When people find out that you actually keep insects in your home on purpose they're either instantly freaked out or immensely interested. As I plan to write several short books on individual stick insect species, I must first care for (successfully), breed, and research each one for multiple generations. I currently have nine different species of stick insect and eight different species of isopods, all of which I have successfully bred and raised by emulating their natural environments.
Rather than using the usual breeder's method of keeping them in an empty tank with kitchen paper on the bottom and a few bunches of privets in a jar, I like to create an environment that is not only better for the insects, but more pleasing to the eye. To do this. I've had to construct the tanks myself.
Creating a tank with a more natural feel can be quite challenging and a lot of thought goes into it.
I've made numerous setups for different species and each one has to take into account several factors, humidity, temperature, tank height (for shedding), type of substrate, and lighting.
This all sounds very costly, and if you were to buy it already made it certainly would be.
The most expensive part of these homemade setups is the plants, many of which get partially or completely devoured by the insects.
In my eyes, this isn't a bad thing and it is part of my research to document optional feeding plants for the bugs, as many stick insects are monophagous which means they will only eat one type of plant in their natural habitat, making some species very difficult to feed in some countries where that particular plant is hard to find.
I will come back to tanks later when I construct a new one, showing it in stages as it is being made.
The bugs
Some stick insects are huge, the one on the right is a "green bean", or Diapherodes
gigantea. This one isn't mine, but I do have this species in my collection, just not any good photographs of it.
These freakishly large insects reside on 3 islands in the Caribbean, and I think that's a great
excuse reason for a
holiday research trip in itself.
There are over 3,000 species of stick insects and leaf insects, and if I could write a book on each one every month it would take me 250 years, and that's providing no more are discovered.
For this reason, I have decided to research and write about the most popular ones kept by pet owners. All I can do is hope that they cure death soon, so I can write about the rest!
Sungaya inexpectata
I absolutely love this little animal, thorns and all. Known as the Sunny stick insect in its native Philippines. The numerous colours and markings make them a very interesting creature indeed, so numerous in fact, you could easily be convinced that they're different species.
The bugs
