Indian stick insects dying - help!

[Yollums]

Hi i'm having a problem with my stick insects dying. They are Indian stick insects and i have 30 in a large tank. They have just started laying eggs. I have started to notice some of them have mashed up tail ends that are black and some are have squished tails. They are loosing their legs and next time i see them they are dying! They have enough food from the privet outside and i have never had any problems with it before. Are the eggs damaging the younger ones? Are there too many of them and they are hurting each other? I don't know what is happening! I have had three die in two days!
Help me!

[Krendoshazin]

It's quite common for stick insects to die almost as soon as they have laid eggs, it's simply the natural course of things. However, the loss of limbs to me might indicate overcrowding, if there are too many together they have a habit of biting each others legs off. How big exactly is the tank that you keep them in?

[Ian]

If they are turning black, it could be a sign of some kind of mould/infection as well. Or possibly a toxic food plant.

What are you feeding them on, and what conditions are they currently kept in?

[Yom-Kippur]

Yes, if they are going downstairs, changing color to more dark, eating less and moving less during a week, that is just old age. But if that happens in one or two days, and stick insect is laying on the back, rhytmically shudders by legs, it looks like intoxication. I saw that when I've fed one of ME lemon leaf. After three hours he was twitching and died.

[Amzy Face]

... yeah its commen for stick insects to start dying after they start laying eggs.

30 in one tank is an awfull lot.. if there are to many they will nibble at each other which can cause deformitys such as loss of legs.. loss of legs can also be due to lack of moisture so be sure to spray then with water daily especially when they are laying eggs! and change their privit frquently because 30 stick insects will be competing for food.

loss of limbs and deformity also occours when they go through skin changes if your handling them to much and if they are crowded and knoking each other. skin changes are a REALLY vunrable time for them and ive lost one of my nymphs because the bigger ones crawled on it causing the loss of two legs. if you think your stick insects going to shed its skin.. DONT hold it for a few days so its new skin can harden (Y)

also if theyre lying on their back flailing theyre legs.. the privet ur feeding them may not be clean (especially if its by a busy road) or you may be using deodrant/ polish ect to close to the tank. remeber they dont have lungs to filter the air!


maybe you should consider giving some away... 30 is alot for one tank!!!

X amzy X

[Daniel Ballmer]

This depends on the volume of the tank and of the amount of foodplants in it. I keep 40 indians in a quite big tank with enough food and they never compete. In fact, they are the greatest phlegmatics I've ever kept.