# keeping multiple mantids



## harryallard (Jul 20, 2008)

alright

from my other posts i think youve all picked up that im a total noob

so yeah

i just wanted to ask the guys with like 10+ mantids what do you keep them in?

is it a plastic cup for their entire lifecycle or what? :blink: 

cos id really like to keep more than one species at a time without spending £20+ each time

cheerss


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## OGIGA (Jul 20, 2008)

I keep them together in a somewhat large container and then separate them into smaller individual containers when they are reasonably grown up.


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## chrisboy101 (Jul 20, 2008)

just wat he said


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## Rick (Jul 20, 2008)

Depends. Newly hatched nymphs live together in net cage or aquarium. Once they are about L3 they are moved into individual deli cups until they outgrow them. Then they move into divided 2.5 gal aquariums. If they're small species they stay in the deli cups their whole life.


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## Christian (Jul 20, 2008)

I am keeping all my species communally in large terraria most of the time. I am just separating males from females and diminish the groups as they grow up.


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## Mantis_Whisper (Jul 20, 2008)

I keep my nymphs together till they hit L3 or L4. Then I seperate them into their own deli cups. (32oz) If the species is communal they live in a large cage that can support them their whole life, I usually never seperate them. My large mantises that hit four inches (ex: Chinese mantis) are moved to large netted cages once the deli cup gets too small for them.


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## The_Asa (Jul 20, 2008)

I put my small ones in the aquarium. Then when they get L3 to L6 I keep them in 24-32 ounce containers (bought from mantisplace), and when they reach sub to adult, they are kept either in an aquarium or in a netted cage.


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## harryallard (Jul 20, 2008)

so could you keep 2 female wahlbergiis together then?

in a 30 x 19.5 x 20.5cm tank? :mellow: 

i wish you could

probably cant though


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## macro junkie (Jul 20, 2008)

harryallard said:


> so could you keep 2 female wahlbergiis together then?in a 30 x 19.5 x 20.5cm tank? :mellow:
> 
> i wish you could
> 
> probably cant though


after L4/L5 they wil eat each other even with lots of food.its not worth the risk unless u have lots of them,


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## chrisboy101 (Jul 20, 2008)

macro junkie said:


> after L4/L5 they wil eat each other even with lots of food.its not worth the risk unless u have lots of them,


would be brilliant if all mantis species were communal


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## MantidLord (Jul 20, 2008)

chrisboy101 said:


> would be brilliant if all mantis species were communal


Nah, I like the fact that they can canibalize and fight each other. It shows their "wild side". BTW: I keep my mantids in pairs of two in mason jars. Once they hit L4, I seperate them into their own mason Jars.


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## harryallard (Jul 20, 2008)

well how about two adult ghosts in the same size tank as i said before?

yeah i wish they were all communal too

imagine a violin &amp; ghost enclosure

or violin &amp; idolomantis

ahhhh

we can all dream :lol:


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## chrisboy101 (Jul 20, 2008)

harryallard said:


> well how about two adult ghosts in the same size tank as i said before?yeah i wish they were all communal too
> 
> imagine a violin &amp; ghost enclosure
> 
> ...


yhh we can lol


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## macro junkie (Jul 20, 2008)

harryallard said:


> well how about two adult ghosts in the same size tank as i said before?yeah i wish they were all communal too
> 
> imagine a violin &amp; ghost enclosure
> 
> ...


ghosts live fine toghther.even when theres little food mine stil didnt eat each other from L1- adult


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## hibiscusmile (Jul 21, 2008)

macro junkie said:


> ghosts live fine toghther.even when theres little food mine stil didnt eat each other from L1- adult


Your ghost must be very tame, I have one without a head once a week! :blink:


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## hibiscusmile (Jul 21, 2008)

I do not like using the cups to much, they are needful for a lot of things, but long term mantis keeping is not one of them if you ask me. I use them for some ooth hatching, but only because I have so little room left. After a couple of days they get transfered to another container made up just for them. The containers have moss in the bottom, which keeps them smelling nice. They also have a bit of excelsior for the multipule mantis to jungle up on :lol: , and last but never least, is the flowers and leaves in the containers. This is a must. They have to have some privacy, but not to much or they become shy. They have to have a spot that they feel safe on and a container with no flowers, well ya might as well have a big ole cardboard box and live under da bridge if you ask me &lt;_&lt; . I like to let them have some real limbs to, usually evergreen because it smells so nice in there when you mist the enclosure with the evergreen and moss and sometimes I pick them a smelly flower for the ones I think will like it. Yes I do so pamper them, after all they are my babies! Whenever (&amp; u all know I have a soft heart) I go in there I feel sorry for them especially when they are sitting on the bottom of the container, dareing the poop to move, that I try to make it a better place then just an old cup with nothing there for them, after all who wants to be in prison?  

Here is the Bugatorium's flower containers.

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?sh...c=7094&amp;st=0


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## macro junkie (Jul 22, 2008)

hibiscusmile said:


> Your ghost must be very tame, I have one without a head once a week! :blink:


mayby i was feeding mine more  J/K i dont have them now this was a few months back.male and female living in a small swettie jar and got on like a married couple :lol: 

i also had lots of nymphs in a 1fx1ft net cage..(your cages) and from L1- subadult i had 1 death which was due to me not feeding them right.from then on i had lots of food in there daily and they where fine.i only had 8 tho.and soon as they got to presubadult i put them in 2ftx1ft cage.mayby that was why..they had lots of room..those 2ftx1ft cages you sale when i use them the see through plastic on it is face down on the floor.this way the ghost has 2ft area to perch from instead of 1ft.Do you use them this way also of do you stand them upright?(1ft area)


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## Christian (Jul 22, 2008)

> I do not like using the cups to much, they are needful for a lot of things, but long term mantis keeping is not one of them if you ask me.


That's it. I say it all the time...


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## hibiscusmile (Jul 22, 2008)

I have about 5 or 6 females in the large cage and it is upright, I think it measures about 20x8 x 9". they do good in there, as some stay near the bottom and some in the middle and the others near the top.


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## macro junkie (Jul 22, 2008)

hibiscusmile said:


> I have about 5 or 6 females in the large cage and it is upright, I think it measures about 20x8 x 9". they do good in there, as some stay near the bottom and some in the middle and the others near the top.


mine always stayed at the top so i put the cage on its side.they had alot more space then...them cages are cool.i also like to have the see through plastic on the floor so it catches the ######..all i do is wipe then instead of it falling through the little holes and being on the carpet..


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## collinchang635 (Jul 25, 2008)

Will the rate of canabalism increase a lot if you keep several mantids in a cage? What would happen if i kept a Tropidomantid with an Ant mantis?


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