Phasmid Sphagnum Question

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colddigger

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Hello,

I'm interested in thoughts on safety of using live sphagnum with phasmids. I've always just assumed that it was safe, but when I did a little bit of searching I didn't get many straight answers one way or the other.

Typically for my walking sticks I don't provide any substrate, as they generally just hang out at the top of their container and the containers aren't tall enough pose much danger in regards to falling, especially since there's typically lots of leaves and twigs spread throughout the in between.

However the other day I got some insects that were labeled as Black beauty walking sticks from a local pet shop, and I put a clump of sphagnum moss in the bottom just to help out with humidity beyond me spritzing twice a day. I noticed that one of the insects had possibly given the sphagnum a taste. Later I had found one of them had crawled underneath this clump and was dying.

These insects as far as I can tell are adults, so my main suspicion is that they're actually somewhat older than anticipated. However the fact that it happened within 24 hours of me bring it home, and the others are doing just fine it made me start to wonder.

Any responses I greatly appreciated,
Thank you
 
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