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#arthropod #insect #leaf #pet #walking #giganteum #phyllium #sirda
Published: 2015-08-23 22:26:39 +0000 UTC; Views: 628; Favourites: 22; Downloads: 0
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Description
Meet the new petSadly, all my stick insects have passed on now. But that did free up the terrarium for a species I've wanted for a long time
She's adorable, way less skittish than the sticks were, and she seems to prefer my hands over leaves even.
Sirda's selfie (she likes the camera, too):Β i1004.photobucket.com/albums/aβ¦
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Comments: 64
Sunjinjo In reply to ??? [2015-09-29 22:27:47 +0000 UTC]
Same here! It's so cute, she reaches out for the hand from the leaves and to my face from the hand And then rests on my nose if I let her climb on. Silly creature.
Oh jacobsoni is so sleek and smooth Very pretty.
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Kyomomo In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-09-30 05:46:00 +0000 UTC]
Yes her wings feel like some sort of smooth plastic. Her textures are so interesting. She climbs on my face too all the time Guess they're just trying to give us kisses.Β
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CreatorXM [2015-08-30 21:55:04 +0000 UTC]
It's insane, how this insect baseically looks like a leaf XD
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Sunjinjo In reply to CreatorXM [2015-08-30 22:00:09 +0000 UTC]
She sways from side to side gently when she spots movement, too, as if she thinks a wind is blowing and she should rustle with it like a leaf There's also stick insects from windy areas that practically never stop swaying. The act is perfect.
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Sunjinjo In reply to DarkCameleon [2015-08-30 15:37:25 +0000 UTC]
And typing with her on my hands gets easier, too! Well, until she gets fullsize.
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Sunjinjo In reply to DarkCameleon [2015-08-30 15:58:18 +0000 UTC]
10 cm, but looking that up it's really not that big She's already 6 cm long.
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DarkCameleon In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-31 06:30:08 +0000 UTC]
It is rather large for a dutch insect
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Sunjinjo In reply to DarkCameleon [2015-08-31 09:20:10 +0000 UTC]
She's originally from sunny Malaysia! Well, her ancestors, Sirda herself was captive-bred of course
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poca2hontas [2015-08-25 07:06:31 +0000 UTC]
I had one of these along with hundreds of stick insects, nice capture of this pretty cool insect!
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Sunjinjo In reply to poca2hontas [2015-08-25 07:12:43 +0000 UTC]
Thanks for the fave And that went well? I hear they could nibble at the leaf insect, but with enough food...
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poca2hontas In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-26 18:29:10 +0000 UTC]
Hope they never touched the leafy!
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Lamaohi [2015-08-24 14:47:48 +0000 UTC]
Ooh she looks gorgeous! New life everywhere! You got her and over here George just produced the biggest pitcher yet that opened its hatch during the weekend.
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Sunjinjo In reply to Lamaohi [2015-08-24 16:20:26 +0000 UTC]
That's some green magic right there. Feed him all night long!
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Lamaohi In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-24 16:59:16 +0000 UTC]
Aaall the insects! And all the light. The pitchers are getting a healthy red colouring as well thanks to the plant light I purchased!
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Sunjinjo In reply to Lamaohi [2015-08-25 13:02:59 +0000 UTC]
A soft red trick was expressed?
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Lamaohi In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-26 16:08:59 +0000 UTC]
A soft blue trick! Or purple. Or white. It depends on the level of light outside how it appears to my eyes!
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Sunjinjo In reply to Lamaohi [2015-08-27 09:46:53 +0000 UTC]
You kids these days and your alternative chromatic perception zones.
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Chanteur-de-Vent [2015-08-24 11:50:17 +0000 UTC]
Iris, wat heb je in hemelsnaam door je huis heen lopen? Β
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Sunjinjo In reply to Chanteur-de-Vent [2015-08-24 12:07:49 +0000 UTC]
Een schattig blaadje wat niemand kwaad doet!
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Chanteur-de-Vent In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-24 15:18:07 +0000 UTC]
Ja ja, tot je lijken in je kast vindt...
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Sunjinjo In reply to Chanteur-de-Vent [2015-08-24 16:22:01 +0000 UTC]
c2.staticflickr.com/4/3490/370β¦ Is dat niet het gezicht van de onschuld?
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Chanteur-de-Vent In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-26 08:03:12 +0000 UTC]
Meer de meest sarcastische blik die ik ooit gezien heb.
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Ramul [2015-08-24 11:23:58 +0000 UTC]
Odd that all the sticks died, you said they were breeding like crazy. But then again, so did the mollies in my aquaruim and now there's none left.
That's a nice-looking walking leaf.
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Sunjinjo In reply to Ramul [2015-08-24 11:39:20 +0000 UTC]
It is, they seemed to suddenly lose the will to live. The adults died one after the other. I did save a few eggs just in case the will comes back, though.
Aw, sorry about the mollies. Will you get something new as well?
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Lamaohi In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-24 14:43:57 +0000 UTC]
Stickies have a rather short lifespan though, do they not? I mean the estimate I got from the local pet store was 12 to 14 months.
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Sunjinjo In reply to Lamaohi [2015-08-24 16:23:30 +0000 UTC]
Yeah, sadly. One keeps a colony, not an individual. I never named them either, but now it's just the one leaf to start with, so But they barely made it to adulthood at all in the end.
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Lamaohi In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-24 17:04:08 +0000 UTC]
Aww, poor sticks. Speaking of insects, I suddenly recalled this one very unfortunate and sad event that transpired some years ago. I was heading with my family to our cabin/family "ranch" of sorts (family as in uncles, aunties, cousins and other relatives all had some ties to that place and still do) and I had this jar with me where I had tried to get some Small Tortoiseshell butterfly larvae to pupate and hatch. I got them to pupate before the trip, but at the cabin they seemed deader than dead. The cocoons turned brown, then grey, and few days after arriving it became apparent what had happened. Both pupae had been stung by a parasitic wasp and they were spewing forth small white larvae.
Needless to say, I was rather shocked.
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Sunjinjo In reply to Lamaohi [2015-08-24 17:53:22 +0000 UTC]
Aww, yes, that happens. That's life too. But it sucks that it happens in this way, when you think you're almost there. They were likely already parasitized when you found them.
The larvae do sometimes spin lovely golden cocoons themselves, though, and the little wasps can be very pretty as well.Β
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Lamaohi In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-24 18:33:32 +0000 UTC]
True that, true that. After all, most parasitic wasps (that I know of) usually lay the eggs on the caterpillars before they form a cocoon. Sure there are those who poke the coccoons as well but seeing as how there is plenty of goop at the early stages of the cocooning, I don't see that being a viable way of reproducing unless the cocoon is almost ready to hatch. Or if the larvae specifically live on the metamorphosis goop.
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Sunjinjo In reply to Lamaohi [2015-08-25 15:57:16 +0000 UTC]
Some do parasitize cocoons, but not many that I know of. Some actively prevent the caterpillar from ever pupating, coaxing it to grow fatter in larval form instead.
Try try again with those caterpillars Many do make it to adulthood.
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Ramul In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-24 11:58:59 +0000 UTC]
Were there any changes in the terrarium or the surroundings, maybe a fungus outbreak? Methinks the eggs might have survived the unfavourable conditions, considering how tough phasmid eggs are.
Nope, since the aquarium is standing at my parents', we decided not to buy any new fish and the tank is really full with bristlenoses. Albeit, I'm thinking about getting a few kuhli loaches for the single one already present there (gifted by one of my mom's coworkers, who gave up her tank), because that one is only seen during water changes and continuously gets fatter.
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Sunjinjo In reply to Ramul [2015-08-24 12:11:23 +0000 UTC]
No fungus as far as I know, I keep a good eye on that. I heard spraying too much is a common problem, but things were never more than moist. I always used the same ivy and bramble bushes for food, away from roads, as well.
Bristlenoses look awesome. Aw, loaches too! You and your parentsΒ have great taste in fish.
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Ramul In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-24 13:03:19 +0000 UTC]
Hm. Maybe something was on one of the bushes, odd they all died.
Or the aquarium has great taste in fish, considering how many species had died there. The bottom dwellers have proven to be particularly hardy, only the mollies before the die-off and the black tetras were similarly long-living.
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Sunjinjo In reply to Ramul [2015-08-24 13:31:55 +0000 UTC]
The ivy did keep developing spider mite populations, though I wash everything after picking and threw them out as soon as the silk became apparent. Luckily no ivy for Sirda.
The aquarium of doom. Reminds me of the one we had when I was little, there was some sort of chemical residue in it? I forget, but it was also of doom. Ah, bottom dwellers are the best, regardless.
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Ramul In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-24 13:49:42 +0000 UTC]
Were the spider mites any threat to them?
It's pretty typical for aquariums. But then again, my mom was doing the entire fish-buying (I only bought an armoured catfish on my eighteenth birthday, the guy is still alive) and picked them by prettiness, so the fish dying was nothing unusual, aside from a few cases of fish attacking and/or eating other fish.
Chemical residue, inappropriate water conditions, infections, everything can play a role.
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Sunjinjo In reply to Ramul [2015-08-24 14:14:38 +0000 UTC]
I have no idea, but they are really tiny and one hears of mites getting into book lungs and/or trachea.
Glorious pillbugfish.
Aquatic organisms are always more fragile. One would need an entire ecosystem to keep it truly stable. Reminds me of a story I read this weekend about a giant mass of water floating in space in the far future, a highly valued water reserve the size of a planet with an ice core and tectonic-like currents, used for consumption but also home to entire ecosystems. It was glorious.
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Ramul In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-24 14:28:08 +0000 UTC]
Spider mites specifically or other mites? I would think the conditions inside respiratory tracts aren't exactly favourable for spider mites.
Glorious fat pillbugfish that eats like a vacuum cleaner.
Myes. My uncle buggered his one up by cleaning it too often and too thoroughly.
Wasn't the ocean of one of the Gliese planets described similarly, with a world-wide ocean and ice forming the ground due to the immense pressure?
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Sunjinjo In reply to Jinjuch [2015-08-24 08:42:16 +0000 UTC]
I love her And if we come across more next Saturday I might already give her some company. Was planning to finally get some leaves there anyway, but my parents took me to this huge terrarium place ahead of time, so
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Jinjuch In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-24 14:50:01 +0000 UTC]
Ooh, very cool, might get something from saturday then What time do you want to go btw? I can be at the station in Tilburg at whatever time
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Sunjinjo In reply to Jinjuch [2015-08-24 16:22:37 +0000 UTC]
And I'll peer pressure you into geckos.
Hmm, 11 at the station?
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Jinjuch In reply to Sunjinjo [2015-08-24 17:11:52 +0000 UTC]
11 at the station sounds good Heh, will need to peer pressure me into a lot of things
I will very likely squee over something extremely adorable though!
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Sunjinjo In reply to Jinjuch [2015-08-24 17:50:40 +0000 UTC]
That's what we're there for I'll really need to hold myself back from the ball pythons again.
Will be there
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LordNyarly [2015-08-24 05:15:06 +0000 UTC]
So sweet *_* Are you have any other insect pets for now?
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Sunjinjo In reply to LordNyarly [2015-08-24 06:32:46 +0000 UTC]
I had a tarantula and Indian stick insects before, and also grew up with those, and snails and tadpoles and salamanders. Now I live in a tiny appartment and therefore will only keep one terrarium at a time, but I do still have stick insect eggs to possibly add some company to Sirda and her future offspring ^^
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