them is on the ground and she is devastated cos she thinks its dying. what do i do?
Hi, I posted here last year. Since my insects all died as they were about 13-14 month old. One off the eggs has hatched and I have ripped some bramble leaf up and put sone small sticks in a small tub with tiny holes, but it doesn't seem to be eating. I have seen it drinking the mist but that's it. What can I do to make it eat?
how long after they mate is it until they start laying eggs mine mated a couple of days ago and my son keeps looking for the eggs
Sorry, I haven't been on Hubpages for months. Probably too late to respond now, but sometimes they do go on the ground. I suppose as long as she is misting them every day and they have leaves to eat, there's really not a lot more she can do. Thanks for reading my hub. Hope your friend's stick insect is okay.
Hi Ady, Sorry for this very late response. There's really nothing else I can think of to make your baby stick insect eat. Just make sure the leaves you have in there are soft enough for a young stick insect to chew. Perhaps you could put a couple of different types of leaves in there to see if one of them is tempting? Good luck.
Hi Dannielw, Hard to say, since they actually can lay eggs even without mating! We only have females, so I have to admit complete ignorance of your question! All I know is that once ours are fully grown they start laying a lot of eggs.
where do you guys think is the best place in Mebourne is to buy spiny leaf stick bug. please get back to me i want one really bad
:)
Hi, You can buy them at Pets Paradise at either Chadstone or Southland, but I have also seen them advertised on Gumtree and Trading Post. I'm sure there are many other pet shops that sell them too.
Thanks for all the information you have posted. I have 2 males and a female. The pet shop that sold them confused the sexes. I am wondering whether the males are likely to fight over the female and do the males moult again after they get their wings. They looked almost identical to the female when I bought them but after moulting had the long straight body with long wings. I keep them in a mesh terrarium and have been battling to keep them warm enough during cold SA nights. For several mornings the males have been lying on the bottom looking dead but once the day warms they stert to move again. Any hints on suitable heating would be welcome.
Hi, Thanks for reading my hub. I have to admit that I don't know if the males will fight over the females. We have only ever had females. I've certainly never read that they do. They are supposed to moult several times as they reach their full size, but as I am not sure how large yours are, I couldn't say if they moult once their wings grow. Feel free to post back and let me know! We live in Melbourne (also a lot of cold nights), and ours are in a 3 sided glass cage with a mesh top. My son has had spiny leaf insects for almost two years and have never had them die of cold. We keep ours in the laundry though. I'm not sure if your terrarium is inside or outside. If you think it is too cold for them, you might consider setting the terrarium inside a plastic tub or something that is only slightly larger than the terrarium for a bit more shelter (keeping the lid off the tub of course!) If you only want to breed females in the future, you might want to think about keeping the males separate to the females. Best of luck with them.
These guys ROCK!
Hi, we live in NSW just north of Sydney and a few weeks ago discovered a spiny leaf insect living in our crepe Myrtle. I'm pretty sure it's female and is bright green. She seemed to be doing great for almost a month until one morning found her on the ground kind of twitching. We made an enclosure and put her in it with some wattyl but she seems to have lost the use of both her front legs and just hangs upside-down, much like the one in your first photo. She would easily be 15cm long. I thought she might be dying but she's been like this for about 4 days now, ive seen her climbing but she doesnt seem to be eating. Does anyone have any ideas on what is wrong with her and how I might help her?
Cheers
Well I'm relieved to say the males have not fought over the female. She moulted about a week ago and looks like the adult females I've seen in photos. A male has been hanging on to her for the last 4 days. I carefully attempted to give them fresh leaves today and am devestated as one of her legs has broken off. I am assuming that because she is fully grown she won't regrow her leg like the young ones tend to do. I hope she will survive the trauma.
How long do spiny leaf insects live for
The males won't fight over the females. Sometimes a male will try to mount a male that is already on a female (attracted by pheromones), but it usually falls off and tries again another time. Stick insects tend to ignore each other completely. You often see them just walk over another as though they were just another branch or leaf in their enclosure.
If you have a young child that will want to take them out a lot, it is better to have only females for the reasons given in the hub. However, the males are a lot more active than the females, so if you spend much time just watching them in their enclosure, you will have more fun if you have a few males. They tend to run around while the females spend days at a time in the same position. Make sure though that you lock up any cats or dogs before opening the door to an enclosure with males in it, they will want to climb out right away and maybe go for a fly.
For those outside Australia that are wondering what to feed them, feed them bramble. But be careful to pick off all the young, light green leaves as they contain more toxins than the old, dark green leaves. (the plant knows juicy young leaves are more tempting to insects, so fills them with extra poison).
Hi Erin, Thanks so much for your very helpful comments, and for reading my hub. May G
Hi Kim83. I feel terrible that I didn't see this hub to respond to. Did she live? They do need to be kept moist, with a gentle mist from a spray bottle at least once a day. It's probably a bit late now... dare I ask if she' still living?
Hi Twitch, We've had some that have lost legs and they survive. I hope yours has. Thanks for getting back to us to let us know that the males do not fight over the females! I appreciate it. MayG.
Hi MayG, the female with a leg missing has certainly survived! She consumes one or sometimes two large Western Australian Flowering Gum leaves most days and over the last fortnight has laid 35 eggs. I found that on a couple of days when the temperature in her terrarium dropped she didn't produce any eggs. On a couple of days there have been 3. Even when one of the males decides to ride piggy back style she has coped well with moving to fresh leaves. I enjoy reading the comments. These are fascinating creatures. Now that I have found a way to keep them warm they move around quite often and I find myself watching them instead of completing many other jobs that are waiting.
charlotte 20 months ago
how do i tell if my spiny leaf insect is going to shed, she is only young but has been hanging upside down alot lately does this mean she is going to shed