u/GreatestEspanita

Greetings!

My stick insect has had a good run but now, sadly, clearly her end has come around, she was mature and laying eggs for a while and was getting quite lethargic, and now I would be almost positive she is dead.

Thing is, when I pick up to check on her, she still has so very slight movements, so much so that at some point I thought it was just her legs sliding off my fingers, but I am pretty sure now that they are her movements. I want to taxidermize her and to do so I would have to gut her, and of course I dont want to splice her open before I am quite certain that she is absolutely dead.

Is she dead now? Is it nervous reflexes remaining? How long does the dying process of an elderly stick insect take?