how risky

[furrymanmarbles]

I know this is a fairly sensitive topic so I'll try to tread lightly.I was recently offered a rare species from another country.what is the deal with shipping and how likely am I to loose it if I decided to do it.I'm probably not gonna get involved due to the risk of loss but out of curiosity.

 

[mantiseater]

do they have pictures of that exact mantis they are selling you?

 

[furrymanmarbles]

I haven't asked for them I don't even know if its worth even getting involved in.if I can do it sure but I don't want to get everything taken and be out all my money. Have you dealt outside the country b4?

 

[mantiseater]

What are they offering and where are they from?

 

[furrymanmarbles]

One is Germany and the other is Greece.one is an ooth the other has a mantis.I'm not worried about the scam aspect I'm more worried about customs and that whole deal

 

[mantiseater]

One is Germany and the other is Greece.one is an ooth the other has a mantis.I'm not worried about the scam aspect I'm more worried about customs and that whole d

in the past at least for me it was shipped back to the seller.

 

[furrymanmarbles]

Not even gonna bother then. thanks for replying

 

[Paradoxica]

I've never had a package not make it to me, I have however had a box take +2 weeks to reach me and many of the critters didn't survive.

 

[furrymanmarbles]

From outside the country?iv got nothing but stories of siezed packages and return to senders through pm

 

[Bug Trader]

Well the sad truth is pretty much every mantid here was brought in this way, so the stories of endless seizures and DOA shipments are just a piece of the story, could be people not wanting the competition here, could be people bought from the wrong person, but every single nonnative species here in this hobby right now has came in this way whether in oothecae or live mantis.

The bigger question is the morals involved there have been some crackdowns and some people had seized packages even visits, letters some calls from Customs and F&W. The entire talk of it is bad for the hobby which is already regulated with laws that make it near impossible for us to even sustain a species here more than a few generations. I have to say it's not something I would venture into these days.

 

[aNisip]

Well the sad truth is pretty much every mantid here was brought in this way, so the stories of endless seizures and DOA shipments are just a piece of the story, could be people not wanting the competition here, could be people bought from the wrong person, but every single nonnative species here in this hobby right now has came in this way whether in oothecae or live mantis.

The bigger question is the morals involved there have been some crackdowns and some people had seized packages even visits, letters some calls from Customs and F&W. The entire talk of it is bad for the hobby which is already regulated with laws that make it near impossible for us to even sustain a species here more than a few generations. I have to say it's not something I would venture into these days.

+1

What really sickens me is on other sites when I see people offering mantids for sale and they have pictures of tons and tons of ooths of the same species and many other species. I mean what does removing ~1000 ooths of certain species do to an environment? Im not focusing on any one in particular, but like BT said thats how all non-native species got into the hobby...but some collectors are more responsible than others; so be careful.

 

[mantisman 230]

It also sickens me to see that a few collectors think its okay to collect some 50 wild Idolomantis oothecae, and then sell them for hugh prices, at least a few decent breeders are keeping certain species alive and happy, It seems Deroplatys lobata is doing quite well, and hatches of over 100 have been reported recently, I am hoping to get a first generation of Pnigomantis going myself.

 

[Bug Trader]

Most D. lobata are imported ooth hatched, Ive actually seen few people able to continuously breed them over the yrs. We have seen hatches well into the 200's out of them. It wouldn't be a stretch to say lobata ootheca are the most imported of any species here. Most seem to find it easier to buy an ooth for $20 and make $500 selling the nymphs themselves...

 

[mantisman 230]

Its a shame, ortodera from new Zealand are dying off in the wild from ooth collection.

 

[Mantis Man13]

Yeah, people should be more considerate.