# mantid heating.



## desana (Aug 16, 2008)

Hi, i live in the uk so its not warm all year round. Ive heard that if you keep mantids warm they can grow quicker i dont know if this is true. This is what i hope you can help me with. I was considering placing a heat mat at the back of my nymph tubs via a thermostat. but they come in that many different watts, 7,14,22,30,38, &amp; 42. I was wondering if anyone with experience of heating mantids this way could recommend which wattage to go for i know if its connected to a thermostat it will only keep it at the setting of the stat anyway. But i was wondering if you get a higher wattage will it prolong the life of the heatmat. If you get a lower wattage will it struggle to keep the temp up. Oh i dont know just wanted some one elses view on this its thrashing my nut cluster. And what is the best temp for general mantid heating ie.what temp not to go above....Cheers!...............

Pic is just to give you the general idea........


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## Thorska (Aug 16, 2008)

desana said:


> Hi, i live in the uk so its not warm all year round. Ive heard that if you keep mantids warm they can grow quicker i dont know if this is true. This is what i hope you can help me with. I was considering placing a heat mat at the back of my nymph tubs via a thermostat. but they come in that many different watts, 7,14,22,30,38, &amp; 42. I was wondering if anyone with experience of heating mantids this way could recommend which wattage to go for i know if its connected to a thermostat it will only keep it at the setting of the stat anyway. But i was wondering if you get a higher wattage will it prolong the life of the heatmat. If you get a lower wattage will it struggle to keep the temp up. Oh i dont know just wanted some one elses view on this its thrashing my nut cluster. And what is the best temp for general mantid heating ie.what temp not to go above....Cheers!...............


most mantids do fine at room temperature, just keep them in a warm part of your house, luckily for me in my house thats my bedroom  

a few mantids do need extra heat though, such as Gongylus Gongylodes, Orchid Mantids, Blepharopsis Mendica and Idolomantis Diabolica, as well as any Deroplatys sp. if your keeping any of these a heat mat will do fine, placed under or at the back of the mantids enclosure does fine, except for Gongylus Gongylodes however who like it really hot, 35-40oC which really needs a heat bulb

tell us what mantids you've got and it'll be easier to help


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## desana (Aug 17, 2008)

awaiting ooths hatching - gambian spotted eye, new zealand, ghost, &amp; Pnigomantis Medioconstricta,(is there an english name for this species thanks for your reply.


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## mrblue (Aug 17, 2008)

> Ive heard that if you keep mantids warm they can grow quicker i dont know if this is true


if sufficient food is provided along with the higher temp then yes they will grow quicker.

at the moment i use a a couple of heatmats. one under my g.gongylodes and one under my idolmantis, both are on 24/7 and just to keep the base temp and night temp up a bit higher than room temps. i would not rely on them solely to get the day temps up though. for that i use lamps. however, my heatmats are only 15 watt and the other is 20 (i think, not much higher than the first one at least) so maybe with the higher wattage mats you could raise the temp sufficiently.

as for what temp not go above, well the highest i have kept most of my species (ie not the ones that need higher temps) is around 30C. i have not tried to keep them much higher than this though. also i think h.coronatus doesnt do well this hot. but i have kept other species (p.paradoxa, pseudocreobotra, acromantis) at this temp with no problem. like i said, maybe they can go even higher but i wouldnt know. for the species that need higher heat like gongylus and idolmantis, a heatmat on its own will struggle to get the temps high enough. ive never had higher wattage heatmats so dont know if they prolong the life of the heatmat. i have also never used thermostats so cant help you with those questions, sorry.

so unless youre keeping one of those higher temp species (idolomantis, gongylus etc. i dont think hymenopus counts. in fact i may be wrong but i would say higher temps would be pretty bad for them) then i reckon a heatmat will do just fine for keeping the temps a bit higher than room temperature. if youre heating just pots of nymphs, placing them ontop of the heatmat is just fine. i know i dont have experience with the really high wattage heatmats (so for all i know they may get to dangerously high pot-melting temps) but i dont think a thermostat is really necessary either. but i guess if youve got, theres no harm in using it!

ps - all the species you mentioned will do fine at room temps. they will probably do fine with just a heamat too.


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## randyardvark (Aug 17, 2008)

heat matts work fine, but because temperatures are more stable in larger spaces, i usually put all my little cups in one container (ie a tank/cuboard) and heat that, this also gives you some form of heat gradient so you can put males and females in different places thus making the mature at similar times, for smaller areas heat mats are fine, but for larger areas id suggest a bog standard light bulb iand a desk lamp (taking care not to roast your bugs) as these do give off a lot of heat, generally mine do fine at room temp (i live in the uk also) and usually heat in winter, heat can also be used (as already mentioned) to control rates of metabolismm so if you have a shortage on food stuffs you can turn down the heat so less has to be fed untill live food is available (this also works if you go on holiday) although will slow down growth rates teporarilly


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## muleyyy (Aug 18, 2008)

randyardvark said:


> heat matts work fine, but because temperatures are more stable in larger spaces, i usually put all my little cups in one container (ie a tank/cuboard) and heat that, this also gives you some form of heat gradient so you can put males and females in different places thus making the mature at similar times


that is a FANTSTIC idea, i would have never thought of doing that!

doesnt it create an unfavourably hot area right under the heat mat though? i mean doesn't it quickly dry out?


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## hibiscusmile (Aug 20, 2008)

That picture kind of looks like the heat tape I am using, is it just caled a "heat Mat"? Mine are doing fine with the heat tape.


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## tnienhaus (Aug 28, 2008)

the heat is a necessity for nymphs though right? Or am I wrong...?


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## The_Asa (Aug 28, 2008)

Mantid Friendly Squire said:


> the heat is a necessity for nymphs though right? Or am I wrong...?


Only for some of the more difficult species. Or if one lives in a very cold area.


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## Eugen (Aug 31, 2008)

I have a small terrarium for my mantis which is 12"x8"x10" (30cm x 20cm x25cm) and I'm really very concerned with heating it during the winter that's coming. My home can get quite cool during winter and I wouldn't want my mantis to suffer from the cold. I need something that would raise the temperature to a comfortable level.

I searched the local pet shops and all I could find were these:

Exo Terra Rainforest heat pad - 8"x8" (20cm x 20cm) - 4w

Exo Terra Desert heat pad - 8"x8" (20cm x 20cm) - 8w

JBL TerraTemp heat mat - 10"x8" (25cm x 20cm) - 8w.

The first 2 are sticky and non removable while the third one is like a heat mat for human use. None of them has enough power to produce damage by heating but I wonder which of them is the best, which I should get. Do you guys have any experience with these products? Which do you recommend?

Thanks


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