Indian Stick Insect — Fact Sheet

Carausius morosus · Indian Stick Insect

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Use a 30 × 30 × 45 cm ventilated enclosure for a small group, reducing numbers if animals crowd the hanging sites.
• Height must remain at least three body lengths after foliage is installed.
• Separate new stock for several weeks and inspect food intake, droppings and molts.

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Provide upright food branches and clear space below the ceiling for molting.
• Paper on the floor makes eggs and droppings visible; a thin 1–2 cm clean substrate layer is optional.
• Inspect every branch before replacing it because tiny nymphs resemble leaf stalks.

💡 Lighting

• Provide a normal 12-hour light cycle and darkness at night.
• Special UVB is not established as necessary.
• Avoid direct sunlight through glass.

🌡️ Temperature

• Aim for 20–24°C by day and 18–21°C at night.
• A stable heated room is usually simpler than heating a small cage.
• If supplementary heat is needed, use a thermostat and leave a cooler area.
• Do not deliberately chill eggs or animals to delay development without a species-specific protocol.

💧 Humidity & water

• Maintain moderate humidity, approximately 50–70%, with ventilation.
• Lightly mist some leaves for drinking when needed, allowing them to dry between applications.
• Waterlogged paper and persistent condensation are unnecessary.
• Cover the water container holding cut branches so no nymph can fall in and drown.

🪳 Diet

Staple foods — follow the feeding schedule:

• Keep fresh, pesticide-free bramble, rose or suitable privet available continuously.
• The PSG also records ivy among accepted foodplants for this species; do not generalize that choice to other animals.
• Wash leaves, avoid sprayed gardens and roadside collecting, and replace wilted stems.
• Inspect chewing marks daily: newly hatched nymphs may need tender leaf edges.

In moderation:

• Introduce a new accepted foodplant gradually while retaining familiar fresh leaves.

Avoid:

• Pesticide-contaminated food, spoiled leftovers and unverified wild-collected foods.

Supplements:

• Reptile calcium and vitamin powders are unnecessary.

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Failed molts usually call for checking hanging clearance, crowding and drying conditions.
• Persistent food refusal with few droppings suggests unsuitable or contaminated leaves.
• Several animals becoming weak together warrants immediate investigation of pesticide exposure and a change to verified safe food.
• Do not pull off old skin; seek an invertebrate-experienced veterinarian for injury, leakage or sustained decline.