r/Stickinsects

Hey, I just need to get this off my chest really.

TLTR: wasn't paying attention, a spider hunted my macleay's spectre hatchling down 😐

So, a few of my annam stick insects and one macleay's hatched yesterday. I keep the eggs in separate containers in a "hatchery box". I was transferring the annam sticks to the "nursery enclosure" but I left the egg box opened and FORGOT about the macleay's spectre baby still in it. Well, it ran away, I searched for it and I did find it... caught in a spider web, already wrapped, immobilised. It was still alive, I tried to cut it free but the spider silk was stronger than the baby, so it was almost impossible to free it safely. The baby was thrashing frantically, as it was already bitten, and died minuteslater. I felt sooo incredibly bad. A perfectly healthy baby lost due to my disordered executive functioning or whatever.

I put it back to the web for the spider to finish it, and it did eat it, so at least the spider was "happy" but what the hell. I know that this is exactly what happens in the wild but it shouldn't happen to a pet. I like the spiders as they catch any pests that get into the house. I probably overthink this, especially as a 30 yo guy 🤦🏻‍♂️.

Thanks to anyone who read the whole thing! Does anybody else feel like a horrible person due to stupid mistakes like this?

Hello! I am a newbie to the insect keeping community and I just have a few questions before I start my forever home for my insect friends. So first off I am looking at getting two female spiny stick insects. I live in Queensland Australia, and I was thinking about purchasing my gals from a website called Dockrill Habitats and I was wondering if anyone has had experience buying from them and the insects condition apon arrival. Secondly, are Spiny stick insect social animals. Do they thrive better with other of their own species, or will it be fine to keep just two by themselves.

Anyways THANKYOU for reading my lil paragrap! Any help is appreciate!!

I have Indian stick insects, black beauty stick insects, Giant Spiny Stick insects, and in the future I want metallic stick insects. To make clean-up easier, would it be a good idea to swap the kitchen roll for coco coir substrate with springtails?

Would the eggs be able to hatch naturally in the enclosure without needing to remove and incubate them separately, or would that lower hatch rates too much?

I currently have some Indian stick insect nymphs, and I have a massive fear of spiders. I've heard mint is meant to be good for keeping them away, as the smell messes with their senses or something? So I'm considering buying a mint plant for my room (where I keep my stick insects). My only worry is that it will mess with my stick insects the same way it messes with a spider, but when I've Googled it, I can only find results from the AI overview, which I find is normally wrong. Does anyone know whether or not the mint will mess with my stick insects? Many thanks in advance!