Hi Ste, that middle pic is a stick insect from Papua New Guinea, but it is only a baby, I will try get a pic of an adult later as they have talons on their back legs.
They do make lovely pets. I've currently got 10 - 6 girls and 4 boys, we recently lost Sushi (the rat on the right of the picture with the black and white face) and it was heartbreaking.
If you're do decide to get a couple of rats i'd recommend getting them from a breeder (they tend to be healthier and more cuddly lol).
we had a pair of those stick insects for about 5 yrs, got them as babies from the museum. The male (smallest) lived for about 4 yrs then we found him dead. The female lived on for another year at least before she too passed away. The female would often be seen laying eggs into the leaf litter but none ever seemed to hatch. We did try to incubate some eggs but to no joy.
Top pic is the female fully grown on an adults hand. In the lower picture the one on the right is the male, you can see where he had lost a leg and is growing a new one back.
Very unusuall pets to keep but they are quite fascinating. They were really active in the evening once we put the viv lights on