# First ever Mantis, need help- Dallas Metroplex



## snager (Jan 19, 2019)

hi, New fam!

I just got 4 new mantis babies. I've wanted a mantis my whole life, but the only time I ever saw one was about 22 years ago on a nature learning center on an elementary school field trip. So I thought so long as it's a companion animal, I should get the Luxury Bugs~

I ordered a Spiny Flower mantis and a Violin Mantis: the breeder sent two of each.

My short term goals: get all 4 mantids to reach adulthood. 

future goals: get a pink orchid mantis and devil's flower mantis, maybe breed some mantids, maybe hatch an ooth of Carolina mantis and release them throughout my neighborhood. I also love breeding colonies/cultures of isopods and am interested in questionmark roaches, dermestid beetles, bioactive vivariums, houseplants, carnivorous plants, gardening. I have wanted a pet praying mantis all of my life and this is a dream come true. But I also always wanted a horned beetle, so that's on my list as well. Apparently, those are supposed to be native to texas too, but I've never seen one at all. A friend in florida has had them, though.

*I Immediately have a lot of questions, though:*

-The breeder recommended I use housefly pupa and I ordered that from him, but the pupa haven't hatched all day. Not sure what to feed the babies, now. His site says bait shops sell housefly larva, but I don't know of any bait shops around here that sell houeflies.

- the average temp of my room in winter is 70 degrees Fahrenheit: should I acquire/have already acquired a heater for the mantids?  I could get a ceramic bulb, but not sure which one i need. their cages are made of netting and plastic as well as glass. right now i'm using a space heater to keep it between 70 and 73, but I like my room to be cold. could there be a way to better localize my heat for the mantids? build them a screen laced with tin foil to redirect the ceramic bulb's heat?

-the violin mantids were shipped in nice big containers. but the spiny flower mantids were shipped in the kind of tubes usually used for queen ants or bees, and one of the mantids tried to molt during transit. it has trouble moving but i've got it stabilized in a cave of paper-towels. a friend told me to re-humidify this mantis and maybe it will be able to sort itself out. despite being really bad at getting around, it has struck at me, attempted to groom itself, and seems generally alert when not collapsed on its back. is it worth saving or is this just animal cruelty? it has plenty of molt cycles to go, but to get it to the next one, i'd have to be hand-feeding it, right? only one raptor hand works. the other drags directly behind the mantis, causing it to trip over itself. it does seem painful. 

anyway, I invested in one conversation piece terrarium for one spiny mantis and here it is: you can see the nymph sticking to the piece of paper it was shipped with 







-live pothos plant
-baked indian almond leaf
-baked japanese maple leaves
-coco dirt
-spanish orange isopods
-temporate springtails 
-hand carved / modified lid with tulle mesh 

it was pretty amazing to put the mantis in the jar, watch her explore it. then I needed to add the isopods, I decided. I sat the mantis to the side on the enclosure lid and she WATCHED me adding the isopods in. of all the things in the room to look at, it really seemed like she was tilting her head back and watching what I was doing to her new bedroom. (also I have a hard time not calling it 'her' for some reason)

and, just as advertised on youtube, when I held her on my fingertip for a minute and turned her side to side to get a look at her, her gaze followed me, like a little hawk. 

the violin mantids: one is in a critter keeper with tulle on top, leaves, a log, and spanish orange isopods as a clean up crew. the other is in one of those 'butterfly garden' popup cages. the big one, not the small one. not sure if this is too mush space for them to start with.

the mismolt spiny is in a sandwich box with a lot of soggy coco earth piled in one corner, hanging out in a cave of paper towels. it seemed thirsty when I first put it in there. I put a heating pad on low under  the box for a couple of hours to drive up the humidity. I literally have no idea what i'm doing 

Their names are Hikari, Fortunato, Castillo and Capriccio


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## hysteresis (Jan 19, 2019)

Hey, welcome @snager!

Beware of drying them out with heat. I've read you could lose tarsi and such.

✌


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## hysteresis (Jan 19, 2019)

By the way, I spent around a year in the metroplex back in the late 90s. Dallas N Tollway area. Frankford. Neat place.


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## Rick (Jan 19, 2019)

Welcome


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## Synapze (Jan 19, 2019)

Welcome!  

Friendly suggestion - You may want to move your questions concerning housing, basic care, and feeding to the forums for those topics. Your questions will get more exposure and probably more detailed information. Many members only follow certain forums, so many may not see this post at all. You will find it much more helpful, but I'll throw in some quick info for now and hopefully not get chided by the moderators for going off topic.  :lol: 

The pupae usually hatch out in 2-4 days at room temperature if they are viable. You use the term "babies", but you should try to identify them by their instar (L2, L3, etc) in order to get accurate recommendations for feeding. When you say babies, I immediately think, "you need fruit flies not house flies", but follow the breeder's advice. If the spinys have problems with house flies you'll need some D. hydei fruit flies. 

You'll definitely need to get temperature and humidity meters for your enclosures. You can get some pretty cheap meters on eBay. Both species you are keeping have different temp and humidity requirements. Spinys need higher humidity and good ventilation as they are prone to respiratory problems. A small desk lamp would work or a low watt ceramic bulb since they only require mid 70's. On the other side, violins need high temps (approx mid to upper 80's) and lower humidity. Ceramic heat bulbs are probably your best bet for the violins. You have to be careful with any heat source as distance from bulb to bug is obviously extremely important... too far away they won't be effective... too close and you'll have cooked mantids. Check out these two care guides from the Dedicated Care Sheets forum if you haven't already. You'll find different suggestions from different sources, but you can't go wrong by starting here. 



Great names!   

Good luck!


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## snager (Jan 19, 2019)

thanks for all your help snapze

i'm also not used to using forums. I never got into it in highschool or you know. any time at all @[email protected] 

sorry i posted in the wrong section ect.


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## Graceface (Jan 19, 2019)

Welcome! 

Mantids are fascinating creatures and you are in the right place to learn and share your enthusiasm 

I echo what @Synapze said, you will find care sheets for the species you own a good starting point. Definitely invest in meters so you know what is actually going on in your enclosures. They are cheap on eBay, but will arrive on the literal slow boat from China (in like a month).

I personally have no experience with either of the species you are raising, so I can't help you with specifics on their care. I know others here who are active do care for both, so Im sure someone else will be able to offer more advice on your enclosures and environmental conditions 

I would post your concerns/questions about the mismolted nymph in the 'health issues' section with pictures of the mantis and its injuries, so we can try to help you better  

The forum isn't too hard to get the hang of, with time you will be a pro  Everyone here is pretty nice and helpful. We all share the love of mantids


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## Mantis Lady (Jan 19, 2019)

Graceface said:


> We all share the love of mantids


Yup, we all do and welcome @snager feel free to ask questions


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## MantisGirl13 (Jan 20, 2019)

Welcome to the forum!

It sounds like your mantids are settling in well. That container is huge for the spiny flower mantis, btw. It is ok, but make sure you feed it in a smaller cage so that it can find the prey. Make sure all of the cages have a good amount of ventilation, especially the mismolt spiny. You may want to line the sides of the kritter keeper with the violin in it with mesh, because violins cannot grip plastic with their tarsi. Good luck!

- MantisGirl13


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## snager (Jan 20, 2019)

@MantisGirl13

wow, i guess the spiny's cage is kind of big for now. I could put her in a smaller jar, for sure.

the violin mantis hiked right up the side of the critter keeper. it had some trouble at first and seemed to have to concentrate hard to do it, taking a rest on an old strip of velcro halfway up. but made it to the roof and refuses to leave the mesh i put there. the critter keeper used to be full of sand and home to my baby hermit crabs, who scuffed it up pretty good. but its cage is probably a little too big, too. all their cages may be too big!

I got them a ceramic heat bulb and put all the enclosures in a large terrarium together to share the warmth.

in the heat of the terrarium, one of the house flies finally hatched, after like 5 days out of the fridge.


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## MantisGirl13 (Jan 21, 2019)

snager said:


> @MantisGirl13
> 
> wow, i guess the spiny's cage is kind of big for now. I could put her in a smaller jar, for sure.
> 
> ...


Violins like a big cage so they can wander (Hence the name, Wandering Violin Mantis) but the spinys don't move around so much, so they don't need as much space. I am glad some of your flies hatched! How warm are the cages by the heat bulb? Violins like it hot,(80-85 degrees) but the spinys like it cooler (around 70-75 degrees). Make sure they all get misted once daily and have good ventilation. You are doing a good job! Violins are a more difficult species to keep, but you seem to know what to do pretty well. 

- MantiGirl13


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## hibiscusmile (Jan 23, 2019)

Welcome and good luck


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