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Atlas / Library / Phasmatidae / Giant Prickly / Spiny Leaf Insect
BeginnerNocturnal · sleeping nowIUCN LC
Phasmatidae

Giant Prickly / Spiny Leaf Insect

Extatosoma tiaratumตั๊กแตนกิ่งไม้

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. keepinginsects.com

Photograph: Sam Fraser-Smith · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Giant Prickly / Spiny Leaf Insect is nocturnal, so what it is doing changes with the light.

Arboreal · warm · middlingFrom the sheet: 20–30°C, humidity 50–70%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/extatosoma-tiaratum

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature20–30 °C
Humidity50–70 %
Enclosure30×30×45

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
20–30°Ambient

One ambient band, 20–30°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states20-30°C (night can drop)

Humidity

50–70%Target RH

The sheet states50-70%

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m13–15 cm
1520100400 cm
13–15 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Order / Family
Phasmatodea
IUCN / CITES
Not evaluated; CITES not yet in our data
Difficulty
Beginner
Commonality
Very common
Adult size
F 13–15 cm (bulky); M ~11 cm (winged)
Lifespan
F ~6–9 mo adult; total ~12–18 mo
Growth rate
Medium (F ~6 mo to adult)
Activity & niche
Nocturnal · Arboreal browser
Temperament
Docile, slow; iconic display species
Venom / defense
Harmless; curls scorpion-like tail; may flick/grasp; no true venom

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

30 cm45 cm
warm hidewatersubstrate
50100150200 cm
30 × 30 × 45 cmWidth × depth × height
9dm² of floor
Warm side: not in our dataUVB: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet states30×30×45 cm (H ≥3× body); mesh for moulting

Temperature
20–30°C (night can drop)
Humidity
50–70%
Min. enclosure
30×30×45 cm (H ≥3× body); mesh for moulting
Substrate
Coco fibre; mist for droplets & egg humidity
Hides / decor / water
Upright branches to hang & moult; mist food plants daily

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

Food stays available

The sheet states food is always present rather than given on a cycle, so there is no interval to draw.

The sheet statesBramble/blackberry (staple), eucalyptus, oak, rose, raspberry · Fresh leaves always available; replace ~weekly

Staple food
Bramble/blackberry (staple), eucalyptus, oak, rose, raspberry
Feeding frequency
Fresh leaves always available; replace ~weekly
Supplements
None; fresh host leaves only

Behaviour and handling

HandlingVery docile; handleable; support body, avoid pre-moult
CommunalYes: safely gregarious in groups
Defense / stress signsCurls abdomen over back (scorpion mimic); sways; plays dead

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
0.5–0.8 yrLifespan in care
0.5 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Reproduction
Eggs flicked to ground; FACULTATIVE PARTHENOGENESIS (unmated F = all F)

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsMismoult if too dry or low cage, dehydration, dropped limbs
Red flags / quarantine
SignsSluggish, shrivelled, mould, mites on leaves

Good to know

  • Ant-mimic hatchlings run to ant nests; adults curl the tail like a scorpion

What it needs

Enclosure at least 30 × 30 × 45 cmbecause enclosure30×30×45 cm (H ≥3× body); mesh for moulting
A thermometerbecause temp20-30°C (night can drop)
A hygrometerbecause humidity50–70%

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

Sources

Others in this group

What this sheet states

100%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

Every field this product runs on is stated here. That is not a claim that the values are right: it says what the sheet states, not whether it is true. Whether a human has read it is the badge at the top of this page.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.