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She's all good now. Much, much thinner and absolutely ravenous. She chomped her way through two waxworms and a cricket in no seconds flat. Out of curiousity, I cut open the ooth to see what they are like and I have to say, the design is quite breathtakingly complex. How they do that with two...

All good advice there, thank you.. She's in a Exo Terra Nano and stays on the lid mostly. That about as 'grippable' as anything. Luckily, she's not hurt herself yet, there's a good layer of vermiculate on the floor, so that probably helped. I shall endeavour to tempt her with a waxworm and...

Everyday's a schoolday! I've never heard that before and I thought I'd done some serious reading up. I thought she was acting weirdly over the last few days. She kept falling off the roof and being very agitated. I think now that her gigantic abdomen was the cause. Hopefully she'll have a bit...

Hi all I woke up this morning to find my unmated female Sphrodromantis Linolea had started laying an ooth. Is this normal?

All of my lot can tackle a crane fly with no problem at all. In fact, when I jokingly suggested we put Maude in with my GF's gecko, she said 'no way, Maude will eat him..' :D

Great joy here in Blighty. It's the start of the crane fly season (or as they are known here - 'Daddy-Long Legs). These guys are easy to catch, plentiful and the mantids love them. Providing my clan with food will be sooooo easy for the next couple of weeks... :D Until of course, someone...

To be honest, Brexit will be like a hand withdrawn from water. A few ripples and then it will be just like it was. My other half loves the mantids and handles them with no issues but she absolutely hates it when they fly :o . Not surprising as they seem to have no flight plan in mind...

OK people, so I'm really new here but here is my view on what I have: Pseudempusa pinnapavonis (peacock mantis) 'Manny' - Male My first mantis and still one of my most difficult. He's what we'd call in the UK, a numpty. He's afraid of everything. Won't eat for days on end and is a continual...

The art of flying, according to the Hitchiker's Guide, is to throw yourself at the ground and miss... :P

Why do females have wings then? Eh? Eh?  :D Anyway, just got in from work and it's official sports fans...he's a male. So, he's French and my brother's name is Michael so I've named him Michel.

She is indeed a religiosa. We don't have wild mantids either, more's the pity. I've found out rather quickly that this one *loves* to fly. She's all over the place!

Some of you may have read on another thread that my brother was spending the summer at his house in France. I'd asked him to bring back a mantis if he saw one. I never for a moment expected hime to come up with the goods but he has! This little lady has come all the way to the UK from near Bordeaux.

I always feel a bit envious when members post that they've found a wild mantis. We don't have them in the UK unfortunately. My brother has a house in France and he gets them in his garden. He's over there now for the summer break and before he went I gave him an enclosure and strict instructions...

Here's The Man telling us to keep away...he's like :angry:

Seeing them through a molt is the most nerve racking experience I reckon. Glad it was successful!

When I got her she was bright lime green and then went to a weird rusty red colour, then to light brown, then to dusky green and now she's back to brown again. I like to think she's got a hidden wardrobe... :D

To Lazarus - she's an African Lined Mantis (Sphodromantis lineola) And to all of you, thanks! I'm new to all this so it's good I've (so far) not had any issues. She's our favourite at the moment, as she's really laid back and handling's not a problem. Brutal with prey though :o

Woke up this morning to find she'd successfully molted on the roof of her enclosure. Clever girl...

My orchid takes down greenbottle flies of her own size without an issue. She may not eat it all but she certainly isn't afraid of tackling them. I certainly agree that a clear container is best. All my mantids keep a close eye on the goings on (I'm sure I read somewhere they can see up to 50 feet).

Vermiculite. I made the initial mistake of wetting it before I put it in and I had mould growing within a couple of days. Now I just give it a quick mist now and again to keep the humidity up and it's fine for about three weeks before it needs changing.