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When it comes to food sources for stick insects, you are in a great position of trying literally any type of leaf. If the sticks like it, they will eat it; if they do not then they will just leave it. And there is never a worry of them eating something that is toxic to them. Stick insects have a ‘built-in’ mechanism of knowing when a leaf is toxic and will just avoid eating it. This leads on to the question of whether stick insects can or will eat grass.
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Is Grass a Good Food Source for Stick Insects?
With over 3,000 species of stick insect on the planet, it is difficult to say definitively whether or not some stick insect species will eat grass. Nevertheless, most stick insects that are kept as pets will eat a diet of leaves from plants such as bramble, privet, and ivy. This is because in their natural habitat stick insects live in trees or shrubs. They are nocturnal by nature so spend most of their day in a motionless ‘resting’ phase.
Stick insects spend their days motionless because it helps protect them from predators. And it is this ability to mimic sticks swaying in the breeze that predators often overlook them. You may be wondering where all this is leading to. Well, it is for this reason that they may not eat grass in their natural habitat. Trees and plants provide them with greater protection than grass would, so they would very rarely, if ever, have need to be in grass. And if not naturally found in grass, then it makes sense that grass would not be a natural food for them.
Trial and Error
As well as this, grass may not be a good food source choice for stick insects kept as pets as they tend to only eat fresh leaves. It is recommended that any food placed in an enclosure is kept in a water container to keep it fresh. It is difficult to keep grass fresh once it has been cut.
That is not to say that stick insects will definitely not eat grass if it is presented to them. The best way to check if your sticks will eat a particular leaf is to place it in the enclosure to see how they react to it. If they do not like it, they will just not eat it. However, while experimenting, do ensure that there are still leaves in the enclosure that you know they do it. Stick insects will starve if there is nothing that they like eating available to them.
