# Is this housing big enough? Too big?



## maneki (Jul 19, 2010)

I'm so confused. I see so many threads where your mantids are housed in cups, but that seems so small to me. When I had a mantis before I kept her in a 10 gallon aquarium and she was quite happy. I don't have a 10 gallon aquarium this time, but I do have a 3 gallon. It's cylindrical, tall. Instead of a cover (which I can't find anyway) I'm using the top from a pair of my daughter's tights. I can breathe through them so I know air goes in. But I'm worried about circulation. As soon as I can I want to get some wire or something for the top. It's a hard shape to fit though. Anyway... the bottom is covered with dirt, and I planted some of the plants I found the mantis on in it. Added a few sticks as well.

I've seen him eat a few times so I know he can catch his prey, and I mist the sides. I've tried getting some pictures but all I have working right now is my cell phone camera. Anyway... based on the blurry pics of Methusala, and my description of his housing, what do you think? In the past 6 days he's grown quite a bit. One of his back legs appears deformed. The *knee* is much closer to the body and it's much much shorter than the others. But it doesn't seem to bother him. What type do you think he is? I never knew there were so many different kinds!

Same day I caught him:












Today (6 days later):


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## LauraMG (Jul 19, 2010)

How large is he? It's hard to get an idea with the pics because there's not much to compare it to. I would say it's big enough so long as your mantis isn't 5 inches long!



I'm not gonna try to name what species because I'm far less qualified than other people on here to do that! I wouldn't worry about circulation much either, so long as you have that open top you shouldn't need anything else.


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## maneki (Jul 19, 2010)

He's hard to get pictures of. With my cell phone the pics are blurry enough anyway, and then if he moves they're more so. So I haven't been able to stage any pics with references for size. I think he's almost 3" long. He's grown about 1/2" in the past 6 days already.


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## LauraMG (Jul 19, 2010)

That means he molted somewhere along the way and you probably didn't notice. They don't just grown like people because of their exoskeleton, they have to molt as they go. It's probably almost full grown. Any sign of wings yet? Watch out for their molts. Their behavior usually varies a bit (like not eating or getting restless) and their color will be fairly light for a day or two afterwards.


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## maneki (Jul 19, 2010)

He was acting a little *odd* yesterday, but I don't see any signs of the molt. What happens to it? My other mantis was full grown when I found her, so this is new to me. His color has stayed the same the whole time though.

I think I see wings, but he's never had them out, so I'm not sure. At the end of his body there are two little ||, which I was thinking were the tips of his wings.


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## LauraMG (Jul 19, 2010)

Well, if you've got a lot in the enclosure you may not see the "remains" but if he molted it will be there! Somewhere.....They hang on something to do it. The day that you noticed the deformation of the leg is most likely when it happened. I have one that's deformed from falling during a molt


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## maneki (Jul 19, 2010)

I'll have to keep looking for it. I'm very curious what it looks like. There's a good amount in the tank, but not so much that I can't see through it clearly. His leg was deformed from the time I found him. It still is now, though it's noticeably bigger than it was, just still not as much as the other legs.

Thanks for all the help!


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## LauraMG (Jul 19, 2010)

No problem! This is what my Chinese's last molt looked like


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## lancaster1313 (Jul 19, 2010)

If the mantid looks noticeably bigger than when you found it, then it molted.


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## ismart (Jul 19, 2010)

You have a very pretty european mantis _Mantis religiosa_ she is a sub-adult. She has molted once in your care already. The leg will regenerate more in the last and finale molt. It still may not be as long as the others. The 3 gallon aquarium is fine. Make sure you mist the aquarium a few times a day. Keep the substrate moist at all times to keep up the humidity. She is large enough to have no problems finding her food in your set up.


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## maneki (Jul 19, 2010)

Thank you so much! I've looked and looked but I just can't find the molt. Would the mantis have eaten it? Would the crickets? In the next few days I want to do some *upgrading* to the plants I have in the tank so I can do a better looking then.

He/she really is very pretty. I've never personally seen a mantis this color before. Only green. I think it's a he, but I noticed ismart kept saying she. Is it a she?


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## Rick (Jul 20, 2010)

Three gallons is more than enough. I house three giant asian mantids in a 2.5 gallon tank. A european mantis can live its entire life in a 32 oz cup.


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## ismart (Jul 20, 2010)

maneki said:


> He/she really is very pretty. I've never personally seen a mantis this color before. Only green. I think it's a he, but I noticed ismart kept saying she. Is it a she?


I have also had in the past a few europeans that were almost pure white! This is a commom color with this species. I hope she stays that color in her last molt.  I'm confident it's a she. Good luck!


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## Ntsees (Jul 20, 2010)

maneki said:


> Thank you so much! I've looked and looked but I just can't find the molt. Would the mantis have eaten it? Would the crickets? In the next few days I want to do some *upgrading* to the plants I have in the tank so I can do a better looking then.
> 
> He/she really is very pretty. I've never personally seen a mantis this color before. Only green. I think it's a he, but I noticed ismart kept saying she. Is it a she?


First of all, yes, if you have crickets, the crickets probably ate the molt.

You'll have to put up a picture of it when it finally molts for us to really know if it's male or female. But by looking at the 3rd picture, I would also have to agree that it's a she (look at those big raptorial arms). Also, in the 1st picture where it's hanging, it could just be me, but it looks like it's struggling to hang on. Lot's of room is good, but it's useless if a mantid can't get a good grip (to hang upside down).


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## maneki (Jul 21, 2010)

Here are a couple better pictures of the housing.











There isn't normally quite that much soil at the bottom but I added an extra plant in today and got a little carried away. LOL


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## LauraMG (Jul 21, 2010)

That's a pretty nice setup. I got away from using soil because I noticed my Chinese couldn't stand getting it on her "feet". She would spend 30 minutes cleaning herself if she touched it!



One of those strange things! If you want to get away from the pantyhose, you can buy window screen from a hardware store and it's really easy for them to dangle upside down from. I've done that with a few of my enclosures and the mantids seem to be happier with it.


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## Rick (Jul 21, 2010)

maneki said:


> Here are a couple better pictures of the housing.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Really overdone unless you like that. My only concern is the height. A molting mantis needs at least three times its length vertically. It looks like the plants could interfere.


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## maneki (Jul 21, 2010)

I like the idea of window screen. That seems like a good type. I'll check that this weekend.  Thanks!

It's hard to see in the pictures but the plants are concentrated more on one side of the tank, and angle away from the other. So on one side there is a big area with no plants and a clear drop the bottom. Plus this weekend I plan on removing some of the soil. I just got carried away. I'll easily have another couple inches then.


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## Ntsees (Jul 21, 2010)

Nice set-up.


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