grocery store available food for Neohasia maerens?

At a pet expo a friend and I got some prickly stick insects (Neohasia maerens), and I've been struggling to feed them. I know they feed readily on oak, ivy, and bramble, but I'm hesitant to feed them anything from the wild. I've mostly been giving them romaine lettuce since I can't find much else, but want to vary their diet. They ignore mostly everything I give them such as kale, dandelion greens, spinach, etc. My friend's solution was to feed florist clippings to his, which as it turns out were tainted with pesticides (very stupid decision, I know). What are some greens they'll enjoy that I can easily find in a grocery store?

Feed them Oak, Ivy and Bramble. They will be inordinately happier/healthier and the chances of them getting something bad is minimal unless you choose a tree that is being sprayed with insecticide (which is SUPER rare - a prized ornamental Oak that's being attacked by beetles might be getting sprayed). Go to a local park and grab some young oak leaves, give them a quick rinse.

Unless you pick up the leaves off of grass that has been sprayed you should be fine. Foliar applications are almost never going to be used on the large trees that you find around your neighborhood.

imo people have gotten too cautious about things "outside" ..parasites, fungus, etc., I just don't see the odds as a threat. But in an urban environment, yeah I'd be cautious of pesticides people use.

Galapoheros said:

imo people have gotten too cautious about things "outside" ..parasites, fungus, etc., I just don't see the odds as a threat. But in an urban environment, yeah I'd be cautious of pesticides people use.

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I'd agree. In wild environments, so to speak, there will be that wholesale pesticide spraying as target pests in parks but that isn't all that common and is usually controlled. Much more common are herbicide spraying and that becomes pretty obvious. Also, virtually all spraying in public areas is done by authorities. Many locales have laws against private individuals spraying. So you can always check with the officials on what if any spraying has been done recently. Local organizations as the Sierra club and Audubon society keep pretty close track of pesticide use and you can check with them.
What you want to avoid is privately owned land and poorly educated property owners out doing their dumb stuff. A lot of areas have gotten the clue, or at least started to, that pesticides kill the predators and do more harm than good.

Cash crops, as the stuff found in grocery stores on the other hand are almost certainly sprayed and many of those pesticides are latent and do not rinse off easily. Rinse with a solution of dishwashing liquid and repeated rinsings of clear water.

Thanks for the responses. Parasites and fungi are a bigger concern to me than pesticides, but I'll just be sure to clean the leaves thoroughly. I actually have an abundance of oak and ivy on and around my property and the neighborhood is pretty far from urban. I gave them some baby oak leaves just now.

Providing you are talking about the oak of genus quercus. The tanin in the oak is a toxin hostile to most animals. Subsequently, parasites are limited to a specialized few. That makes it a safer food. As for fungus, most of the fungi that invades oaks is white. Filament, powdery, slime and so on. Take a few leaves and some bark and put in a jar with a little water and see what grows in a week or two. That will culture and tell you about 90% or so of the common oak attacking fungi.

Try Rose Leaves

Can you post a pic???

Not to question the ID you got
But are you sure they're Neohasia Maerens from Vietnam
&
Not Extatosoma Tiaratum (Australia) Or Eurycantha Calcarata (New Guinea)
As they're also referred to as "Prickly Stick Insects"
???

Try searching PSG Number 185
Or
Try asking at
http://phasmid-study-group.org/
I'm sure some one on there can help you out
Or
Peter Clausen ~ http://www.bugsincyberspace.com/
Might be another good person to try contacting

Best Of Luck
&
Hope They Don't Starve To Death