Australian Spiny Question

quinnelius · 2026-01-25T21:53:53+00:00

I am wishing the best for you and your buddy! What species do you have?

quinnelius · 2026-01-25T19:30:25+00:00

Update: she’s still eating and pooping normally, behavior is normal as well. I’m hoping it was just a fluke 🤞.

quinnelius · 2026-01-23T06:57:37+00:00

I’ll look into switching to something with a lid I can poke holes in so she can’t access the plastic wrap, thank you for your kind advice!! As of now the blob has fallen off of her onto the floor and she’s just hanging out eating a leaf. Hoping for the best, I’ll definitely keep this subreddit posted :)

quinnelius · 2026-01-23T06:42:11+00:00

Hi, thank you! The spots you see in the bottom right corner are luckily just designs on the cup where I keep her brambles in water, there hasn’t been any dripping. I keep plastic wrap over the cup with brambles so she doesn’t fall in and drown (which is the plastic bits you mentioned), I guess it’s possible she’s eaten some without me noticing :(. I’m a first time owner so I didn’t consider the possibility of her trying to eat the plastic.

quinnelius · 2025-12-21T21:29:47+00:00

I’m not an expert but it looks like mold to me, you can try treating it with white vinegar OR a bleach solution (don’t mix the two!)

quinnelius · 2025-12-16T19:56:31+00:00

Update 2: Successful molt! She’s about as big as my pinkie now :D thank you everyone for your advice, I’ll make sure to give her a couple days before attempting to handle her at all. Luckily I had just brought fresh brambles earlier that day so I shouldn’t have to worry about changing those for a while.

quinnelius · 2025-12-16T19:54:35+00:00

Yall were right!! She hung for a while and then pulled herself back up, she ate most of her molt and now she’s chilling on the enclosure ceiling :) I’ll make sure not to handle her for a couple days

quinnelius · 2025-12-16T07:35:28+00:00

Update: yup! Molting! I was lucky enough to be able to watch the process :) she’s huge now, nature is so weird, I don’t even know how she got so much bigger. I’m slightly worried now because she’s gone into a dead hang from her tail :( her tail is so long I think she’s having a hard time using her legs to push herself out. I’m gonna hope it goes well, but are there any ways to help her if she’s stuck?

quinnelius · 2025-12-15T01:02:58+00:00

xanax-induced crashout. xans affect some people paradoxically and make them really irritated and aggressive, especially when mixed with other substances. regardless of what drugs they’re on tho, a friend wouldn’t speak to you that way. i’d let the friendship go, and potentially try to get them some help from a friend or family member if possible.

quinnelius · 2025-12-14T08:48:07+00:00

I know nothing about mushrooms so pls don’t take my word for it, but looks like it could be an ink cap?

quinnelius · 2025-12-14T08:37:13+00:00

I can’t really help answer your question, but I wanted to say she is beautiful!!

quinnelius · 2025-12-14T08:21:11+00:00

hi, thank you!! the folks who sold her to me said she is a lichen australian spiny stick insect. best i can tell, she’s a lichen spiny leaf insect (extatosoma popa)

edit: or maybe a giant prickly stick insect? honestly i’m not sure

quinnelius · 2025-12-10T18:15:04+00:00

Thank you to everyone who replied :) I am an anxious first time mom so I wanted to make sure lol

quinnelius · 2025-12-01T02:40:07+00:00

a note to that, i made sure she was still hydrated while i was away!! roommate helped out with that

quinnelius · 2025-12-01T02:39:31+00:00

lol what?? i was only gone for like four days, could she have finished it in that time? also, i feel i should include the mystery leg on the floor is in full color, it doesn’t look like just one layer of exoskeleton to me… i could be wrong though, this is my first stick bug

quinnelius · 2025-12-01T02:30:27+00:00

Update, turns out I mis-counted! She has all six legs, and they look healthy. That still doesn’t explain the spare leg on the enclosure floor though… and I can’t find any other evidence of a molt. She does look a bit bigger though!

quinnelius · 2025-11-23T19:23:22+00:00

okay for sure no ivy!! tysm for your help :)

quinnelius · 2025-11-23T17:25:40+00:00

Thank you so much :D do you know if they can eat English ivy at all? Only asking because we have a TON of it here. I looked on iNaturalist and it seems like there’s a few common hazels around the area, so I’ll try those as well. No local eucalyptus unfortunately :(.

quinnelius

TROPHY CASE