3d Print Ideas?

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I have fired up the ol' 3d printer and I'm looking for ideas for my mantises. I'm more leaning towards functional prints rather than, say, sculptures and such. Just curious if anyone has had any ideas of things that would make your enclosures better, mantises happier, feeders easier to manage, etc, but are otherwise hard to find or you have to make yourself. One example is I would like to create is some kind of fly dispenser that would fit atop deli cups to limit them escaping. I have some basic modeling experience, so if you have any ideas let me know! I might even make something for you!

FeistyMcGrudle said:

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I have fired up the ol' 3d printer and I'm looking for ideas for my mantises. I'm more leaning towards functional prints rather than, say, sculptures and such. Just curious if anyone has had any ideas of things that would make your enclosures better, mantises happier, feeders easier to manage, etc, but are otherwise hard to find or you have to make yourself. One example is I would like to create is some kind of fly dispenser that would fit atop deli cups to limit them escaping. I have some basic modeling experience, so if you have any ideas let me know! I might even make something for you!

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That's super cool. I've thought of perches for 32oz cups designed specifically for mantises to produce ooths on. Horizontals for ghosts etc (maybe it's just me, but they like to lay their ooths low). Various diameters and shapes for different species.

As for modeling, i've been designing machines for 23 years. I have Solidworks at home. I can help from time to time, if you need it.

I've thought of perches for 32oz cups designed specifically for mantises to produce ooths on. Horizontals for ghosts etc (maybe it's just me, but they like to lay their ooths low). Various diameters and shapes for different species.

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Thats a great idea! Could probably even make little recessed areas in the prints to hold magnets for easier moving/removing. 

Thats awesome you have experience in Solidworks--thats the same program I've been using too! But I'm not the greatest at it and am looking for inspiration to dive back into it. If you design something and can send me either the solidworks file, or convert it to an .stl I can print some off if you'd like!

Sounds cool! 

I designed and printed my own cages a year or so ago. While they are not the prettiest and could use some more tweaking I have used and washed and reused these a lot and I love them. The main downside is that the lid only sits on top and has no locking mechanism. The printed frame assembles easily with a glue gun but its a bit annoying to glue the mesh into on the smaller versions. I made 3 different sizes and wish I had printed more when I had access to a printer.

This is the middle sized one, I made larger ones as well.

Nice! Thats a great idea! This whole time I'm thinking of stuff to add to the enclosures and didn't even think about making the enclosures! I have some Idolos that this would work great for! You wouldn't happen to have the .stl for this would you?

@Teamonger Now you've got me thinking I need my own rig.

FeistyMcGrudle said:

Nice! Thats a great idea! This whole time I'm thinking of stuff to add to the enclosures and didn't even think about making the enclosures! I have some Idolos that this would work great for! You wouldn't happen to have the .stl for this would you?

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I do somewhere! I will find it tonight and put a link here. Its built so it prints as flat as possible and with as little plastic as I could manage and still get a sturdy result. We had a 3D printer at work which was only allowed to go during work hours due to fire hazard so I had to try to make my prints as simple and fast as I could.

I do all my designs in TinkerCad (https://www.tinkercad.com/) which is a free online 3D modeler more suited to people wanting to make parts rather then art. It has no sculpting capability but it is way easier to learn and use then 99% of 3D programs out there. If anyone wants to play with 3D modeling but not sink all the time and effort into learning a 'proper' tool I´d check this out.

I haven't tried tinkercad but I'll check it out! I'm currently working on my own design for a 'modular' enclosure that implements connecting posts so I can make them taller or shorter in 5 inch increments, but I just haven't had the time to dust off the printer yet...I'd love to see the model and print what you have though!

Sorry for the delay, I completely forgot to upload these.

The two bigger models are made with a slot in the front designed to fit a pane of glass from a frameless picture frame from the dollar store.roughly 7x5 inches.  Its also easy enough to cut a piece of Plexiglas or plastic to size.

View attachment TeaMongerMantisBoxLargeRectangle.stl

View attachment TeaMongerMantisBoxTallMedium.stl

View attachment TeaMongerMantisBoxTallSquare.stl

I should also mention that the largest one does not have a solid base. To save print time I cut out a piece of plastic and glued it in instead. You may want to update the model to have a solid bottom if you don't care about print time.

I should add that I would love to see what others come up with! There is a 3D printer at the FabLab here that I can get access to if someone comes up with a fantastic idea

Thank you for this!

I had a thought. How expensive would it be to make an enclosure the size of the tall Zoo Med Creatures tank. I would think that would take a decent amount of filament even though it is just a frame. I have been wanting to make enclosures that fit well next to each other on my shelves, so maybe this would be a relatively inexpensive way to do it.