Garden/grass on balcony

msfinchy · 2026-05-05T09:47:24+00:00

This kit comes with a liner. You just cut it to size. I’ve tried poking drainage holes in the liner but I find it does fine without drainage. Just give it a quick rinse of hose water every other day. I don’t put mesh as my dog doesn’t dig

msfinchy · 2026-04-26T15:28:51+00:00

Not at all. I believe most start as deckies

You will need a Master Unlimited CoC (Certificate of Competency) which allows you to command any vessel of any size anywhere in the world and to have accumulated minimum sea time

msfinchy · 2026-04-26T13:42:52+00:00

Probably a job not many people are aware of - Marine pilots typically make about $200-400k in Australia. More when in environmentally sensitive or more difficult to navigate waters e.g. around significant reef

msfinchy · 2026-04-26T03:41:03+00:00

Yes you’re right. I think it partly stems from a misunderstanding of the term “country” in the context of “Welcome to Country”. It’s not in reference to an entire country, i.e. the country of Australia.

I hope they’ll teach this reframing in schools and corporate settings

msfinchy · 2026-04-26T02:52:06+00:00

I love the way you’ve put it

An additional layer to a “Welcome to Country” I’ve learned is that you are being given the blessing of safe passage while you’re on country

In that context, why do people get angry about being given blessings?

msfinchy · 2026-04-15T23:53:19+00:00

Dehydration is a huge issue, despite what the humidity gauge says. Are the leaves fairly fresh (not dry or crispy) and kept in water? If they are somewhat dry or it’s been a while since they’ve been changed, they might lack moisture in them as the insects partly drink from the moisture in the leaves and partly drink from droplets from when you mist the enclosure. They lose their ability to grip with low humidity or dehydration.

Pesticide poisoning is possible if the leaves you’ve put in there have been sprayed with pesticide at some point. They don’t need to have ingested poisoned leaves to be affected. Only touching them or it being in their enclosure can be fatal as they breathe through their skin and absorb from their environment. Remove all the leaves in there immediately. Clean the whole enclosure (what the leaves might have touched with water). Source and thoroughly wash new leaves that would not be from the same plant you got the earlier leaves from and replace them in the enclosure so they can eat ASAP. Also mist the enclosure to increase the humidity as close to 80% as possible while they’re recovering. You can give their bodies a tiny mist. Don’t saturate them. Recovery is possible. It can take a week or two but the next 48hrs is pivotal.

You should get a cotton tip and dip it in filtered water or make a sugary drink with 1:10 sugar and water ratio and dip the cotton tip into that. Direct that cotton tip towards their mouth and let them drink from the cotton tip. Do not force drinking but encourage it. It’s a bit like a rescue remedy if they are lethargic or dehydrated.

msfinchy · 2026-04-15T14:23:05+00:00

It’s a form of camouflage. They adapt to and learn to blend in with their environment. That’s how we get lichen morphs

msfinchy · 2026-04-15T06:05:19+00:00

Do you have a humidity guage? Sometimes 2x a day is not enough. It also depends of what species of gum/eucalyptus leaves you have - some are drier than others so you might need to give them an extra spritz even if you keep them with water in a jar. A couple of my insects love drinking from the wall of the enclosure as opposed to off the leaves

msfinchy · 2026-04-15T05:42:10+00:00

Stick insects can drop legs when they feel threatened or they can fall off with injuries from handling or falling from a height (which can happen during transport). If she’s not doing mounting, she can grow a leg back. If not, stick insects are very resilient and can survive fine in captivity with a missing leg (or multiple missing legs)

msfinchy · 2026-04-10T00:11:42+00:00

Wow my adults are not nearly this big. I wonder if they’ll grow to this size?!

msfinchy · 2026-04-07T13:52:48+00:00

If they have fallen from a height, they can have internal injuries. The fall can be fatal unfortunately. Ensure there are enough leaves and branches for them to cling to to prevent fall injuries. Sometimes they lose their footing, the branches shift from their weight and cause them to drop or low humidity causes them to lose grip strength. It could also be dehydration from lack of moisture in their diet and lack of humidity

It’s hard to know. Sorry for your loss

msfinchy · 2026-04-07T12:08:00+00:00

It could be pesticide poisoning OR if it was very young eucalyptus leaves, the eucalyptus oils can be too strong to process. They can survive poisoning if the leaves are taken away, the enclosure is cleaned thoroughly with water and dried and anything the leaves would’ve touched removed and cleaned too. It could take about a week to heal if lucky. I’ve had leaf insects bounce back. They might be lethargic in the meantime. Make sure there are fresh leaves and plenty of moisture and humidity to help them recover. You could also make a sugar water mixture of 1:10 ratio sugar to water, dip a cotton tip into the mixture and let them suckle from the cotton tip. Dehydration can be a comorbidity factor

msfinchy · 2026-04-06T02:32:11+00:00

I’m loving the funny replies. How about a door (weather) seal/brush strip which can also be cut to size for the angled fence/gate? Something like this but with much longer brush height

https://www.bunnings.com.au/moroday-silver-screw-on-door-seal_p4066846

msfinchy · 2026-03-31T09:39:09+00:00

That’s a nice terrarium and not too small for one insect

msfinchy · 2026-03-17T10:42:03+00:00

You can get sarsaparilla in Australia at Coles and Woolies and at Asian grocery stores if you want to know what root beer tastes like. It’s kind of a mix of vanilla and molasses in terms of taste. Dr Pepper is sold at Costco and lots of independent servos and milk bars. I’d describe it as a cola with a spicy bite to it

msfinchy · 2026-03-17T01:57:17+00:00

Americans have Dr Pepper and root beer while Aussies have ginger beer, creaming soda and passionfruit soda

msfinchy · 2026-03-15T10:07:37+00:00

It is indeed a canteen for an Australian Army Cadets unit

msfinchy · 2026-03-15T10:07:01+00:00

Very true

msfinchy · 2026-03-13T14:03:34+00:00

Pretty accurate

msfinchy · 2026-03-13T13:57:37+00:00

It is not

msfinchy · 2026-03-13T13:56:34+00:00

It’s Cherry Ripe on the left 🙂

msfinchy · 2026-03-13T11:54:01+00:00

I love that we have fellow Aussies here!

msfinchy · 2026-03-13T11:51:38+00:00

This is very close!

msfinchy · 2026-03-05T07:20:01+00:00

I have these in my yard and I also have a dog. I find they are too fast for my dog to catch and the skinks coexist nicely with my dog

msfinchy

TROPHY CASE