stick bugs eating each other s legs off ??

[little leaf]

ummm, I thought stick bugs were one of the few who could live together , no fighting , or eating each ohter - I think this may be wrong I am finding more and more of my sticks with out their legs ?? it reminds me of the ryme "Moma had a baby and it's legs popped off " there are many in the viv/ - but there is plenty of food, and walking space - they are also misted, at first I thought it was due to maybe a shedding issue- but I think they maybe are doing this to each other ? has anyone else had this happen - and now I have eggs that have started to hatch - so it will be even more crowded - not sure what to do as far as the missing legs issue- ?? any ideas ? are they doin this to each other as a " turf war" type thing?
thanks for any help - its sad to see them legg-less

 

[pasquia]

I have had this happen to me before, not just limited to legs though, abdomens also. I put it down to overcrowding, there were mixed species on the Viv and some were more aggressive night feeders than others E. calcarata being the culprit most of the time.ended up splitting them up more and the cannabalism stopped

 

[Andee]

Legs do tend to drop on younger stick bugs, sometimes even older. They have a bad molt due to over crowding or not having a tall enough viv... Or they get stressed and drop the leg due to that. Most do not eat each others legs, especially not indian sticks. It will be fixed by the next molt if they aren't adults already.

 

[nick barta]

Sticks can loose legs when we pull them off the dry cuttings, and put them on the new cuttings. If you are seeing a huge amount, I am wondering if some of them might be molt skins?

As a side note, Hornworms will eat each other if you run out of food, all you will find is 2 green connected eyeballs!

Nick

 

[little leaf]

As a side note, Hornworms will eat each other if you run out of food, all you will find is 2 green connected eyeballs!

Nick

LOVELY - I did not know that either when Olive eats horn worms, she gets so excited she makes like a cherping sound -

Legs do tend to drop on younger stick bugs, sometimes even older. They have a bad molt due to over crowding or not having a tall enough viv... Or they get stressed and drop the leg due to that. Most do not eat each others legs, especially not indian sticks. It will be fixed by the next molt if they aren't adults already.

so they grow the legs back ??

 

[Andee]

Yes they grow the legs back if they molt again, but they stop molting once they reach adulthood so if an adult looses a leg it is not going to grow back