# New to mantids



## Samd123 (Oct 1, 2017)

Hi everyone new member and new to mantids from Ireland,

just received my first mantis on Friday an African mantis nymph l3 I believe and since I received her she has already molted was surprised to say the least. 

since I got her I have been so engrossed by her behaviour and intelligence I do own other inverts and a bearded dragon but this is something else for sure. 

Any advise greatly appreciated from the smallest tip to the biggest anything.

I want to hopefully own more mantids in the near future any recommended species? 

Thanks Sam.


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## Connor (Oct 1, 2017)

Hello Sam! Welcome to the forum. Great choice on your first mantis. She's looking beautiful! I too got into mantis by their peculiar behavior. Fire off any questions I'll try to answer them to the best of my abilities. Another good starter mantis is a ghost.  

Welcome to the hobby, 

Connor


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## Samd123 (Oct 1, 2017)

Hi Connor thanks for the reply 

Shes still quite small is it ok to move her in to one of them insect tarrium it's 30cm high by 20cm wide or could she be overwhelmed in there I have her in a 12x10 at the moment 

I was actually looking at the ghost mantis they are mad looking 

am I wrong in saying that mantids in general don't require extreme requirements e.g. UVB,supplements and high heat I know humidity is a big thing species dependent of course


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## Connor (Oct 1, 2017)

You could keep her in that big of an enclosure but you would have to take her out to feed. She could easily stay in the enclosure you have her in right now.

yeah I have four ghosts and they are absolutely amazing looking, they have changed color each molt so far

mantis do not need UV light or supplements as far as I know. Different species have different heat and humidity requirements though.


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## Samd123 (Oct 1, 2017)

Really I didn't know that they changed colour each molt any pics?

Are dubias ok for mantids as I have a colony of my own, ofcourse I would only feed the baby's


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## Connor (Oct 1, 2017)

They slightly change colors. Mine went from gray to red and grey to black. They don't change significantly. My African went from brown to green in one molt.. that was amazing. Dubias are perfectly fine. I have a colony for feeding purposes.


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## Samd123 (Oct 1, 2017)

was that a later molt for the African?


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## Connor (Oct 1, 2017)

Yeah that was like L5-L6


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## Rick (Oct 2, 2017)

Welcome


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## Ocelotbren (Oct 2, 2017)

Welcome!  Your mantis looks great.


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## Samd123 (Oct 2, 2017)

Thanks everyone

"Her" first dubia

View attachment IMG_0430.MOV


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## Samd123 (Oct 2, 2017)

On average how often does a mantis molt?


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## Ocelotbren (Oct 2, 2017)

It's different for different species, and sometimes different for male vs female within a species.  I think 7-9 molts is most common.


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## Samd123 (Oct 2, 2017)

Any ideas roughly how long between molts for an African mantis e.g one,two weeks?


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## Ocelotbren (Oct 2, 2017)

For information specifically on the African mantis, take a look at the caresheet:



I don't know about African mantids specifically, but time between molts increases with each molt, starting at a week or so and ending at 1-2 months for the final molt, from my own limited experience and reading on here.  It varies between species.


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## Samd123 (Oct 2, 2017)

Ok thanks I'll have a read of it there now


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## Sarah K (Oct 2, 2017)

Welcome to the community!


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 3, 2017)

welcome


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## Samd123 (Oct 3, 2017)

Thanks for the welcome everyone


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## Connor (Oct 3, 2017)

My male giant African just molted to sub and is absolutely giants! Be ready for a big mantis. Now waiting for my female to molt.


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## Samd123 (Oct 3, 2017)

Will do thanks haha looking forward to it to be honest 

that was to first thing I noticed when mine molted was how much she grew literally doubled in size still very small though


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