Thorny devil stick insect

Eurycantha calcarata is a robust, spined ground-associated phasmid. Adult males can pinch with the hind legs.

Confirm sex and actual size.

Plan substantial low shelter, suitable fresh browse and separate handling precautions for the large spines.

Arrange dependable holiday care and keep money available for food, replacement equipment and appropriate veterinary help. Test the habitat before the animal arrives.

Wildform proposes 45 × 45 × 60 cm or larger, with at least three adult body lengths of usable hanging room and floor refuges. Provide suitable egg-laying substrate for females.

Measure usable internal space after substrate, guards and furnishings. Check ventilation, cable holes and access against the smallest occupant. Fix heavy furnishings independently of loose substrate.

Assess the actual group’s compatibility.

The PSG sheet specifies room temperature. Check actual occupied day/night temperatures and agree limits for the culture.

Record the warm and cool locations, overnight minimum and daytime maximum. Air, surface and substrate readings are different measurements. Any added heater needs compatible thermostatic control and safe separation from the animal; assess summer cooling as well as winter heating.

Use a measured room-temperature regime.

Provide a normal daytime rhythm and dark retreats; no mandatory UVB target was established.

Keep the night dark and provide retreat from daytime light. Lamp percentage, electrical wattage and a product name cannot establish the exposure reaching an animal. Check the finished installation after changes to mesh, branches or lamp position.

The PSG account uses light daily misting. Keep shelter substrate appropriately moist without waterlogging and cover stem-water containers.

Inspect the occupied refuge and substrate as well as the air reading. Adjust water provision and ventilation together, and clean contaminated drinking surfaces. A single humidity number cannot describe every microclimate.

Use accepted pesticide-free browse such as bramble, oak or rose, confirming intake rather than assuming all listed plants suit every culture.

Record what is actually eaten and follow changes in growth and body condition. Food size, life stage and the full diet matter. Supplement products require an individual plan; do not combine calcium, vitamin D and multivitamins by guesswork.

Avoid gripping or pulling legs. Let the animal step onto a branch for essential transfers, keeping hands away from pinching hind legs.

Make necessary maintenance predictable and allow voluntary retreat. Prepare a secure transfer container before essential moves. Observation should not repeatedly interrupt feeding, rest or moulting.

A handling-safety guarantee is not implied.

Inspect moulting space and stability; do not disturb a suspended animal.

Keep dated observations of appetite, activity and condition. A sudden decline, injury, abnormal breathing or repeated failed moults needs appropriate professional assessment. This guide does not provide a diagnosis or medicine dose.

Retain identity and source records and contain buried eggs as well as adults.

Ask for a dated source record, scientific identity, life stage and established care history. Keep new arrivals and their equipment separate while an appropriate quarantine plan is agreed. Check current official rules for the exact animal, route and transaction before importing or buying; this page does not establish legal clearance. Never release animals or viable eggs outdoors.

Check fresh browse, drinking droplets and secure shelters. Review female laying substrate, egg numbers and clear hanging space. Keep a dated record of measurements and observations, and revisit the full advice when conditions or life stage change.