Juvenile Lord Howe Island Stick Insect

Just sharing some photos from my time raising the Lord Howe Island stick insect at the first few instars. When they are young they are green making them camouflage really well with leaves before turning black as they near maturity and become more nocturnal in nature. As you can see from the last two pics, when they are ready to shed they hang upside down and use gravity to help pop out of their skin and roll out, after which they climb back up the skin to rest for a while, and may proceed to eat their skin if they feel inclined (no point wasting good nutrients). Really looking forward to the day Lord Howe Island is declared rat free for long enough that these gentle little guys can be returned to their home.