# Stick insects as feeders?



## PlantWac (Mar 5, 2010)

Hello, 

I have recently been asking around as to why stick insects are not used as feeders.

I have talked with various reptile owners and been to various shops and have not noticed stick insects being used as feeders, I am sure that there must be a reason for this but as yet I am unable to find it.








An adult 'Indian' Stick insect.

Reference: http://www.zoolabuk.com/images/cutout/images/stickinsect.gif

My thoughts on the matter are as follows;

The 'Indian' stick insect does not (as far as I know) produce any poisonous chemicals the way some other stick insects do.
This breed of stick insect is extremely easy to feed, keep and breed.
For some reptiles (mainly lizards I would have thought) stick insects would be closer to their natural food sources than some commercial insects.

As yet I am unsure of the nutritional value of the Indian stick insect, the opinion has been put forward that they have never been considered as a feeder because stick insects are a pet in their own right.

I am aware that stick insects have very little mass compared to other insects so they may not be used because of this (though chips have less mass than a baked potato, one generally eats more chips in a sitting if you catch my meaning.)

The 'Indian' stick insect eats mainly privet leaves and occasionally some bramble (possibly a reason they are not used? maybe privet leaves contain something incompatible with some reptile's diets?)

Juveniles can be as small as 2cm long if not smaller so would fit into most lizard's mouths without too much chomping.

If anybody has any information on any of the points i have raised (or indeed have any additional points) please post them here as i would be very interested in finding more out about this matter.


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

Privet leaves are poisonous, which is why one wouldn't want to feed privet-eating stick insects to one's reptiles.


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## PlantWac (Mar 5, 2010)

What about the ones that eat mainly bramble leaves?


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

I've fed them to various frogs and lizards loads of times, without any apparent problems. It can be very slow to get them up to usable numbers, though, because the eggs can take months to hatch.


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## PlantWac (Mar 5, 2010)

The 'Indian' Breeds like nothing I have ever seen.

I got two a number of years ago and had about 40 within a month.


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## Crownan (Jan 6, 2007)

Not particularly nuitritious I wouldnt have thought? Being so skinny and only eating bramble?


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