# anyone have an example of a homemade enclosure for large mantids?



## lovemymantisfriends (Jun 27, 2018)

I am looking for pictures/ideas for giant species.  

I have chinese (L2) so in 2oz cups for now.  Will move them up to deli cups....and then?

I have 1 giant rainforest and 1 giant aftrican on the way.  I know the will need much larger enclosures.  

What have you made?  (yes, i did read and reread the dedicated housing construction post).  I just want to see how you all have gotten creative.  I am using deli cups from the grocery store, sauce cups from a local restaurant,  2 boxes from the dollar store.  I do also have mason jars (understand those are hard to grip).  I am currently using paper towel in the small sauce cups.  I have cocounut substrate, a thick Popsicle stick, and an artificial flower in the deli cups.  

any input is welcome!  thanks!


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## ausar318 (Jun 27, 2018)

Hey @lovemymantisfriends 

Ive raised a few generations of Chinese mantises, and can tell you that they are a very fun and easy species to keep. The other ones are pretty cool too ?. 

Heres a couple pics of my enclosures. The big one is a 55 gallon aquarium that I divided down the middle (making each side about 12x20x24. Added some past substrate to the botttom, plants, etc. I prefer live plants, but a mix of real and fake works pretty well. The big flowers are quite obviously the fake ones. The big green leaves are actually jack-in-the-pulpits that I transplanted from my woods. That are growing pretty good, and they need extra water, so they keep the humidity pretty high, right where it needs to be. Here’s a pic or this one:

 



this next next one is one that I just finished a few days ago. I found this nice huge piece of old, rotted (but dry) piece of wood, and I thought it would look cool in an aquarium of its own. So I went out and bought a ten gallon aquarium, and fixed it up more of a desert environment. It’s still nice and humid/warm in there for the little gal (you can see her on the back ?) the flowers are fake on this one, but I think they are a nice touch. For the kids on both of them, I built them with screen and wooden trim. It’s much cheaper than buying them, especially if you’re cheap like me ?. Here’s a pic of this one:




At the end of the day, if you are on the fence about whether or not you should build a nice enclosure for them, I would definitely do it. Making the cage is half the fun, I thought! 

If you have any questions, feel free to @ me or send me a pm.

good luck!

Ausar


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## Synapze (Jun 27, 2018)

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## lovemymantisfriends (Jun 27, 2018)

I absolutely LOVE your set ups!  Guess I need to start searching for a used fish tank...LOL

Thanks for the idea! @ausar318


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## lovemymantisfriends (Jun 27, 2018)

Synapze said:


> . Buy a 2 gallon clear container from the grocery, they're usually filled with snacks. Take a few minutes to inspect the container to get one without scratches. Mine are crystal clear and large enough for any giants you may have.


I have actually already started collecting the snack containers from neighbors!  I have 2 with the purple lids like yours!

Where do you keep your containers?  Currently, all of my mantises are in the living room.  My husband is not thrilled...LOL


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## Synapze (Jun 27, 2018)

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## ausar318 (Jun 27, 2018)

@lovemymantisfriends

you can get ten gallon aquariums at Walmart or Meijer’s (if in Midwest) for pretty cheap, around $15-$20. I got mine for 10 due to a clearance event (which are more frequent than you might think)

As @Synapze said, those cheap containers are awesome too. I have dozens from dog bone containers for my American bulldog (who really knows how to put away the bones). These containers come from Rural King. If you have a bigger dog, this is definitely convenient  

 


Something else you might consider is doll cases. I got a bunch from a yard sale for 50 cents a piece, and they work just as well as cups, but look a little nicer for display purposes. Plus, they stack really nicely. (For larger mantises, a basketball cube works nicely)


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## Synapze (Jun 27, 2018)

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## ausar318 (Jun 27, 2018)

@Synapze

Thanks, I’ve put dozens of hours into cleaning, building, and preparing them. In the next week or so, I’m ordering 3 Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii. I’m pretty excited for my first exotic species, especially since it’s one of my favorites.


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## Synapze (Jun 27, 2018)

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## ausar318 (Jun 27, 2018)

@Synapze

Believe me, I am going to take hundreds of pictures. (HUNDREDS ?) I’m sure I’ll post a couple


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## Mantis Lady (Jun 28, 2018)

Thinking what to use for when my mantids outgrow their cups too..

I have 2 of these boxes. 1 is aready transformed to a mantis home. The other I still need to do.






I prefer a few more boxes like this but higher. I will buy another exo terro later for the bigger mantids like Cochise. They need more space to move their butts.  I love the exo terras because of their doors. Mantids don't alsways want to go inside and climb very fast over your arm out of the enclosure again.? and a door is more handy.


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## Predatorhousepet (Jun 28, 2018)

I have a 2.5 gallon aquarium with a hill sculpted from insulation foam for my Eremiaphilia nymphs. (They are ground dwelling desert mantises and need a sand or gravel substrate, they can't climb glass or plastic.)





I have too many mantises to put them all in Exo Terra terrariums (currently at 9) so I bought some plastic containers with screw on lids from Walmart (small ones were $2 the larger one $3), cut the center out of the lid with a dremel tool then hot glued fiberglass windowscreen to the underside. 





Right now a lot of my mantids are nymphs so they live in 32oz deli cups but when they get larger I will be looking for various options to house them. For my violins I'll build something with wood and fiberglass windowscreen and the rest I may try to find large acrylic containers I can drill holes in. Amazon has a variety of clear acrylic food, clothes, and shoe storage containers with lids that might work.


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## Mantis Lady (Jun 29, 2018)

@Predatorhousepetyours look cool, Maybe i should look for jars like that an they need to go up in hight.. we dont have a wallmart in the netherlands.


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## Prayingmantisqueen (Aug 20, 2018)

Here is a picture of one of my mantis homes.

Bottom up:

Potting soil then live moss from the creek.

Then I have thornless blackberry canes that have dried, and sticks.

  I mist the container when the moss starts to look a bit dry.    I also have isopods in the dirt and moss to clean up droppings and any mold, which is working great!  

Then in goes the mantis along with a meal if needed.

I have been using the Lee's Kritter Keepers small\medium size which has been fine for my Chinese mantid adults..


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## Mantis Lady (Aug 20, 2018)

Here a picture of the plastic box of Hunter with lid off. I have 5 of those boxes ready when mantids outgrow their cups.


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## ohaple (Oct 8, 2018)

We just finished building 6 acrylic enclosures. Two were rather small for the nymphs. Two were 10.5" high for adolescents and smaller adult mantids. Two are 15" tall for the larger adult species. They look like this to start:






We have made them with varying decorative parts. One wood, one black, and some with yellow, green, and blue translucent backs.

Here is one that we have built out with live plants.






They aren't that much different than commercial offerings, but we like to build our own. The tops are entirely made of screen, and they have additional ventilation on the sides. We customize them as needed to accommodate temperature probes, feeding, and substrate.


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## Synapze (Oct 8, 2018)

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## Mantis Lady (Oct 8, 2018)

Wow, that are nice homes for mantids.?


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 8, 2018)

They are beautiful! I need to figure out a way for me to make something like that, but maybe a cheaper option using recycled materials?

- MantisGirl13


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## ohaple (Oct 9, 2018)

MantisGirl13 said:


> They are beautiful! I need to figure out a way for me to make something like that, but maybe a cheaper option using recycled materials?
> 
> - MantisGirl13


Something like this might be a good option. You can replace a side with mesh for ventilation, and you would have mostly the same thing. Acrylic is strange because it is cheap in bulk, but very expensive in hobbyist quantities. Some local plastics manufacturers will sell scrap acrylic for pretty cheap. Their scrap is often large enough to complete projects like this. You then glue the edges with acrylic weld or superglue and you are in business. Another place to look is thrift stores. I often see small aquariums and display cases that would work as a cool enclosure.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/US-12-Big-Acrylic-Plastic-Display-Box-Perspex-Showcase-Self-Assembly-Dustproof/172201312980?hash=item2817ff82d4:rk:1f:0


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## PowerHobo (Oct 9, 2018)

I don't have any pictures of it, and I haven't actually used them yet, but I've gathered a few of those big containers of bargain cheese balls you can get at the grocery store. They're super cheap, and if you've got kids the container will be empty in no time (whether you like it or not). I poked a bunch of holes in the lid (it's super dry where I live, so small holes is better for me than cutting the entire middle out) and a few in the side, and hot glued some fiberglass window screen into the lid, as well as a strip up the side as a ladder. Then, coconut fiber in the bottom with a fake plant as furniture.


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 9, 2018)

@ohaple Thanks! I don't have a ton of spare time, but maybe I will try something like that someday!

- MantisGirl13


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## Nicole (Oct 10, 2018)

Not a great picture, but here is what I use for my female orchids


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 11, 2018)

Beautiful setup!

- MantisGirl13


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## Mantis Lady (Oct 11, 2018)

That one looks nice too


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