Opinions may vary but we do not promote inbreeding. Introducing fresh genes to captive populations is very important and there is a global community of hobbyists and breeders who buy and sell oothecae and nymphs between themselves to help keep captive breeding diverse and sustainable.  Whilst some oothecae and nymphs are brought from the wild, this should be kept to an absolute minimum as the priority should always be to preserve wild populations.

Consider not only the wellbeing of the individual creature, but it’s origins, the potential losses on the journey to get to you and the wider environmental impact to the species if wild populations are unnecessarily exploited.

We believe keeping these remarkable creatures is a privilege that should not be abused. As with keeping any creature, just because we can doesn’t mean we always should.