# Exo Terra Horror Stories ?



## Serle (Feb 3, 2018)

I'm setting up a 20 x 20 x 30cm exo terra for a friend and was wondering if any on the forum had any bad experiences with these enclosures .  I seem to remember threads about the aluminium screen on the top but couldn't find any horror stories ............ S


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## rantology (Feb 3, 2018)

Dont really have any "bad" experience with mine so far but one thing I found out for sure is that they do NOT hold fruitflies. I tried a multitude of countermeasures but still got a lot of escapees. Work around I found is to just wait till the mantis can eat houseflies to house it in them or take them out and put them in a deli cup with some fruitflies in it to feed 'em.  Supposedly ZooMed's version holds FFs but I haven't confirmed

..I've heard that the screen tops can rust after a while if the enclosure is extremely humid/wet but no first hand experience with them doing that.


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## proserpina (Feb 3, 2018)

If I recall correctly, the screen just needs to be replaced with window mesh. The  screens that come with it can cause damage to the tarsi.



Otherwise they seem like pretty good enclosures. I'll probably end up buying one myself sometime.


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## Teamonger (Feb 4, 2018)

Yup any exoterra I keep mantises in I just replace the metal mess with fiberglass. Its no harder then replacing any window screen. Other then that I have not had any problems with mine besides them being glass and unusable for some mantis species without some major modification to make the sides climbable.


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## Ocelotbren (Feb 6, 2018)

I also use Exo Terras and also replaced the mesh.  Last year I had D. hydei in the nano tall and did have a few escapees but not many.  I did temporarily plug the fairly large gaps at the bottom corners of the door though, as that seemed like the most obvious spot they could definitely get out.


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## Sageren (Feb 18, 2018)

The mesh will definitely damage their tarsi. I tried hot-gluing a mesh fabric over It, but it was a mess and never stuck and even with the fabric, they still ended up damaging their little feet. It also wouldn't hold fruit flies, they could fit through even with the added layer of mesh. I have switched all of my mantises to different enclosures to avoid more injuries, but I'm sure with better handiwork it'd be possible to fix all of the listed issues. I'd say skip it if you aren't looking to put in the work to bug-proof it though!


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## Serle (Feb 18, 2018)

I would think all  mantids could harm their feet , I hot glued fiberglass screen over the top screen . After removing the styro background I hot ge'd the screen all down the rear . It makes for xlnt viewing and goood climbing ... S


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## Predatorhousepet (Feb 19, 2018)

I have 6 exo terra enclosures of various sizes (one 8x8x8, two 8x8x12, two 12x12x12, and one 12x12x18.) On all of them I hot glued fine mesh tulle over the screen and secured with wooden dowels to keep it in place. So far it has worked really well, they don't get their feet caught at all. In the largest enclosure (see pic below) I also hot glued one side with the tulle directly onto the glass with the intention of making the wall easy to climb. However, my Hierodula doesn't seem to care for it and actually seems to prefer sitting on the bare glass on the other side. Because of this I skipped adding mesh to the walls of the other five and just did the screens. The three larger 12" wide enclosures required cross braces but that wasn't necessary with the 8" wide ones. I left in the styrofoam background, mainly to hide the temp &amp; humidity probe cables. I haven't had any problems with escaping flies because I wait until they are large enough to handle houseflies before moving them from deli cups.


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## Serle (Feb 20, 2018)

Quite the environment in your Exo. is it all artificial or do you have some live plants .? Where do you place the temp. probes ?


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## Predatorhousepet (Feb 20, 2018)

They are all live plants and live moss planted in a soil/spagnum moss mix over a layer of pebbles &amp; charcoal for drainage. There are springtails and isopods living in the moss to clean up the random pieces of discarded prey. The temp/humidity probes go behind the styrofoam background and up into the right corner about halfway up but you can't see them because I put a piece of bark in front to hide them.


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## Serle (Feb 20, 2018)

With live plants and moss that would surly keep the humidity high .  What species of mantid are in there ?


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## Predatorhousepet (Feb 20, 2018)

Hierodula membranacea. I have a small fan above the top screen circulating air out. It dries the air out rather quickly. I keep an eye on the humidity and try to keep it below 60%. I have a sphagnum moss layer mixed with hydrated gel crystals beneath the live moss and in the soil that keeps it hydrated so I don't have to mist or water as often. Lights are full spectrum LED, they don't produce much heat so as not to further increase humidity.


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## Mantis Life (May 4, 2018)

I've replaced like 6-7 tanks with fine mesh that i got from an arts and crafts store for like $5. It's simple, just pull the rubber seal out(sometimes you have to cut it out if its stuck) then just pull the mesh over the lid, slap the rubber seal back in place. Make sure to tug all the sites so its tight and cut off the extra mesh. It only takes like 5-10 mins. If your rubber seal is really giving you trouble then just ditch it and use hot glue sticks.


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## MantisGirl13 (May 4, 2018)

Neat! I just use inexpensive leftover containers

- MantisGirl13


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## Prayingmantisqueen (Aug 6, 2018)

I really like the Lee's Kritter Keepers. They work fine for most any sizes mantis depending on which size you buy (mini- X large).

I will hopefully be upgrading to the large size as my mantids grow.

What is your favorite substrate? Coconut fiber? Paper towel?

I really love your set up Predatorhousepet! Very cute.


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## Predatorhousepet (Aug 6, 2018)

Prayingmantisqueen said:


> What is your favorite substrate? Coconut fiber? Paper towel?
> 
> I really love your set up Predatorhousepet! Very cute.


Thanks! I have 9 Exo Terra terrariums of various sizes and the rest of my mantises are either in deli cups or converted food containers. The terrariums are planted but for deli cups I use sphagnum moss for the substrate. I started out using coconut substrate and liked it's softness &amp; ability to hold water but unfortunately it grows mold really quickly where I am (sometimes in as little as 12 hours, the mold spore count is always really high here.) I tried using paper towels for a while, they make cleanup easy but they dry out way too fast. I finally switched to sphagnum moss and it works a lot better. At first I tried ground up sphagnum moss like for mixing into potting soil but I didn't like the consistency, it was too fluffy and didn't soak up water very well so I got whole dried sphagnum moss and cut it into smaller pieces with scissors. Not sure why but it seems to hold water better and doesn't have that weird fluffy texture. And it doesn't grow mold like coconut fiber. Sphagnum moss comes in brown or green, I buy the green kind it looks really nice in deli cups. For the mantids that require lower humidity I use reptile carpet in their deli cups. Its meant to line reptile aquariums, I just bought a large sheet of it and cut out a bunch of circles that fit in the bottom of the deli cups. It's easy to clean, looks nicer than paper towels and will absorb a little bit of water if needed.


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## Prayingmantisqueen (Aug 6, 2018)

Sorry for the bad quality pictures.

I am trying potting soil now. I would like to do coconut substrate but havent got any yet.

I am raising my own crickets and will soon be raising my own meal worms too.

Any idea what type of mantids i've got? Wild caught and tamed in Indiana.

Ones in pink (Yulee) and purple (Liza) are female.

Yulee is suffering occasionally with droop butt and I am trying to keep her straight and fed as was suggested. 

One in green is male, Galaxy.


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## Predatorhousepet (Aug 7, 2018)

I don't know what they are, it's a bit hard to tell from the pictures. You might have better luck getting someone to ID them if you post a clear well lit picture in a new thread in the General Discussion forum. 

The main function of the substrate is to help maintain humidity levels for the mantis. Potting soil isn't a very good substrate unless you have something else on top of it like moss to soak up any extra water, you need to prevent mud from forming when you mist the enclosure. Drainage and mold may also be an issue if it's not changed frequently. However, some choose to have a bioactive substrate with isopods and springtails as well as plants. In this case potting soil may be used as part of the substrate but shouldn't be the only thing.


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## Prayingmantisqueen (Aug 7, 2018)

Ok. I will look into it.


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