something a little bit different

[lau200]

as the sea-monkeys cured my phobia of fish (long story and true phobia-fainting, sweating,sickness etc) i thought these may help with my dislike of bugs and creepy crawlies. yes i am mental but this will work because it is not in me to neglect a living creature and so if forcing myself to care for some is the only way to learn to appreciate them....then so be it

ok my millipedes first:



and now the indian stick insects:




^this is where one has shed it's skin


^and this one is pretending to be a stick, notice the legs are pulled into the body (hence the name )

they do have names, the 2 millipedes (they are the telodeinopus aoutii variety, often referred to as olive due to their colour) are called Maona and Nawkaw-though only one is pictured; the stick insects are known collectively as "the lady bugs" since they are bugs and all ladies... original i know

EDITED: forgot to mention a big big thankies to Leanne (plankton) for all her help with the stickies

[I_am_plankton]

Laura!!!!!! Those stickies are lovely! I am glad you have posted some pics I have been dying to see them. I am quite considering getting some more /sigh

Although I don't quite share the enthusiasm for the millipedes I am afraid, they are creepy (i saw one that was about 10 inches long on holiday!)

[lau200]

i can watch the millipedes but i'm still terrified! they are... different! they are quite boring, they like to be left alone and only come out in the dark. but those stickies are great. they do alot more, and i love it when they pretend to be sticks. i'm still very squimish though-i keep expecting them to jump and attack me

[souffle]

We kept stick insects for years but you end up with millions as they don't need a mate to lay eggs. We always hated throwing the eggs out as it seemed mean so the just go and go and they live for up to two years too so we stopped having them about a year ago we still look after a friends and last summer I was wondering why one of my plants had holes in it then I spotted the culprit...a very large healthy bright green stick insect was living on it

[Jane]

*shivers* Eugh... :P

Interesting

[Spuds Mum]

Well done you for facing your fears head on! How incredibly brave of you.
I dont think I would like to keep the millipedes, but agree that they must be interesting to watch.
We used to have some stick insects too, but I don't think I'd bother again. Its bad enough with having to feed the geckos crickets and mealworms!

[Spacemonkey]

I kept stick insects as a youngster and they do multiply like wildfire like Souffle said

I think I ended up giving a load to my school, and in turn nearly every child ended with some!

I can't remember how long they live now....