# Hello from Virginia



## ANTdrew (Oct 6, 2022)

Hi! Just joined the forum today. I’m big into ant keeping, and I’m actually a moderator over on formiculture.com. My son and I are getting into mantids, too, now, so I thought joining here would help. We raised a Stagmomantis carolina ooth this summer and got a male almost to adulthood before he suddenly passed. I’m trying again with a Phyllocrania paradoxa we got in the mail today from USmantis. I put the nymph in a small display case I converted into a planted terrarium. I hope it’s not too big/ busy for the mantis to find food. It looks cool, though.


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## T.C. (Oct 7, 2022)

Hello Sir. Please stop following me  JK And I think the size is fine, but I feed almost all mine with tweezers. Same with all my tarantulas.


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## ANTdrew (Oct 7, 2022)

Lol, I think I found this place from a link you put in formiculture. How do you go about training a mantis to eat from tongs? The Carolina mantis we had wouldn’t.


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## brytewolf (Oct 7, 2022)

When I first got my leaf children (also ghost mantis), they were way too small to be fed in their homes. I would switch them into their travel containers to feed! They would go after the food right away, and I'd wait until they were done eating, then just transfer them back to their terrariums. Maybe something you could do as well.

I've had mixed results tweezer feeding. I had to for my female when I first got her, as she molted during shipping and damaged a raptor arm. She's usually easier to tweezer feed as an adult than the two boys are. It's always a toss up as to whether the boys will accept a tweezer nom.


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## ANTdrew (Oct 7, 2022)

Thanks for the advice. Any tips on how to safely switch the mantis into its travel container?


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## brytewolf (Oct 7, 2022)

No problem! I would just very delicately use my fingers. Put one in front of them to walk onto, and usually tap them gently from behind until they transferred themselves to the finger. Then hold them up to the lid or the side of the container and do the same. If you don't feel comfortable handling your baby, I imagine a transfer stick would work just as well. The main thing is just to let them move themselves, you're just encouraging them to move where you want them to go. Ghosts aren't flightly, so I've had more trouble getting them to _want_ to move than having them run away xD


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## T.C. (Oct 7, 2022)

If you are hanging around while the are eating, you can just feed them out on a table or counter. That's what I always do. Plus its fun to watch them watch you lol


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## The Wolven (Oct 8, 2022)

Tong feeding is tough and really depends on the mantis' personality. Plus, the prey item you're feeding at well. The majority of my mantises usually accept tong feeding as long as they see the food squirming and recognize its food. My two ghosts will throw tantrums and smack the food a bunch, but they usually take it.


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 9, 2022)

hi & welcome.


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## Cosmic Kitten (Oct 10, 2022)

Welcome!!


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## craigbaker (Nov 9, 2022)

Hi , you’ll need to add a lot of flies as many will not be found due to the large area. (It looks really nice btw) you can transfer your beautiful ghost from usmantis to a smaller container for feeding. Or you can just use a lot of flies (maybe even make small fly cultures to put in the habitat you have. Something like a 4 or 8 ounce culture . We do this with our nymphs while kept in a group


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## agent A (Nov 9, 2022)

Welcome from CO!


T.C. said:


> Hello Sir. Please stop following me  JK And I think the size is fine, but I feed almost all mine with tweezers. Same with all my tarantulas.


I don't have the time to tweezer-feed. I envy you!


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## ANTdrew (Thursday at 8:18 AM)

Update!
Lief had his successful final molt last night! He came out massive and perfectly formed. It has been very rewarding keeping him these past three months!


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## agent A (Thursday at 1:01 PM)

ANTdrew said:


> Update!
> Lief had his successful final molt last night! He came out massive and perfectly formed. It has been very rewarding keeping him these past three months!View attachment 20835
> View attachment 20836


may his last 4-5 weeks be full of wonder


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## ANTdrew (Thursday at 2:00 PM)

Is that all he’s got left?


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## agent A (Thursday at 2:16 PM)

ANTdrew said:


> Is that all he’s got left?


yes. males don't last that long sadly


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## hibiscusmile (Yesterday at 9:18 AM)

Welcome


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