I'm a beginer with 6 Indian sticks & I need some advise...

[Branston92]

At the moment,their enclosure is a fish bowl & I have put one of those big round flat spaghetti strainers(wire mesh)over the openening.I have put bramble in a glass of water and put cotten wool in the glass of water so they dont fall in and drown.My set up is this below:

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n16/branston92/DSC01748.jpg

Im not happy with the size of the enclosure and would like somthing slim,but tall however,having them dumped on me by my mother,she wont help me pay for a nice enclosure.Know anything cheep? and I dont mind doing some DIY lol.

Also,if you would like to give me any advise on anything else for some extra help,your welcome to say so :)

[Zemanski]

There are some ideas in the enclosures thread - everything from cheap plastic greenhouses to my own marvelous construction using an old clothes rack frame, lots of gaffa tape, sticky velcro and acetate sheets

of course, if you really want to join the in-crowd, you have to get a swanky exo flexi whatsit terrarium:p

one idea I had was to get a large clear plastic storage box with a softish plastic lid - stand it on end with something at the back to keep it level, cut a large hole in the lid so it's basically just a frame and stick a piece of netting (about £1.50 a metre from a fabric shop, black is best) into the lid with tape. The lid then acts as a 'door'

just a thought

good luck

[Morpheus_UK]

Indians do not like too much humidity, i think the rule with phasmids is 3, 4, or 6 times the length of the phasmid for the height of the enclosure and 3x for the width

[Branston92]

Thanks for the advise :) I finaly persuaded my mum to get a proper cage,I expalined to her that it needs to be tall so they can hang from the top and have room to shed(she didnt know they did that lol),I also think she done her own research too.

The fish bowl will have to do untill the cage arrives & Im planning on saving their eggs so I shall save the bowl for that :)

this is a pic of the new cage & including P&P it cost £18:

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n16/branston92/Large20Insect20Cage.jpg

[AlienMarky]

It can be quite cheap to build your own cage (I make them for about £6-7 each), but you can modify alot of things, such as old aquariums and even plastic storage boxes. The cage height should be a minimum of 3 times the length of the adult phasmid, and ideally the same for width / depth, but a bit smaller for these measurements is fine.

[AlienMarky]

That cage looks alot better. They should be fine in that - how tall is it?

[Branston92]

The cage is, diameter: 9" (225mm), height: 13” (375mm)
:)

[Ian]

Certainly looks more suitable than the fish bowl, and sounds about the right height as well.

Me and my dad constructed several cages out of mesh for our chameleons, one of which I still use for my mantids, and could be used for sticks as well.

Also, check in your local free ad paper (we have trade-it here), always lots of cheap tanks and aquariums in there!

[Branston92]

Thanks :)

It would be hard to find ad's here on aquariums and things because I live somewere in south london & I've never seen ad's or even came across a petshop that sell stick insects or anything efficent for them.

There is a 'pets at home' somewere in Purley Way in Croydon that might sell sticks and stuff for them but its a bit of a mission lol.

For now,my new tank should arrive sometime during this week after bank holiday,& that should do fine untill my current sticks reach adults and start laying :)

[Sam76]

Have you tried your local car boots sales, I got a cracker this morning for a £1.
Sam

[Taz Devil]

If you know anyone who goes by or lives near Southern Aquatics they have some very cheap Exo terra's in srock.

http://southernaquatics.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=38_69_84&products_id=519

Or you could do what I started with and have one of the foldaway green houses. Mine cost me about £9.99.

[Branston92]

those green houses sound good,but isnt there openings at the bottom or anything?

[Taz Devil]

yes there is an opening at the bottom. What I did was remove the last tier from the green house and fold it all under, I also got some cardboard and stuck some lino tiles onto it to make a little more rigid and also easier to clean

[Branston92]

sounds quite handy actually,and more easily acssesable as my grandad uses them and has a zip at the front,well,his does.The only thing im worried about is cleaning them out,im still a little bit scared of holding them and things cuz they look all lazy and slow but as soon as you touch them there off running and i dont want any disapearing :S

ahh theres so many choices lol

[Taz Devil]

use a stick and a tub with a lid to remove them if you don't like handling them too much. But they are harmless and do scurry a bit faster than normal when handle, but they will slow down once they get used to you.

[Branston92]

Okay thanks,i will keep that in mind.
My mum decided to get one out last night,and didnt expect them to be that fast and she started to panic and the sweat on her hands lol it was funny,i had to grab it before she dropped her,but the stick was reluctant to go back onto the bramble and carried on scurrying up my arm,then i started to panic lol.

All is good now :)

[Taz Devil]

the escapees are the funniest. Our lass will not go into the room until she knows it's clear. She's getting braver and will happily stand in front of the tank with the doors open, but she still cannot bring herself to pick any up.

[Branston92]

awwww lol My dad nor brother will touch them either. When my mum brought them home 3 days ago, my brother came and had a look,but would not touch. I always used to bring things home from outside when i was younger,but I'm just a lil bit nervous with these lol.I will get used ot them :)

[Taz Devil]

My son has a fascination with creepy crawleys. I subscribed to the real Life Bugs magazine for him, he enjoys looking at the bugs that come with each issue and thought he'd like to have some stick insects. We bought some Indians form a woman who advertised in the local paper. He liked them for about a week and then I took over. I've bought a few different species (2 bought, 1 hatched from eggs (Ova) to add to the collection.

[Branston92]

awwww :) I used to bring Laydy bird lavae home and put it in a jar and wait for it to moult into a ladybird but i used to be impatient and let it out in the end lol.

I would like to look after more species,and my mum likes the australian one,but we havent got much room and I dont fancy sleeping in a room full of insects personaly lol.Before we get more,I want to see how long I manage to keep these one's alive though,I've never been lucky with goldfish but hopefully these are different :)

[Taz Devil]

I've never been lucky with goldfish but hopefully these are different :)
Yeah they are different sticks don't live in water. :) :D

just ensure that the food plants are nice and fresh looking (bramble seems to last quite some time if kept topped up with water, a week or more. So just ensure they don't get too messy and their cage is airy (mould will form if there isn't enough air getting in.).

[Branston92]

lol i noticed they dont live in water :D