After the lingering demise of Spiken, the Giant Thorny stick insect, we were given another Spiken by the place we bought the first. We also decided to get a Pink Wing (Marmessoidea Rosea) to keep Spiken v2.0 company, and increase the odds of at least one of them surviving.

Limey, The pink wing, was (hyper)active for a day or so, then clung to the top of the vivarium. We think it was going to shed its skin, though this is no more than an educated guess. Some time later, we returned to find Limey on its back at the bottom of the cage, and it died not long after that. Our assumption is that it fell whilst shedding, which can be fatal because the new exoskeleton takes a few days to harden.

At least Spiken is doing a better job, and shed its skin yesterday. Spiken must be reasonably happy, since stress can delay the shedding process. It looks healthy, though has not moved a great deal since this morning. We await tentatively to see what (if anything) our giant thorny does next. It is a(nother) crucial period for us, since our success rate at keeping what is generally accepted as beginner stick insects is quite low. Fingers crossed.