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scXthursday

scXthursday

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Just stopping by to say hi. I'm new here; just started fostering a praying mantis when he decided to have a swim in my pool (I saved him.) I came to this forum for general knowledge on how to become a better parent to Zorak; also, so I can stop reading all those other articals on rearing a mantis on wikianswers. Ive included a picture of him below, considering that I do still not know what species he is (although I am leaning toward European). Just a side note; I'm from Las Vegas, NV; we do not get alot of Mantis' out here, the only way we get them is if someone decieded to get a egg case. Lucky for Zorak; I saved his life. He currently resides in my house and is very friendly and extremely curious; he also likes my German Shepard Dog; as well as feeding on crickets daily.

I do have a couple of questions though.

1. His enclosure is 6X6X6, is this big enough for a mantis his size?

2. Judging from his picture (nevermind my fingernail...bad day moving stuff) I am going to assume he is a adult; please correct me if I'm wrong.

3. Should I attempt to feed him different diets i.e. I feed him crickets daily, but it is going to be winter soon; so I would like to start feeding him mealworms; either that or I can buy baby crickets from petsmart.

4. Is a light misting daily with a squirt bottle enough water for him?

5. What is the average lifespan for this species?

6. How do I get him to stop flying so much when were outside?

Thanks for any answers!!!

 
Hello and welcome to you and ZoraK! yes he appears to be religiosa, a sweet little guy, he will always fly, but they only go a short distance. What u r doing with him is fine, glad to know he likes the dog, does he go for a ride? Misting him is fine and so is the feeding, u r doing great! Lucky litte guy, they do swim, but don't think the clorine would of been kind to him, how did u see him there? He can have a mealworm a couple times a week, but give him crickets too.

 
I've put Zorak on my dogs paw; and she sniffed him; then he preceeded to stand up to her, which was pretty funny. But Joey has become accustomed to him; so I guess the tension has died down. I found him swimming (I though he was drowning) in the middle of the pool; so I swam out there; put him on top of my head and swim back to the side of the pool. I agree with you there about chlorine though. So you say he likes swimming eh? Might try to put him in the tub with a 1/2 inch of water and see how he takes to that. Yes, he loves flying; but only really short distances. Speaking of diets; I was thinking about catching this black widow in my yard and seeing how he would fare against that; but then I thought it over and realized that it would probably not be in his best intrests (after all, it is a widow!!) Honestly; he's been great so far, got acclimated to me in a couple hours and now completely hates his habitat (he'll turn around when I go to put him back for the night; I have to use a peice of palm tree bark to coax him back in.) I'm currently thinking of getting a Giant Chinese Mantis / Orchid / Ghost when Zorak passes or when it comes time to release him (which I probably wont be able to do considering it is getting to be winter around here soon.)

 
Welcome to you and Zorak! That's what I named my first too ;) Sounds like you're doing great with him!

 
It a mental imperative to name the first praying mantis you adopt Zorak; that is of course because Zorak was awesome in space ghost!!

 
thanks for all your replys. if you guys have any hints or tips that can be useful for me as a first time mantis parent; let me know. Zorak is probably the coolest insect ive ever reared; last year i decided to try and rear a widow and nearly died. the thing about mantis' is that ive always have had a higher respect for them (almost got into a fight with a friend because he wanted to kill one....for fun.) when i was young, i used to be completely terrified of them; and then Zorak came along. Hes bit me twice by mistake; doesnt hurt at all; and usually after that, he goes to sit on my head and watch LOST with me. Pretty cool companion.

 
Since your mantis is a male, it will be surprising if he makes it another month. Adult males of this species, and most, don't live more than a few months. I'd guess your mantis wouldn't much like a bath. The cage is fine and foods don't matter much at this, late point. Mealworms are never recommended due to their mandibles. How about moths at your porch light? Can't imagine a better, more convenient food than that for feeding a single mantis!

I loved Space Ghost, growing up, but not quite as much as that other short they used to show alongside--the one with the rock-shooting pseudo-triceratops. Any idea what that one was called? It was a good Saturday when they played the occasional ten minute shorts of these, and Grape Ape. This was back when Saturday was Cartoon Day. It was Saturday morning and that's all we got. No cartoon "networks" to compete with watching the bugs crawl around in the backyard!

No I gotta go figure out who Zorak was...

 
Zarak was a praying mantis that was space ghosts arch enemy introduced in 1961; then in 2000 space ghost chained him up along with brak and forced then to play in a band.

Yeah, he night not live much longer, but he's been great so far as a pet. When he goes; would a ghost or a orchid be a good replacement (as a baby)?

It's really hard to find moths here unless I decieded to scale a light post; he has cleared out most of the crickets in my back yard though

 
That is NOT religiosa. It is a male Iris oratoria. The most common mantis here in Las Vegas. We do have religiosa but they're populations are not nearly as high as Iris oratoria or even L. minor. Welcome to the forum.

Oh, and trust me, we have a lot of mantids here in Nevada, you just gotta know where to look and have the eye. Go to some undeveloped land where there's a lot of weeds and just walk on some, you should seem some mantids. Or just take a walk near undeveloped land you might see some on walls and egg cases on the walls.

 
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Welcome to the forum and good luck looking for more mantids in the wild, it's easier to find them than you'd think. Once you know where to look, you'll find them all the time. You can always buy some on the net if you can't find any in the wild. Take care and enjoy the forum!

 
I thought that looked like the smallest male M. religiosa I'd ever seen!

Either ghosts or orchids would be good replacements. Ghosts are pretty docile, but very unique in shape. Sometimes they don't care for crickets. Orchids tend to be much more aggressive. Both species are easy to keep if you have foods they will eat and if you don't intend to breed them. If you get them young, you might be disappointed if your orchid turns out to be a teeny male (smaller than your Iris oratoria, there), while both sexes of ghosts are quite impressive.

 

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