Housing and molting height

[DrakeLineous]

I can't believe how big this girl is getting. Only a month ago she was an L3 and barely 1". Now she's an L5 and closer to 3". I thought it'd be at least another month until she shed again since the last one was only 2 weeks ago. Didn't even know she was gonna shed, guess it's a good thing I didn't mist or feed her today. Would this enclosure still suffice for her? The jar itself is about 3x her height but I don't know if the stick will give her enough room to shed properly again. I have a small kritter keeper that would definitely be tall enough but I'm not sure if it would be too wide though, especially since she doesn't really feed on her own yet.

 

[happy1892]

An insect such as a cricket or moth that makes a lot of movement should be enticing enough for the mantis to go after it in a critter keeper. First you get the mantis calm or settled in the critter keeper then drop the prey near the front of the mantis and see if she looks at the prey and go after the prey a little.

 

[Rick]

You could get rid of the stick and make sure the underside of the lid has some sort of material attached that allows a good grip. I usually get rid of any cage decorations once they reach a size it could interfere.

 

[DrakeLineous]

I put a moth in the other day but it just ended up dying on its own after a while and didn't get eaten, perfect size too.

 

[Crazy4mantis]

If she hasn't moved in a day I'd move her to the roof and remove all obstructions