Walking Stick Care Guide

Walking Sticks as Pets

Various species of stick insects have been kept in captivity in Europe since the late 1800s. Although there are more than 2500 species of stick insects in the world, the Northern Walking Stick (Diapheromera femorata) is the only species that are legal to keep in Canada, as they are already well established in the southern parts of Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba,  

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Caring for your Diapheromera femorata

Walking sticks can be kept in a screen enclosure, a plastic container with plenty of ventilation added, or in a glass exoterra enclosure with a screen lid. For five to ten stick insects, we recommend an enclosure of at least a 12" cube. An enclosure 18" tall is even better. The simplest substrate is paper towel - which can easily be replaced weekly. 

Your walking sticks will need a constant supply of fresh leaves, however care should be made to ensure that tiny insects do not wander into and drown in the container holding the leaves. Some people place paper towel around the mouth of the container holding the leaves. We use small plastic containers with lids - and cut a small "X" in the top of the container. This allows us to slide the stems of the food items into the "X" - leaving no access to the water for the nymphs to drown in.

In our experience, Diapheromera femorata prefer to eat the leaves of raspberry or blackberry plants – especially as nymphs. Avoid the small, bright green "new" leaves - and instead, feed the larger, dark green mature leaves. As they grow, they are known to accept the leaves of rose, hawthorn, hazelnut and oak (particularly red oak.) Be sure to collect them from a location where they will not have been sprayed with insecticides and try to avoid roadside plants.

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Once or twice a week replace the old food with fresh stems. Be very careful to transfer all the insects to the new food plants before you throw away the old ones. Young nymphs should not be handled with your bare hands. It is much safer to transfer/handle the nymphs with a clean, dry paintbrush until they are mature. Allow the nymph to climb on to the paintbrush - and then use it to transfer the nymph where you would like it to go. 

We freeze bins of raspberry leaves in the fall and feed these through the winter months when fresh leaves are not available. 

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Your insects will gain much of their moisture they require from the leaves they eat, but they like to drink too. We spray the enclosure daily with a very fine mist from a small spray bottle, being careful not to get the plants or insects too wet. A few tiny droplets of water on the leaves is all that is required.

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Phasmid nymphs can be kept in small plastic enclosures with their food plant, however they need enough space for moulting to hang on the food plant about three body lengths from the bottom of the enclosure. As the insect grows, they will require a larger enclosure.