# my first mantis house



## Flidais (Sep 27, 2016)

Made this for my nymphs, does it look okay, anything I need to do or change?  It's 2-sided out of a cricket cage.

The lids are hinged with yarn, velcro'd shut, easy to open.  I have little plug thingies I can pull out for quick feeding/misting.

I didn't want anything too fancy, because they'll grow out of it so quickly, but I wanted something I could reuse in a year or so when I start to raise new guys.

I definitely need some glue-practice, but hey, it's my first time working with something like this.


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## hibiscusmile (Sep 28, 2016)

Looks fine to me!


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## Flidais (Sep 28, 2016)

Cool, thanks!


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## CosbyArt (Sep 28, 2016)

Flidais said:


> Made this for my nymphs, does it look okay, anything I need to do or change?  ...


Hard to tell much from such tiny images.  Overall it appears pretty well done, but of course there are issues.

The feeding holes are the biggest I've ever seen, but as long as they don't cause issues with escaping feeders or mantids they will be fine. For house/bottle flies, moths, and other flying prey, a feeding hole just above the habitat substrate (or about 1" from the bottom) makes it much easier to put them into the habitat without them escaping. Besides that, as such feeders fly upwards, it also attracts the mantids attention even more.

The perches (dowel rods) appear to be sitting loose in the habitat. I would recommend you put a dab of hot glue on the top of them where they meet the container sides; otherwise, they can roll with a mantid on it possibly injuring it (or worse yet when a mantid chooses to molt from it/nearby and grabs it to only have the dowel rod slip and fall to the bottom).

For the lid area what is the gripping material attached to the top for hanging mantids? If it is just the craft mesh you really should put in a finer material for the nymphs to grip. As the craft mesh openings appear to be spaced out quite far, especially for a nymph - not to mention the smooth and usually oily plastic of such mesh will offer little ability for a mantid to grip. You can use standard fiberglass/plastic screen mesh or shelf/drawer liner material, both are the most recommended.

The last thing I see to point out is the see through divider. Many mantids will have issues being able to view another so close to them, seemingly in their habitat. That will lead to stress, eating problems, and such - which all will lead to health problems. If an adult is kept in there that can also lead to problems with them refusing to lay ooths too, as that is a very vulnerable activity for females and the stress of being watched or swatted at by another mantid may lead to the female becoming eggbound. The easy fix is to cover the divider in a opaque/solid color.

Those are the few things I do see.


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## Flidais (Sep 28, 2016)

Definately not for adults, just the nymphs.  I am working on a bigger terrarium for them as they grow up and have bigger deli cups for in between.

Fantastic info, thanks!!  The feeding holes are sized for the cricket-keeper feeder thing... This keeper has the feeder wholes in the lid, but the others has the wholes on the sides, so whew for that!

Sorry for the tiny images!

I will def. glue the dowels, don't want them hurt!

top: it's a plastic thing that came with a divider set I bought online and modified, I think it is probably slippery for then, maybe I can go in with a fine sandpaper and rough it up for them, would that work, do you think?

Divider: it is the plastic mesh covered on both sides by white mosquito netting... I don't think they can see each other, but maybe I should go in with some colored fabric?

2 questions:

1) I have this no-slip grip type glue i was thinking of trying for the next house, thinking I'd put that on the divider so I can slip it in and out without having to scrape the walls, but not sure if it's safe.  How can I tell what would be safe and what wouldn't?

2) I need to get holes into the sides of the bigger terrariums and am scared of breaking the terrarium, any advice?  I read I can use heated nails or other metals, but am still nervous.  The bigger terrariums are some type of thicker plastic.


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## CosbyArt (Sep 28, 2016)

Flidais said:


> Definately not for adults, just the nymphs.  I am working on a bigger terrarium for them as they grow up and have bigger deli cups for in between.
> 
> Fantastic info, thanks!!  The feeding holes are sized for the cricket-keeper feeder thing... This keeper has the feeder wholes in the lid, but the others has the wholes on the sides, so whew for that!
> 
> ...


Alright sounds fine, and I don't blame you for reusing the feeder holes that were already there.  

For the dowel rods the only issue you will run into gluing them is where the rod meets your paper towel. To get around that I would suggest hold the dowel rod just slightly above the paper towel and put the hot glue on the top - if you are holding the rod above the paper towel (1/4" or less) and at the angle you want the rod will set that way (and allow you to get the paper towel out without issue).

Sure you can try sandpaper to give them better grip, I've heard others trying that as well but not sure of the results. Regarding the divider do what you think is best, some mantids will even smack at each others shadows if they can see it, let along seeing each other at all. Problem mantids though tend to be the Chinese (Tenodera sinensis) being overly aggressive, and other species will ignore each other entirely, just depends.

Responses to your questions - 1.) If the glue gets hard and sets it should be fine, but if it is a gooey type hardness (like the release command-strip brand things) then that will trap mantids like tape. Toxicity should not be a issue once the glue fully hardens (24-48 hours), and the mantid won't be tempted to eat it as it isn't moving prey so you should be fine - also most things become inert (chemically inactive) once cured/dry as well.

2.) Indeed the plastic used in such containers is brittle and will shatter/crack if you try cutting or drilling (typically too) the plastic. Usually it cracks up on the last hole or cut and ruins the container, at least for me more often than not. The only option I know that works flawless is the hot nail trick. Just don't breathe in any fumes, use locking pliers (vice-grips) to hold the hot nail, and a candle or blow torch to heat the nail as a lighter will get dangerously hot (and matches won't last long enough).


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## Flidais (Sep 28, 2016)

That all makes sense!  Thanks!  I'll let you know on the sandpaper technique.


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