# Legality and care of sticks



## alphabravo (Oct 18, 2010)

I recently captured a Western Short Horned Walking Stick (Parabacillus Hesperus). I have never kept an insect before and started to read up on them. Since learning more, I have become quite interested in these little creatures. However, I'm concerned about the legalities and care of this particular insect.

I read here that the only stick you can legally keep in the U.S. is the Northern Walking Stick

http://therealowner.com/exotic-unusual/unusual-pets-northern-walking-stick-insects/

It seems a lot of people think this is accurate, yet I see dozens of stick species being kept/traded/sold int he U.S. and nobody is batting an eye. The Parabacillus Hesperus I caught was caught wild and is native here in Nevada where I live. I would assume that would make it legal to keep, but I can't find a good solid authority on the subject. Can someone point me in the right direction to learn more about this?

Regarding care, I only saw this guy eating once. It looked like he was chomping on the bark of an almond tree trimming I gave him. Since then, (two days ago) I haven't seen him eat anything when I peek in at him. Is there something I should be feeding in particular for a Western Short Horned? I really can't find much info about this species, so any suggestions would be helpful. I did manage to find this link that gave foodplants for western short horned listed as Foodplants: Acacia; Robinia; Rubus fructicosus agg.

http://phasmid-study-group.org/content/Parabacillus-hesperus-Hebard-1934

That's all I've found. I couldn't find any of those on my property, so I need to know what native plants this guy would eat so I can go find some!

Hope to get some info here, thanks for taking time to read this!


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## Zephyr (Oct 18, 2010)

As far as legality; Yep, you can keep him! If you decide to trade/sell/move him between states, that's where the issue gets prickly and you may need a permit. Although technically a permit is needed for moving any "primary plant pest" (which directly eat plants,) "Secondary plant pests" (cockroaches, millipedes, crickets, etc) have little or no legislation restricting their transport.


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## alphabravo (Oct 18, 2010)

Good to know, thanks! Now I am just concerned about him not eating. I just went to home depot and picked up a  "sample"  of an acacia tree they had in the garden section. It's the only thing I could find that was on the list I provided in the first post. I'm going to see if it will eat this! If it doesn't eat, how much longer can I keep it without a proper food source? He spent two days on my back door screen, pretty much only moving about two feet the entire two days. So, assuming he didn't find any food source for two days on the screen it's been about 4 days since he's eaten. I would feel terrible if I starved him.

I also forgot to mention he only has four legs and he kind of struggles when climbing around his little habitat. I understand the legs will grow back, but are they likely to survive in the wild with only four legs until they grow back?


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## alphabravo (May 19, 2011)

Okay folks.....I'm back. The stick I caught eventually died, it was very sad. I think that guy was at the end of his life because he wasn't very well when I found him. I have found several more sticks recently and they have all been very active. I just found one today and it seems pretty healthy. I'd like another chance at keeping it for awhile. I need some tips on what to give it for food and habitat. I have a good size enclosure, it's a giant pretzel keg from costco. I put some bamboo plant stakes in it for him to climb on, (I hope they are safe, don't see any reason there would be insecticide on them, they are just plant stakes.) and now I need something else to put in there so he can walk on the ground. I have some coconut husk mulch that is untreated, I was thinking it would be good for the floor, but I'm open to suggestions. For food, I trimmed some rose plant and blackberry plant to see if it will eat either of those. Is there anything else he will eat? I am in Las Vegas and we live in a rural area with lots of native plants, anyone know what native plants they eat in this area?

Thanks folks,

alphabravo


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## Hypoponera (May 19, 2011)

I searched through all the Phasmid texts I have and found this:

Common on range grasses, but they also feed on burroweed (Haplopappus) and varius species of Sphaeralcea. From J.R. Helfer, 1987, "How to Know the Grasshoppers, Crickets, Cockroaches and Their Allies"

Range grasses, burroweed, globemallow (Sphaeralcea), buckwheat (Eriogonum). From Chad Arment, 2006, "Stick Insects of the Continental United States and Canada"

Hatchlings can be fed grasses, Acacia, burroweed (Haplopappus) or desert mallow (Sphaeralcea). They can be switched to leatherleaf Viburnum early on, or Rubus following a few molts. From O. McMonigle &amp; P. Clausen, 2002, "Ghosts of the Trees"


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## alphabravo (May 19, 2011)

Hypoponera said:


> I searched through all the Phasmid texts I have and found this:
> 
> Common on range grasses, but they also feed on burroweed (Haplopappus) and varius species of Sphaeralcea. From J.R. Helfer, 1987, "How to Know the Grasshoppers, Crickets, Cockroaches and Their Allies"
> 
> ...


Thanks for that. I just found here http://www.insectstore.com/psg-phasmid-species-list.php that they feed on Acacia, Robinia and Bramble. Since I already gave it blackberry and rose, I also gave him some acacia which i also have growing in my yard. I'm still looking at the info you provided to see what else I have available here.


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## Orin (May 23, 2011)

If it is eating the blackberry or rose decently there's no reason to try other foods. Are they nymphs or adults, males or females?


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## alphabravo (May 26, 2011)

I ended up setting it free after a day. It wasn't eating anything as far as I could tell. It didn't seem very energetic, maybe it was on it's last leg. The last one I found a few weeks ago was really energetic and practically running. Anyway, I couldn't keep this one long enough for it to die, just too sad. So, after one night, I set it free. I'll keep my eyes open for more, we have a lot here.


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