Sabah Spiny Stick Insects My Pet and Me

Hello, welcome to My Pet And Me.

-I'm Rory.

-And I'm Ferne. We've been hoping you'd join us

because we're catching up with some much-needed cuddles

-with little Biscuit here.

-Yes, we are. She's so cute.

-I know, I know.

-Lots of animals make brilliant pets,

-and we love meeting you and yours.

-We definitely do.

-What are your plans, Rory?

-I'm glad you asked.

I'm off to meet new friends, and you can come too. Let's go.

-Have fun!

-Bye!

-Say bye-bye! "Bye!"

# My pet My pet and me

# My pet My pet and me

# Down every street Are pets to meet

# Some big, some small Some scaly, some furry

# Some keep very still Some are always in a hurry

# Some have four paws

# Some have sharp claws

-# Some quack

-Some bark

-# Some purr

-Some moo

-# Some grunt

-Some squawk

# Some cock-a-doodle-doo

# My pet My pet and me

# My pet My pet and me

# My pet My pet and me

# Have you met My pet and me? #

Today I'm in Bury to meet Zach and his pet stick insects.

Come on. Let's go and say hello.

-Hi Rory!

-Hello, you must be Zach and you must be Mum.

-Hi, Rory.

-Do you want to come and meet my pet stick insects?

-I'd love to.

OK. Who do we have in here, then?

We have Pixie,

Mo and Simone.

OK, let me see if I can find them all.

I can see one in here.

-Who is that?

-That's Pixie.

-And that's Simone.

-Right, let me see if I can find Mo.

-Shall I help you?

-Yes, please. Oh.

RORY LAUGHS

He's hiding down there.

Look at that. It was quite hard to find them.

What's it called when an animal hides in its environment?

-Camouflage.

-Yes. Some animals use camouflage to blend into their

surroundings so they can't be seen. It's a great way to hide.

They are beautiful. How do you know that's Simone and Pixie?

Because Pixie's bigger than Simone.

-And are they both bigger than Mo? Is Mo a boy?

-Yes.

Mo, is smaller

and he doesn't have an ovipositor like them.

Right. It's the bit at the back, like a spike, the ovipositor.

It's for laying eggs.

That's right. And where do the eggs get laid?

-In the soil.

-And you've provided some there.

That's perfect. And what kind of stick insects do you have, Zach?

-Sabah spiny.

-Sabah spiny.

And they come from Malaysia, from the forests in the mountains.

-I can see their spines there, look at that.

-Yeah.

-How many spines do they have?

-Too many to count.

-There is a lot, isn't there?

-Yeah.

-I'd quite like to get a closer look, Zach. Shall we take one out?

-Yes.

OK, let's lift this up carefully. And look...

We have this lady here.

Let's see if she will go up into my hand.

She is beautiful.

What do you love most about them?

They're so fast, like this.

-RORY LAUGHS Very speedy.

-Yeah.

-How many legs does she have?

-Six.

-She does.

-They help her to be a brilliant climber, don't they?

-Yeah.

-What are these called?

-Antennae.

-Absolutely.

Stick insects don't have ears, and instead have these antenna

which can feel vibrations in the air.

It's so cool, isn't it, Rory?

These are very cool creatures, indeed.

Ferne, can you tell us a bit more about our sticky friends, here?

Of course, Rory.

Stick insects come in lots of different colours, and some of them

even look like leaves.

Some stick insects can spray a nasty liquid when trying to protect

themselves from predators.

They like to hide under leaves and are more active at night-time.

All pets need loving care. Mo, Simone and Pixie are no different.

Because they live in a tank, they're entirely dependent on their owners.

-How do you look after them?

-I clean them out and give them food.

-Where do we get food from?

-Come on, I'll show you.

I thought we were getting food. What are we doing out in the woods?

Looking for food for the stick insects.

Ah, foraging. Foraging is when you search for food outside,

something pretty much every wild animal has to do.

So, what are we looking for?

-Bramble.

-All right, let's find some.

The stick insects love bramble.

Oh, this looks like a good bit.

-Right.

-We need to cut the end of the stalk, here.

OK.

There we go. We'll pop that in.

-What about this bit, here?

-Yay!

Always wear gloves when picking prickly brambles,

and always ask an adult before you cut any plants.

Most important, make sure you leave plenty behind for local wildlife.

-This looks great. Shall we see if they like it?

-Yeah, let's go.

OK, so we've popped Mo, Simone and Pixie in here while we

clean out the big tank. What do we do first?

We need it take out the old food and throw it in the bin.

Good job. That's it.

-Right. What's next?

-We need to take this out first.

-Are we going to throw that in the bin?

-No.

-Why not?

-Because Pixie has laid her eggs in that.

Of course, we want to look after them. What now?

-Take the paper out with the poos on it.

-Cool.

-You can do that one.

-OK.

Right. What's next?

Fresh paper.

-How many sheets are you going to put down?

-Two on each side.

That's done.

New water.

-Perfect.

-Put it in the middle.

-There we go.

-Let's get the food ready. Shall we chop up these brambles?

-Yeah.

Chop! RORY LAUGHS

-What now?

-We need to put this in...

here.

-Good work. Shall we put the stick insects back in?

-Yeah.

-I need to take my gloves off first.

-Good thinking.

-Come on. Go, go.

-OK. Good work. Well done.

-It's OK, it's OK.

Very gentle.

-Who was that?

-Simone.

OK. Who are you going for next?

-Pixie?

-Yeah.

Quite fast.

Well done.

And next is Mo.

Where's Mo hiding?

-Come on, come on.

-You're being so gentle.

Go on. Good boy.

And look! They've started eating the fresh bramble already.

-Are we finished?

-No.

-What are we missing?

Wait a minute. We need to get the spray.

Of course, give them a spray, then.

We spray the tank with water every day.

-So, Zach, why do you spray water in?

-So they can drink it.

Is that how they drink, then?

They drink from the leaves on the side of the tank.

Water is not only a drink, but also for keeping the habitat

nice and humid. A habitat is a place where an animal lives,

and some like it to be dry, and others prefer it humid.

Humid just means a little bit wet.

-Shall we put the lid back on?

-Yes, quickly.

There we go. Looks fantastic. I think we've done a great job.

-Do you know what we need to do?

-Wash our hands.

We certainly do. Let's go and do it now.

We've done a great job of cleaning the tank.

It looks like an amazing mini forest.

-There's lot of places to hide.

-Yeah, there certainly is.

If your stick insects could do anything,

what do you think they'd do?

If my pets could do anything,

they would play football in a match against other bugs.

My stick insect team would wear trainers on all of their feet

and would wear rainbow-coloured football strips.

They would run fast, up and down the park,

and they would score loads of goals.

We can't play with stick insects cos they're a bit too delicate,

but they're strong in their own way, cos they climb really well,

and hold on fantastically.

-Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a stick insect?

-Yeah.

I've got an idea. Come with me.

-You know how stick insects are good at sticking to things?

-Yeah!

So are we!

THEY LAUGH

Oh! ZACH LAUGHS

Do you know how stick insects stick to things?

With their hooks on their feet.

That's right, they've got hooks and soft pads on their feet, which

help them hold on. Like how this fabric helps us stick to the wall.

ZACH SQUEALS

I think I'm stuck!

Oh!

-Are Mo, Simone and Pixie still growing?

-Yeah.

-How can you tell?

-Because they shed their skin all the time.

That's right. That's moulting. They shed their old skin and get

a brand-new one which is bigger and fits them better.

It's like getting rid of clothes that don't fit any more.

What do they do when they're moulting?

They hang upside down by their back legs.

-That sounds like a lot of fun. Shall we hang upside down?

-Yeah.

ZACH LAUGHS

-How is it being upside down?

-Good.

This is what stick insects do. They crawl to the top of the tank,

hang upside down, and shed their skin and grow a new one.

Is it easy?

-Yeah!

-THEY LAUGH

RORY LAUGHS

-How is it being upside down?

-It's fun, but it's pretty tough.

-Can you get off?

-Woohoo!

Well, Simone, Mo, and Pixie.

You guys make it look easy.

-We tried to be stick insects and it was very difficult, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

-What was the hardest bit?

-It was... It was climbing up it.

-And trying to be upside down as well?

-Yeah.

You guys are certainly impressive creatures.

Thanks for showing me your stick insects

and telling me all about them. I've had a great time.

Thank you, Rory, for visiting.

You're welcome.

My Pet And Me!

-Hi, Ferne, Bagel.

-Hi, Rory. You look like you've had a great day.

-It was awesome, I'd so much fun with my new friends.

-Fantastic.

-I've been giving Bagel a bit of a brush.

-Yeah, she's looking great.

-Thanks.

-Pets are brilliant, but remember not to touch an animal

unless the owner says it is OK.

But you can definitely play with ours.

Go on the CBeebies website and play the My Pet And Me game.

Thanks for joining us. We hope you've had fun, too.

# Today we met

# A lovely pet

# We see how much you care for them

# Thank you so much for sharing them

#Time for us to

# Just remind you

# After you've played with your pet

# Wash your hands

# Don't forget!

# It doesn't matter what pets you've got

# You might have one You might not

# It's still fun finding out

# What having a pet is all about

# My pet My pet and me

# My pet My pet and me

# My pet My pet and me

# Come back and see

# My pet and me. #

-ALL:

-Bye!