Ally's Eight-Legged Journey

Well, this is sad. I came home from work last night to find that both of my daughter's female stick insects had died. I did suspect they wouldn't last very long, as when they arrived they were larger than I thought I was buying - mature rather than the nymphs I expected. However, I had hoped that they would live a little longer than this. It's possible that they fell victim to the ministrations of a six year old, and one of the females had a habit of escaping to it's also possible they were exposed to environmental issues. Though given their size, and the fact that Zucchini at least had started to slow down a week or two ago, I do suspect old age. I now have to decide whether or not to replace the females. I know that my daughter would like me to, but she does still have the two males to look after. And I have not been cleaning the floor or the enclosure in the hopes that there may be eggs in there. So it may be that there will be stick insect nymphs in there so...

Today was Careers day at my daughters primary school. As is the tradition, the school appeal for parents to go in and discuss their jobs, the things they do, what it's like to do that job, etc. I've done it every year so far - usually I take my lab coat, a microscope, and a selection of plastic skulls from the lab. Sometimes I have laminated photographs, latex gloves, or plastic pipettes - just a selection of things that give an idea of what it's like to work in the lab. This year I took Catchy and Zucchini, and they were a HIT. I didn't let the children handle the insects, I just showed them. But you would have thought that I was handing out free candy or something. The children had so many questions, there was a LOT of screaming, and the insects definitely earned their treats by the end of the day. Zucchini had fresh bramble leaves, while Catchy got a whole juicy mealworm and is looking quite gorged now.

Well, the Twiglets were a hit. My daughter loves them very much. Only one of them has a name so far - One of the females is called Zucchini. We shall see what the others are called in time.

Today the stick insects intended for my daughters Christmas present arrived. Fortunately, they were all intact and live, but it could have been a very different story. Last week I decided that since my six year old had been pestering me for a pet for what feels like forever, and since she has taken such an active interest in checking on the Spoods each night with me, that I would order her pets of her own. I was very aware that ultimately the responsibilty of the pet would most likely end up on my shoulders, and that she wasn't ready for something like a Guinea pig or a hamster. So I looked for an appropriate invertebrate pet. Stick insects were my favoured choice, as snails tend to smell really bad. Stick insects are also reasonably easy to keep for beginners, don't require any special food (many eat the plants native to the area around my house) and they are nice and slow for building confidence with handling. Obviously, The Spider Shop is my preferred distributor of in...