# hello from kentucky



## melonysbaby (Mar 13, 2009)

hi all. i just wanted to introduce myself. i am a stay at mom of a 2yr old and a 1 yr old. both boys. i also breed chihuahuas and have 2 corn snakes, 2 hissing cockroaches, an A. Versicolor Turantula, and 2 cats. and i am looking to add to my strange family. lol. i am wanting to add a mantid to my family. so i am on here to learn and possibly get a mantis.


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## revmdn (Mar 13, 2009)

Well, welcome to the hobby, hopefully.


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## bassist (Mar 13, 2009)

Welcome to the forum.


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## Katnapper (Mar 13, 2009)

Hi there Melonysbaby, and welcome to the forum.  Glad to have you here.  I'm the mom of a 10 year old boy, and seriously got into the hobby of keeping and raising mantids last year. We also have 6 cats and a 75 gallon community fish aquarium. I guess I should add I'm also keeping various feeders... crickets, house flies, 2 types of fruit flies, and soon roaches, lol.  You've come to the best resource to learn about and start keeping mantids. Nice to meet you and I hope you find much enjoyment in your prospective new hobby!


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## Rick (Mar 13, 2009)

Welcome. Please be sure to use the search for your basic questions. I lived for four years in KY (Henderson)


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## mikemercer (Mar 13, 2009)

hello and welcome there are several breeders always on this forum hope you find what your looking for


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## melonysbaby (Mar 13, 2009)

thank you all so much. i am really wanting to get a mantis. but there are so many of them it is hard to choose. lol. also i would like to get a sub adult or something that can eat pin head crickets. as they are the only feeders available here. i have been thinking of keeping the native species here. but i cannot remember what it is called. lol. it is the larger one and not the chinese one. lol. i also want one that is going to be best for begginers and in the future i really want to get a ghost and an orchid. i love the way they look. so if anyone can help and has anything like this please let me know and also include pics and prices. please.

thanks-melony


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## Rick (Mar 13, 2009)

melonysbaby said:


> thank you all so much. i am really wanting to get a mantis. but there are so many of them it is hard to choose. lol. also i would like to get a sub adult or something that can eat pin head crickets. as they are the only feeders available here. i have been thinking of keeping the native species here. but i cannot remember what it is called. lol. it is the larger one and not the chinese one. lol. i also want one that is going to be best for begginers and in the future i really want to get a ghost and an orchid. i love the way they look. so if anyone can help and has anything like this please let me know and also include pics and prices. please.thanks-melony


Most subadults will probably be too big for pinhead crickets. You can order feeders online (much cheaper and better quality). You have two native species in KY, the chinese mantis and the carolina mantis. The chinese is the bigger of the two. I suggest you try the search feature for the best beginner mantis. Orchids are actually easy but are very expensive right now. I never cared much for ghost mantids. Check out our classifieds for what members are selling. It is your best bet.

Saw that you already found the classifieds. Just for your info the chinese is the largest mantis in KY, no mantids in your state get anywhere near six inches.


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## melonysbaby (Mar 13, 2009)

i must have miss read that then. cause i did a search on google and thats what it had said. oh well. you cant beleive everything that you read/ lol. but i will try the search on here too and see what it says. lol.

oh and as far as the pin heads go that is the smallest crickets i can get. i only added it so that there was an idea of what size mantis i need to get. meaning whatever size/age i get it must be able to at least eat the ppin head cricket or larger. there are no fruit flies breeders here and i cant get them from anywhere close. i hope this makes since. i am going to be breeding my own cockroaches in the future to feed my hobbies. lol.


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 13, 2009)

hello and welcome to the forum, I was camping in ky once many moons ago, prob before u were born :lol: ! From Ohio! also I think the easiest mantis to keep is the giant asian, they get big, can eat most anything and do good for beginners! Plus they are pretty gentle!


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## Emile.Wilson (Mar 13, 2009)

Welcome from canada


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## Rick (Mar 14, 2009)

melonysbaby said:


> i must have miss read that then. cause i did a search on google and thats what it had said. oh well. you cant beleive everything that you read/ lol. but i will try the search on here too and see what it says. lol. oh and as far as the pin heads go that is the smallest crickets i can get. i only added it so that there was an idea of what size mantis i need to get. meaning whatever size/age i get it must be able to at least eat the ppin head cricket or larger. there are no fruit flies breeders here and i cant get them from anywhere close. i hope this makes since. i am going to be breeding my own cockroaches in the future to feed my hobbies. lol.


If you can get on this website you can find a website to order flies from. They will ship them to your front door with the regular mail. These are better than store bought flies/crickets too.


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