# First enclosure opinions.



## riegs22 (Jun 28, 2008)

This is my first time I will be raising. I was curious if you guys think this would be suitable.

I have a 10 gallon tank which I was going to turn on its side, (so open top would now be the back of the tank) And then using glass dividers divide the tank into 3 sections. Each new section after all is in place would be around 10 inches tall and 7 icnhes wide and 12 inches long. I would put essentially a screen covering the back (which was the open top) which I could open each section seperatly. With the tank on its side It would be easier to access the bottom of each section to change out moss, dead crickets, ect...

Just curious if these enclousers would be wide and tall enough to house adult mantis. (as a species reference I was going to test out just some chinese as its my first trial)

Has anyone tried something similiar or is thre anything I should be carful not to do.

Also I see reptile liner sold at stores, This seems really easy if I could just use this on the floor of my tank , that way I could slide the whole piece out for cleaning. Would this be a decent way to keep moister and avoid mold.

Thanks and I will post pics if this seems ok when im done.


----------



## mrblue (Jun 28, 2008)

i can only really comment on the size, it sounds fine for pretty much all species excepting a few. for example it may be a bit too big for some smaller species, they may have trouble keeping well fed, but this is not such a big problem. also i dont think _Idolomantis_ would do well in that size. and while i have not kept them, i would imagine species like _Solygia_ would require a little more space as they are pretty massive. but for most species the size is fine, certainly for _Tenodera_ (chinese mantis).

one thing i would also say is that mantids can spend alot of time hanging from the roof of a container, and this is something they will not be able to do in your setup. this may or may not be such a big problem, maybe you can observe the mantids once you introduce them and see if they look like theyre having difficulties. or what some people have done is to hot-glue a piece of mesh to the top of the enclosure, giving the mantids something with good grip to hang and moult from. also, considering the containers would be long, you may run into some trouble with humidity/mould/ventiation down the back (front?) end furthest away from the mesh. again, you can see how it goes when you get it set up, it might not become a problem but i imagine air circulation would not be very good in these enclosures. come to think of it, have you thought about not turning it on its side? i mean just dividing the tank into 3 and having the screen as the roof? this would make the container taller than it is long or wide (perfect for mantids), the ventilation would not be such a problem and the roofing issue could be solved too. granted, it may not look how you have imagined it, but i would give it some thought if i were you.

hope this helps, it would be cool to see some pics when its all up and running!


----------



## idolomantis (Jun 28, 2008)

or just use a coke bottle cut the top off use cloth(sock) as lid put in a branch and a leave finished you are.


----------



## mrblue (Jun 28, 2008)

idolomantis said:


> or just use a coke bottle cut the top off use cloth(sock) as lid put in a branch and a leave finished you are.


this is not really a useful contribution.


----------



## The_Asa (Jun 28, 2008)

Mantids don't require much in the way of space or asthetics. If you want to make a good tank or container for a mantis then ask yourself these questions:

1. Is my cage the correct size for my mantis?

The general rule is 3 times the height of the mantis and twice its length. The sizes of mantids vary up to a couple of inches so be prepared. If you are housing nymphs, the danger may be that the cage is too large for them, thus making it harder or impossible for them to find food.

2. Can my cage contain and sustain humidity?

Mantids require a certain amount of humidity to shed their skin, or molt. If your cage has too many places for humidity to escape, molting may become a problem and your mantis could die. What one would want to do to make sure that their cage is fine humidity wise, is to mist it with a spray bottle and see how long the droplets of water and mist will remain. Helpful but not completely necessary additions in the forms of sponges or spagnum moss may be used to help sustain humidity and can be found at pet dealers or websites.

3. Does my cage have sufficient ventilation?

Obviously, if your mantis does not have enough fresh air coming in, the results will not be too pleasant. Use common sense and make sure your container has many air holes at the very, very least, and better: a form of close net mesh. You may want to alter your cage.

Your setup sounds small for an adult Chinese mantis. But if you use "twice the length, 3 times the height", you should be able to tell. A large Chinese mantis will at max reach 4 inches.


----------



## idolomantis (Jun 29, 2008)

mrblue said:


> this is not really a useful contribution.


really..? worked fine to me and way would i an enclosure be an expensive, space taking complicated thing why it could be so easy?


----------



## mrblue (Jun 29, 2008)

idolomantis said:


> really..? worked fine to me and way would i an enclosure be an expensive, space taking complicated thing why it could be so easy?


the original poster did not ask "what should i house my mantids in, what is the bare minimum i can get away with?". they asked about a specific idea they had, and the problems that may arise from this, therefore your post had close to zero relevance. yes, i house most of my mantids simply and cheaply in tupperware/storage containers with the lid cut out and replaced with mesh, while some people prefer to construct more salubrious surroundings for their mantids, i guess it is just personal taste. however this is an issue which been discussed before, and one which i think is not really relevant to this thread.


----------



## chrisboy101 (Jun 29, 2008)

mrblue said:


> the original poster did not ask "what should i house my mantids in, what is the bare minimum i can get away with?". they asked about a specific idea they had, and the problems that may arise from this, therefore your post had close to zero relevance. yes, i house most of my mantids simply and cheaply in tupperware/storage containers with the lid cut out and replaced with mesh, while some people prefer to construct more salubrious surroundings for their mantids, i guess it is just personal taste. however this is an issue which been discussed before, and one which i think is not really relevant to this thread.


lol ok


----------



## idolomantis (Jun 29, 2008)

mrblue said:


> the original poster did not ask "what should i house my mantids in, what is the bare minimum i can get away with?". they asked about a specific idea they had, and the problems that may arise from this, therefore your post had close to zero relevance. yes, i house most of my mantids simply and cheaply in tupperware/storage containers with the lid cut out and replaced with mesh, while some people prefer to construct more salubrious surroundings for their mantids, i guess it is just personal taste. however this is an issue which been discussed before, and one which i think is not really relevant to this thread.


whatever &lt;_&lt;


----------



## Thorska (Jul 3, 2008)

quite a few people on this forum seem to insist that a mantid tank should be simple, cups or bottles with paper towels and cloth or whatever, if thats the way you want to keep it then thats fine, personally i really enjoy setting up a nice tank and putting effort into it, i recently bought an exo-terra 30x30x45cm (LxWxH) for a pair of Idolomantis Diabolica i should be recieving soon, bought some fake plants and flowers, got a proper bulb fitting for the tank, put soil in the bottom got plenty of nice looking twigs etc.... all in all it cost about £65 ($120ish, probably less as the same stuff in the states is usually alot cheaper  ) and took a couple of hours to setup

most people would call me totally crazy, but im really pleased with how the tank came out and enjoy looking at it, knowing the mantids should feel at home in the tank, and its a very nice feature for my bedroom

now: on topic  

your three 10"x7"x12" sections will house just about anything, general rule is that the tank should be 2x depth+width, and 3x as high as the mantids maximum body length, chinese mantids grow upto 10cm (4") so that will do fine, however chinese's tend to like bigger tanks as they move around alot

as for substrate chinese don't really need high humidity, but spraying once a week and keeping it up when you know molting is near helps your mantids molt alot, soil keeps humidity nice and high, but its your choice really


----------



## macro junkie (Jul 3, 2008)

Thorska said:


> quite a few people on this forum seem to insist that a mantid tank should be simple, cups or bottles with paper towels and cloth or whatever,


thats because most of us breed them and it would be inpraticall to have a big tank for every mantis.

~If your just wanting to keep some mantids then yer a big tank is the way to go imo..Iv always wanted a big tank with aload of ghost in there.if i stop breeding thats the road il be taking


----------



## Thorska (Jul 3, 2008)

macro junkie said:


> thats because most of us breed them and it would be inpraticall to have a big tank for every mantis.


never thought of it that way, thanks for correcting me


----------



## pedro92 (Jul 11, 2008)

Thorska said:


> quite a few people on this forum seem to insist that a mantid tank should be simple, cups or bottles with paper towels and cloth or whatever


Just imagine how many tanks and fancy setups Rebecca (Hibiscusmile) would have. She has alot of those round containers and such with flowers, but she has over 1000's of mantids that would be a nightmare.


----------



## The_Asa (Jul 11, 2008)

Chameleonare said:


> Just imagine how many tanks and fancy setups Rebecca (Hibiscusmile) would have. She has alot of those round containers and such with flowers, but she has over 1000's of mantids that would be a nightmare.


That's why I like to keep my mantid population down to below 30. That way I can find a cage I like for each.


----------



## pedro92 (Jul 11, 2008)

The_Asa said:


> That's why I like to keep my mantid population down to below 30. That way I can find a cage I like for each.


Yah but not all of us take that path lol. I hope to have at least 10 different species by end of the summer


----------



## The_Asa (Jul 11, 2008)

Chameleonare said:


> Yah but not all of us take that path lol. I hope to have at least 10 different species by end of the summer


Above 30 is just too much for me. I don't understand how anyone could devote that much effort to raising the mantids. I struggle to keep up with the couple dozen I haved.


----------



## pedro92 (Jul 11, 2008)

The_Asa said:


> Above 30 is just too much for me. I don't understand how anyone could devote that much effort to raising the mantids. I struggle to keep up with the couple dozen I haved.


I struggle but having the chance to supply mantids when people want them is what im trying to do. I will have orchids when i get back from St. Louis on the 23rd and that will be a huge struggle but then just imagine if we can get orchids more common here.


----------



## The_Asa (Jul 12, 2008)

Chameleonare said:


> I struggle but having the chance to supply mantids when people want them is what im trying to do. I will have orchids when i get back from St. Louis on the 23rd and that will be a huge struggle but then just imagine if we can get orchids more common here.


Yes, we need more orchids.


----------



## MooSmoo (Jul 14, 2008)

Ive recently started putting my larger mantids (sub-adult / adult) in faunariums with twigs, leaves, etc. Which i think look quite nice and the faunarium lid is very easy for them to cling to.

However with nymphs I prefer to keep them in livefood tubs stood up longways with some twigs, and the ventilation slots along the side and top allow for them to climb up the sides easy, as well as crickets for lazier mantids.


----------

