# Mantis Shipping System



## Dwaink (Jul 16, 2008)

[SIZE=10pt]Hi,[/SIZE]

I have some mantis that i will be putting up for sale shortly and since i have never shipped mantis before, i would like to know the best and safest way to ship the mantis to the buyer to insure there safe and healthy arrival?.

Regards


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## mrblue (Jul 16, 2008)

i think the most important thing is that simple is better. assuming the mantids are nymphs, a plastic cup with mesh lid, or some tissue trapped under the lid is fine. twigs/perches/substrate etc are not necessary and will most likely cause harm to the mantis as they bounce around the container during transit. food is not really necessary if you feed them well prior to sending. this container should then be placed in the actual sending box, most suitably sized cardboard boxes will do fine so long as it is a bit bigger than the mantis container. pack the gap between the container and the box with something, i mostly use old newspaper. this is mainly for padding, but also some insulation. pack it so that the container cannot bounce around inside the box.

in this way, i have had mantids spend up to 4 or 5 days in transit and arrive alive and well, though this has been from country to country within europe. when i send mantids to other places in the uk they usually arrive the next day. i see you are in usa, i dont really know about your postal service but if packed well, the mantids can spend days in transit, so i dont think priority/next day shipping is really necessary. however i'm sure theres some usa guys here that know more about that and can advise you on usa specific postage issues.


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## OGIGA (Jul 16, 2008)

Most people ship mantises with next-day service, usually with USPS. It's like $20+ these days. Mantises and other insects don't require a lot of air. I'll just tell you how Yen ships things. He uses these condiment cups with lids and he lines it with a strip of paper towel. Dampen the paper towel, put the mantis in, and cover it with the lid. The lid should have a pin-hole or two. Don't put more than 1 in there because I tried and it doesn't work well. In the box, fill it with some kind of insulating thing. I don't know what that stuff that Yen uses is, but I suppose lots of things can work: packing peanuts, shredded paper... Yeah. Don't put food in there because it'll be too dark for the mantis to see anyway.


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## d0rk2dafullest (Sep 16, 2008)

i have recieved and gotten mantids to ways

USPS priority and Expresss

Priority is good, if tehy are well fed and their enclosure has everything(2 waiting days, receive on third business day)

xpress is fast 1 day to ship.(1 waiting day,receive next day after order.)

AND YES PRICE HAS TO DO WITH IT TOO

5 bux pretty much for priority

20 + for xpress


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## Rick (Sep 16, 2008)

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?sh...amp;hl=shipping


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