I found One! And I think it is a female! :D

[Sarah K]

I cannot believe I actually found a Northern Walking Stick! Never in my life have I seen one in the wild! This one showed up in the weirdest of places too! I was leaving my office in Reston, VA (around 6pm), and I looked down at the landscaping right next to the sidewalk, and there she was, big and beautiful! The plant was one on which she did not belong, and definitely not one that they eat!  When looking up pictures online, I decided I really might have a female here, what do you guys think?

Also, what on earth can I feed her in the winter, when I can no longer collect oak leaves outside? Sooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Flidais]

That is so cool!!!!!!!

 

[CosbyArt]

...

Also, what on earth can I feed her in the winter, when I can no longer collect oak leaves outside? Sooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats, indeed it is female, so you are lucky there.

For feeding over the winter I've read most phasmid keepers would grow their own saplings/plants indoors. For this particular species they will also accept clover, as a weed it is easy to find and should grow no problem rapidly for you to keep her well fed. As found here, her diet can consist of...

Northern Walkingsticks feed on the leaves of many deciduous trees, including: oaks, Sassafras, Black Cherry, and Black Locust. They also eat clovers.

Of course other phasmid species will even eat romaine lettuce and such, but not with your species sadly, so a bit more work is needed. Besides growing saplings or clover indoors, the only other option I've read bout is freezing the leaves in ziplock bags until needed; however, it seems not all individuals will accept it as food even if starving so that is hit and miss - not to mention the tons of room needed to freeze enough leaves for the winter.

 

[Ranitomeya]

You can try growing a rose indoors. They should accept rose leaves.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Also bramble. Bramble stays green all winter when it grows in a sheltered location. (You can also take a large, transparent bin or other container and put it on top of a bramble patch to form a sort of mini- greenhouse.)

 

[hibiscusmile]

Nick Barta has the leaves all year round, but also freezes them. His email is [email protected] tell him I sent you.

 

[Sarah K]

Thank you everyone for your responses! Hopefully mama stick bug will make it through the winter happy and healthy thanks to you all (I say mama......because she has been laying me eggs since last week.)

 

[mantiseater]

I have noticed around this time of year I find them in the most random places. I do not think they survive past fall even if kept warm. Check the bottom of the container for ova that will hatch in the spring!

 

[Sarah K]

I have noticed around this time of year I find them in the most random places. I do not think they survive past fall even if kept warm. Check the bottom of the container for ova that will hatch in the spring!

Well if she doesn't make it through the winter it is okay, I just want to make sure she has what she needs while she is in my care, and will live as long as possible.

 

[Sarah K]

Well, unfortunately she passed away last week, but at least she left me plenty of ova at the bottom of her cage! Anyone have any recommendations for proper care of stick bug eggs, so that they will hatch? I've never tried to hatch them before, so I am not sure how I should care for them. 

 

[CosbyArt]

Well, unfortunately she passed away last week, but at least she left me plenty of ova at the bottom of her cage! Anyone have any recommendations for proper care of stick bug eggs, so that they will hatch? I've never tried to hatch them before, so I am not sure how I should care for them. 

Sarah take a look at Peter's website, he has some information left from his days of the once popular phasmid hobby (before the US regulations destroyed it, like they are doing now to the salamander hobby) - his care sheet here.

Regarding the ova (eggs) here is a except from his care sheet.

Aside from this, all you need to do for the ova (eggs) is to keep the substrate (bottom-peat moss for example) moist, but not wet. With our current system, we spray once each morning. You will have to fine tune your own set-up as different types of screened-lids will allow greater evaporation. If your ova are having hatching problems (with Phylliums for example), you may want to invest in a hygrometer to measure the humidity. Our goal was a constant 70%. Once we learned how to balance temperature, ventilation, and misting frequency, we were able to discard the hygrometer.   

I think the best incubation method is to put the ova on a bed of peat moss, within a small pint-sized or smaller, plastic container with small holes in it (like an alfalfa sprouts container or deli-type container). This helps regulate the humidity even more, but always be careful that the ova do not get too dry or to wet as they will dry out or worse yet, mold!  It is best to check them every day if you are going to use this preferred method.    

Now comes the hardest part...waiting. Some of my E. tiaratum ova have hatched in 7 months, while other people have reported having to wait a year (8 mos. seems to be the average for this species). Little is known for sure in this hobby, and small differences in temp/humidity could potentially have big affects on the hatching rates, although it may have more to do genetics.  Phasmids have many natural predators. So, they lay many eggs. Not all them hatch, and not all of them will hatch perfectly. If they are having trouble getting out of the egg, or it gets stuck to their leg(s), then chances are the cage is being kept too dry on a regular basis. Sometimes a pair of tweezers, or even a pin can be used to carefully help them out of the egg.

 

[Sarah K]

Sarah take a look at Peter's website, he has some information left from his days of the once popular phasmid hobby (before the US regulations destroyed it, like they are doing now to the salamander hobby) - his care sheet here.

Regarding the ova (eggs) here is a except from his care sheet.

Thanks Thomas! All this information is veryuseful, as usual, you rock.

 

[CosbyArt]

Thanks Thomas! All this information is veryuseful, as usual, you rock.

Your welcome Sarah, and best of luck with them. Hopefully your be able to have little ones running around from it.

 

[Sticky]

You can buy clover seed from seed catalogues like Johnnys Seeds of Maine. They have organic, untreated seeds.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Wow! What an awesome find!

 

[KevinsWither]

Dang so good!