# Spiny Leaf Insect Eggs



## jaliceeee (Jun 4, 2009)

About 2 years ago I bought a female Spiny Leaf Insect from the pet store. In the time I had her she laid about 30 eggs, since I bought her when she was about 10 months, she died about 3 months after I got her from old age. I was told the eggs can take up to 1 to 2 years to hatch and to keep them in a small box on some sand. I kept them in a small dark container on some river gravel for about a year. I didn't spray them with water often, maybe once a month when I remembered them. I kept forgetting about them and after about a year and a half none had hatched. They were kept at a good temperature but after about two years they still havent hatched. I found the remains of one shell so I think one may have hatched, but i dont know what happened to it if it did, or maybe it died and was too small for me to find, which sounds horrible . I've now put them on some damp cotton wool in the container, but I'm not sure they'll ever hatch now, after leaving them for so long. Do you think they still have a chance? Is there any way of making sure? I also heard soaking them in warm water for a while will speed it up, should I try anyway?


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## gecko-mad (Jun 4, 2009)

i made a post on this to so lets get some answers!


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## Sdaji (Jun 4, 2009)

After two years, if they were going to hatch it's most likely most of them would have. When they hatch the 'lid' bit comes off (you'll need to look closely). I'm told that if they're still viable they'll sink, and if they're not they will float, but I haven't tried. When I've had a batch I'm not sure about after a year or two or three I open some up. You'll either find they've dried up before developing, they've developed into insects but died without hatching, developed into insects and are waiting to hatch, or are still undeveloped but viable. Highly likely you'll get two or more types. Strange you only have 30 though, if she only had that many in three months she would have been unhealthy and probably wouldn't have been producing viable eggs. More likely is that you missed most of them. Mine usually lay about 4-10 per day. If something is wrong they can produce less, and in those cases they're usually smaller and sometimes poorly shaped.

Don't let them get too wet.

Good luck


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## jaliceeee (Jun 4, 2009)

Sdaji said:


> After two years, if they were going to hatch it's most likely most of them would have. When they hatch the 'lid' bit comes off (you'll need to look closely). I'm told that if they're still viable they'll sink, and if they're not they will float, but I haven't tried. When I've had a batch I'm not sure about after a year or two or three I open some up. You'll either find they've dried up before developing, they've developed into insects but died without hatching, developed into insects and are waiting to hatch, or are still undeveloped but viable. Highly likely you'll get two or more types. Strange you only have 30 though, if she only had that many in three months she would have been unhealthy and probably wouldn't have been producing viable eggs. More likely is that you missed most of them. Mine usually lay about 4-10 per day. If something is wrong they can produce less, and in those cases they're usually smaller and sometimes poorly shaped.
> 
> Don't let them get too wet.
> 
> Good luck


 
Haha I put them all in water and only one sunk, not a good sign, if it is truely accurate. I opened 2 up, ones that floated. One was just orange jelly type stuff, didnt look like it had developed at all, another was fully black, so it may have been develpoed and dead, I'm not sure. I really only guessed how long she lived for after I bought her, but im pretty sure she did lay about 5 eggs a day, I probaly didnt get them all. I dont know if it helps, but she was one of the tropical type ones, with the smooth shiny patterned eggs.


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## mattyandnat (Jun 4, 2009)

i just kept mine in a container with a stocking over the top and damp paper towel on the bottom.


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## Sdaji (Jun 4, 2009)

At five per day she'd produce 30 in under a week 

The black stuff is a developed baby (possibly dead), the one with jelly is undeveloped. If an undeveloped egg is still viable it will be very runny inside, if you open it and it's rubbery, it's no longer viable.

I've found that if I keep them very dry they don't hatch, but many will fully develop (and die in the egg).

Hatch rates vary greatly, I get anything from about 2-80%, it's very hit and miss. If you only have 30 eggs, a lack of hatching could just be bad luck even if conditions were good.


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## jaliceeee (Jun 4, 2009)

Sdaji said:


> At five per day she'd produce 30 in under a week
> 
> The black stuff is a developed baby (possibly dead), the one with jelly is undeveloped. If an undeveloped egg is still viable it will be very runny inside, if you open it and it's rubbery, it's no longer viable.
> 
> ...


 
Thanks for the info, I'll probably see if any do hatch and in the meantime buy another one from a pet shop, i think they're cute


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## hornet (Jun 6, 2009)

i get up to 30 eggs per day in peak laying season from each of my girls. I incubate on moist sphagnum moss, they will hatch from as little as 3 month anywhere up to 3 years


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## borntobnude (Jun 6, 2009)

how hot is it where you have your eggs? my mum in fnq says they hatch in about 4 months here in cold old sydney we have had 2 hatchin 3 years , at most we get 4 eggs per day the eggs are on moist orchid compost were not brave enough to put the eggs in the snake enclosures where its 31 ish just incase were not around when/if it happens


hornet said:


> i get up to 30 eggs per day in peak laying season from each of my girls. I incubate on moist sphagnum moss, they will hatch from as little as 3 month anywhere up to 3 years


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## hornet (Jun 6, 2009)

borntobnude said:


> how hot is it where you have your eggs? my mum in fnq says they hatch in about 4 months here in cold old sydney we have had 2 hatchin 3 years , at most we get 4 eggs per day the eggs are on moist orchid compost were not brave enough to put the eggs in the snake enclosures where its 31 ish just incase were not around when/if it happens



i just keep them at room temp here in bris, still pumping out the eggs in this cooler weather. If your having a very small amount of eggs laid and harly any hatching i'd say you have inbred stock, Extatosoma tiaratum are quite susceptable to inbreeding, it results in weak stock, low hatch rate and greatly increases the incubation period


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## noni (Jul 9, 2009)

hornet - how many generations have you found that it takes till inbreeding really sets in? i have a stack of eggs at the moment from my girls that are the 4th generation bred from the same original females.
based on the past lots of eggs hatching i would have expected some of these to start hatching by now as some eggs must be close to a year old, although it is bloody cold at the moment and from memory the others began hatching in warmer weather. 
time to get some new girls perhaps?


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## joshreptikid (Mar 23, 2010)

jaliceeee said:


> About 2 years ago I bought a female Spiny Leaf Insect from the pet store. In the time I had her she laid about 30 eggs, since I bought her when she was about 10 months, she died about 3 months after I got her from old age. I was told the eggs can take up to 1 to 2 years to hatch and to keep them in a small box on some sand. I kept them in a small dark container on some river gravel for about a year. I didn't spray them with water often, maybe once a month when I remembered them. I kept forgetting about them and after about a year and a half none had hatched. They were kept at a good temperature but after about two years they still havent hatched. I found the remains of one shell so I think one may have hatched, but i dont know what happened to it if it did, or maybe it died and was too small for me to find, which sounds horrible . I've now put them on some damp cotton wool in the container, but I'm not sure they'll ever hatch now, after leaving them for so long. Do you think they still have a chance? Is there any way of making sure? I also heard soaking them in warm water for a while will speed it up, should I try anyway?


 
iv had my spiny leaf insect for 3 months and she hasnt layed 1 egg yet so i bought her a male they have matted twice in the one week and still no eggs but her tail at the very end is splitting open like she is trying to get it out i dont know? can anyone help me please. i wish i could help you but if you just keep it at the right temp and mist it they should hatch soon


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## Jacquie (Mar 28, 2010)

Has anyone got Goliath stick insects? I have one that is dropping about 10 eggs per day and I was reading up on them on the internet. Apparently they are designed to hatch down ant hills. The ants take the eggs down into their ant hills, eat the little knob on the end of the egg (no dirty jokes please) and then dispose of the egg in their 'rubbish' heap where they hatch, mimic the ants and walk straight out of the ant hill unharmed. Do I need to remove the little knob before I try to hatch the eggs??? or just leave the knob intact???


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## GeckoJosh (Mar 28, 2010)

Jacquie said:


> Has anyone got Goliath stick insects? I have one that is dropping about 10 eggs per day and I was reading up on them on the internet. Apparently they are designed to hatch down ant hills. The ants take the eggs down into their ant hills, eat the little knob on the end of the egg (no dirty jokes please) and then dispose of the egg in their 'rubbish' heap where they hatch, mimic the ants and walk straight out of the ant hill unharmed. Do I need to remove the little knob before I try to hatch the eggs??? or just leave the knob intact???


Just leave the knob intact, I just put mine on moist sand in warmish spot and had hatch after about 4-5 months, they are hatching daily atm 

Thanks Gex


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## Herpgirl (Mar 29, 2010)

When my female spiny started laying eggs I put them in a fruit container with sticky tape over the holes and stabed a couple of holes through the sticky tape then layed down a paper towel and and a small twig of a gumtree ( I changed it every week) every day or twice every week I sprayed it with a water bottle. They hatched the first one hatched about 2 weeks after then a few more and finally they all hatched within half a year,. I wouldn't suggest pebbles and definatly not toilet paper as pebbles can squash the you nymphs and damp toilet paper can get stuck on them and be fatal.


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## Waterrat (Mar 29, 2010)

A friend of mine who breeds Extatosoma commercially said that they get smaller in each generation, particularly the parthenogenic females.
These are wild adults in my garde.

I still think the Peppermint Stick Insect _Megacrania batesi_ is the cream of all the phasmids.


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