# enclosure size



## massaman (Apr 7, 2009)

would it be harmful to use a plastic tub that was used to hold spinach in it as a enclosure for ooths it is a big rectangle container but i decided to glue my ooths to the top of the inside of the tubs lid and placed a folded paper towel on the bottom and i wet that to raise the humidity and use a waterbed heater to keep the ooths warm so is there anything else i may be doing wrong or need to do or would this suffice

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/ka...z/Enclosure.jpg


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## hibiscusmile (Apr 7, 2009)

It looks fine, all but the heater, u don't need it, just keep them warm by room temp or near something that gives off heat if u r worried about it. A lot of people use the paper towel, I dont, I just mist a few times a week the ooth itself and it will be fine, course some people don't even do that, but I do. And the container is fine as long as u poked tiny holes in it, I get salad in one of those too. Do you have any excelsior to put in there for them to climb around on? If not, maybe some dried grass , not to much but some.


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## Rick (Apr 7, 2009)

hibiscusmile said:


> It looks fine, all but the heater, u don't need it, just keep them warm by room temp or near something that gives off heat if u r worried about it. A lot of people use the paper towel, I dont, I just mist a few times a week the ooth itself and it will be fine, course some people don't even do that, but I do. And the container is fine as long as u poked tiny holes in it, I get salad in one of those too. Do you have any excelsior to put in there for them to climb around on? If not, maybe some dried grass , not to much but some.


I agree. I prefer large containers because I leave nymphs in there for a long time after hatching.


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## nasty bugger (Apr 7, 2009)

I dont' have near the experience that Rebecca or Rick have, but my chinese mantis' were really simple to raise. Just give them a mist once in a while, shouldn't take too much if your in a humid area and it's not too hot, but they need a drink once in a while, and the humidity really helps when they molt.

The only real problem with a large, real large, enclosure is them catching their prey for dinner.

If you want to put some fruit near an area that you think the mantis will set up for ambush, then the fruit will attract the prey there to that location. alot of varieties of Mantis' are ambushers and don't move around too much for food, so getting the prey to go to them is a good thing, unless you want them moving cause they're starving.

My mantis have been sneaking out and going down the road to the little market where the illegal mexicans hang out to hustle labor jobs, and they've been smoking joints with the mexicans and now there are 40 oz beer bottles in the trash can when I wake up. Ya really gotta keep them so they can't get down to the market and get corrupted by the incorragibles, or however you spell it ...  Next thing you know they'll be shoplifting, and beating up mailboxes on the way home... I guess that's what happens when you seperate them from mom at an early age


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## massaman (Apr 7, 2009)

no i got a separate critter keeper to put the nymphs in as soon as they hatch had 6 hatch already a few days ago but i kind of had too much water in the previous enclosure but managed to save 3 out of the 6 but changed the enclosure size once i got my other ooth which is a gambian se flower mantis ooth and the nymphs qre the creb gemmatus species that i have right now have been molting already and have not really sprayed them and they molted just fine without a problem so far and they eat really well with fruit flies qnd are in like the 2-3 instar i believe when i first orderd the first ooth they hatched in the route so i was lucky to have some already hatched to take care of though i had bought 2-3 typers of pinhead crickets and most were too big for them to eat and i did find some smaller ones they could eat without a problem just like 2-3 have injuries i dont know if its from crickets or what but one was missing a arm and the others raptor end i think was broken and would not open but they seemed healthy regardless and take food with their other arm just also wonder if they would regen the raptor arms when they molt as they do regen legs when they molt from what i read!


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## Rick (Apr 7, 2009)

massaman said:


> no i got a separate critter keeper to put the nymphs in as soon as they hatch had 6 hatch already a few days ago but i kind of had too much water in the previous enclosure but managed to save 3 out of the 6 but changed the enclosure size once i got my other ooth which is a gambian se flower mantis ooth and the nymphs qre the creb gemmatus species that i have right now have been molting already and have not really sprayed them and they molted just fine without a problem so far and they eat really well with fruit flies qnd are in like the 2-3 instar i believe when i first orderd the first ooth they hatched in the route so i was lucky to have some already hatched to take care of though i had bought 2-3 typers of pinhead crickets and most were too big for them to eat and i did find some smaller ones they could eat without a problem just like 2-3 have injuries i dont know if its from crickets or what but one was missing a arm and the others raptor end i think was broken and would not open but they seemed healthy regardless and take food with their other arm just also wonder if they would regen the raptor arms when they molt as they do regen legs when they molt from what i read!


Is this one of those critter keepers with the lid that has the long thin holes in it? I have found those things are not good for nymphs because the lid is just too vented letting nymphs and fruit flies escape easily.


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## massaman (Apr 7, 2009)

only using the tub to hatch the ooths and then will transport the nymphs to the critter keepers that i have set up this is my first time raising a mantis from nymphs alot of work and kind of is a expensive hobby but i am making due with what i have and trying to do the best i can!


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## massaman (Apr 7, 2009)

yeah it is but i was smart and put a dish towel over the top to cover the vents and keeps any mantis or flie escapes from happening or keeps it down to a bare few as i just fold a little of the towel and it covers the all the top and works well so far. Though i get a few flies that escape most are left in it and seems to work well for me! i Dont use any tape or anything just put the towel over the top and keeps things secure.


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## massaman (Apr 7, 2009)

I also did the mist the ooths but figured the paper towel would keep in the moisture and i could avoid the drowning of future nymphs by using paper towel and just spray the towel with a spray bottle to keep it wet but not totally soaked!


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## hibiscusmile (Apr 7, 2009)

It is really not an expensive hobby, just look around like u did for the container, there are so many household things good to use for them.


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