Australian Giant Walking stick

[fr0glet]

Here's my former stick bug, sticky. She recently died of old age. She left me hundreds of parthenogenetic eggs to remember her by! They're incubating in my herp room, hopefully I'll have lots of babies in a few months! :)

She was a truly awesome pet - I took her to work with me every day, handled her multiple times a day, and she was calm, cool, and collected. She would eat blackberry bushes right out of the palm of my hand. I miss her already....

You should see this pic in 1200x1600!!! :D

[ballpython5000]

you brought her to work???

[nouserpif]

I'll take some! Where exactly are you located?
Dan Conner
P.S. usually its easier to actually ship eggs for insects, as they are usually very hardy... I know many people who ship Prickleys' eggs....

[fr0glet]

Heck yeah I brought her to work! I kept her in a kritter carrier that was simple to transport. She was a big hit with my office mates and always soothed my stress with her gentle swaying :)

Nouserpif: I'm straight through the islands and on a bit from you! I live in Mount Vernon.

I'm not sure when my eggs will hatch (long incubation time) or even if all of them will... I'd hate to send you some duds!

Tell you what - when they hatch I'll meet you on one of the San Juan islands in the middle and deliver 'em myself! :)

[LdyDrgn]

*sigh* San Juan Islands... I really miss that place! My step-father's folks lived in East Sound, Orcas Island. They were right on the beach, too. I want to go back soooo badly... great salmon fishing there :D

[Ed_r]

Looks way frickin COOL. Are they easy to care for? Hmmm interesting new pet idea.

[nouserpif]

Wait... How much are they? And Ed_r, if you are in Chicago, you wouldn't e able to get them, they are kinda "not allowed" in Canada to put it lightly, and they do checks on random packages at the borders I believe, and shipping would be a lot over there anyways....
Dan Conner

[nouserpif]

Wait... How much are they? And Ed_r, if you are in Chicago, you wouldn't e able to get them, they are kinda "not allowed" in Canada to put it lightly, and they do checks on random packages at the borders I believe, and shipping would be a lot over there anyways.... I know someone who can ship tons of cheap eggs to you, I believe it is like $14 for 25 of these eggs.... something like that :D
Dan Conner

[fr0glet]

I'm not in Canada, and it's legal for me to ship these anywhere in the US. I would love to read any legal info you have about their presence in Canada, nouserpif!

At this point I'm not really planning on selling them, I'd just ask for the cost of shipping. I might sell some at local reptile shows.

They're SO simple to care for! They eat blackberry bramble leaves, or rose bush leaves. They prefer mature leaves. I misted mine about every other day and left her alone when molting. Their life span is about 9-12 months, and they're parthenogenetic. That means that females do not need to breed to reproduce, they make little genetic clones that are all females. Very docile, doesn't bite, slow-moving and sways gently like a leaf in the breeze when "threatened". Full-grown adult size is about 6" long and as big around as a man's thumb! Their bodies are both velvety and spiked.

More pics of her on www.fr0glet.org/pets.htm, scroll down!

[fr0glet]

LdyDrgn: salmon fishing is indeed fabulous out here :) Not to mention the stunning beauty. I looooooove summer in the San Juans!

[Trace]

Holy cow! That is one cool bug! It's too bad I'm in Canada, cause I'd love one of them!

Thanks for sharing that pic! :D

Trace

[LdyDrgn]

Beautiful Honduran. Is that you holding him?

[nouserpif]

Sorry, fr0glet, misread your location... Thought you said Mount Vancouver, which is a little messed, especially cosidering the rest of the post... I am sure that going over the border should be fine for that. the CFIA site has (somewhere) a page saying stick bugs, exotic roaches, african snails, and other exotic herbivourus insects are not allowed in canada, nut they do not mention a fine or anything, although there is probably a small one...
Dan Conner

Sorry about any misunderstanding

[fr0glet]

LadyDrgn: thanks, I think my honduran is the most gorgeous normal specimen I've seen :D Yeah, that's probably me holding him.

nouserpif: no sweat! I will locate the CFIA and dig around... I'd like to know what exactly I can take over the border!

[Blackwidow69]

:) Insects like that are really cool and as for over here we see them in the summer time at the reptile swaps mostly indiana and in Illinois.. Great pic!!!!

[paolo_28]

Nice, too bad she passed away. It's all good, she gave you a going away present. Good luck with them eggs.

Paolo.

[ThEmAdHaTtEr]

Lol thats an awesome bug thingy...Dont know anyting about inverts. here...How do you care for the thing? I might want one after I do some research. Anyway, Nice pic!

[fr0glet]

Really really simple, I only fed her blackberry bramble throughout her life. I would clip a huge chunk of vine w/ leaves(wearing gloves), wash each leaf under the faucet, remove her from her kritter keeper and carefully maneuver the vine so it was everywhere in the tank. I held her every day, she was so cool. I misted her tank about every other day. All she did was eat, poop, (little hard pellets), and sway gently like a leaf in the breeze. Excellent to handle. I kept her at normal house temperatures, although they do fine at warmer temps too. She lived fine her whole life in my regular human indoor atmosphere.

Incidentally, they eat A LOT and poop A LOT so a three foot chunk of vine w/leaves would last about 1 week. Over the winter I had to try a little harder to find blackberry bramble... so that would be a bit tough if you live in a very snowy area. They can also eat some types of lettuce, which you can learn about googling for Australian walking stick (or Extatosoma tiaratum). They're popular in schools and stuff.

[Tim and Julie B]

I want a couple if nouserpif can figure it out I'll help pay for shipping!!!!!! Let me know.