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bug lady

bug lady

Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2017
Messages
21
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Location
Orange County, CA
I'm Lisa from Southern California and I've been keeping mantids for several years as pets (just wild ones I find in my garden). I have never raised them from nymphs and wanted to try the exotics so I recently purchased a dead leaf mantis, L2. He/she has molted once, so now it's L3, correct? I think it is going to molt again very soon as the color is getting grayish. Anyway, I'm a little nervous because I hope it survives. I originally purchased 3 and the first 2 died after they molted. They didn't completely detach themselves from their skin. I may have had them in the wrong cage or perhaps it wasn't humid enough. It was one of those small insect lore pop-ups. I felt terrible about it.  Anyway, my surviving mantis is in a 16 oz clear plastic cup with some sticks and shelf grip liner along with a little sphagnum peat moss on the bottom . I removed most of the inner portion of a lid and use it to hold down a piece of netting over the top. I've been feeding fruit flies and misting every couple of days. So far, I've yet to see it eat but hopefully it is because it seems healthy. I just ordered 2 ghost nymphs and 2 Indian flower nymphs from Mantid Kingdom. I'm excited and nervous too. I  just love these little creatures and can watch them for hours. I'm so glad I found this forum. Here's a pic. :D

View attachment 9064

4/26 update:

Purchased more nymphs from Mantis Kingdom; 2 ghost (sooo tiny and energetic) and 2 Indian flower (jumped right on to my magnifying glass!). Here's my collection so far:

View attachment 9073

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi Lisa, welcome!  I am no expert, but perhaps the humidity was too low in the mesh enclosures for the first two?  That could have caused the mismolts.  It sounds like the new setup you have should be better for humidity though!

Edited to add: I forgot to say that your nymph is adorable. :)

 
Last edited by a moderator:
@bug lady Hello fellow SoCal mantis person! Welcome! Yes the mesh enclouseres caused the missmolts, no humidity with those. Dead leaf mantids are on the harder side to keep. You'll definitely have little problems with the ghosts and Indian flower mantids. Good luck!

 
Ocelotbren said:
Hi Lisa, welcome!  I am no expert, but perhaps the humidity was too low in the mesh enclosures for the first two?  That could have caused the mismolts.  It sounds like the new setup you have should be better for humidity though!

Edited to add: I forgot to say that your nymph is adorable. :)
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Thanks Ocelotbren, I think you are right!

 
@crabbypatty Yes, it was a hard lesson to learn. Can't wait to get my new babies. I noticed you are not too far from me and you have quite a collection! I'm sure I'll be asking for your advice soon. :wacko:

 
Welcome! I'm sorry to head about your mantises but all you can do is what you've already done and take measures to fix the humidity issue. Even so some times you can do everything right and yet they still manage to mismolt. Try not to be too hard on your self.

I am also getting ghosts hopefully soon and am super excited. Good luck with your soon to be new babies!

 

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