Hi everyone. I have two Eurycantha Calcarata stick insects at home. They are about 6 months old, one male, one female. They have been doing great, until Monday. On Monday morning I went to see how they where and noticed that they where sat almost on top of each other, which is not unusual, but the male (who was on the bottom) had, what appeared to be a relatively large amount of white / yellow goo bubbled up on his mid section (around the middle legs). The female had just started to shed he skin. Now obviously this was a concern but I decided to leave them and see what happened. Well in the last 4 days they havn't moved. They are still alive, when you tap on the cage there is some leg and antenna movement but they are not at all active. Does anyone know what could be wrong with them, I have a few theories:
1. The female has bitten the male and effectively killed him but then why would the female shed half of her skin and then just sit there?
2. I thought that maybe it was starting to get too cold for them (I keep them in a reasonably warm location), but that would not explain the yellow / white goo.
The only thing I did notice was that for a day or two before this happened they didn't eat anything.
Any advice would be very greatly received.
Thanks.
Richard