# Small or medium kritter keeper for Orchid



## Mantidaddicted (May 29, 2016)

Hi so I'm trying to decide if  should order a small or medium kritter keeper for my orchid, she should be arriving in the mail sometime next week so I want to have everything ready for her , I will be taking her out and feeding her in a smaller container so I'm not particularly worried about food getting lost in a large enclosure. Also I have a fly culture coming as well and want to know how long do they usually last and also how to keep it infection free(bacteria, mold) snce I know that's the biggest killer of these lovely species.


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## CosbyArt (May 29, 2016)

For a Orchid mantis (Hymenopus coronatus) the container should 12"x8"x8" for a large female adult - as it as good to have them in a adult sized container even as nymphs to prevent mis-molts due to size. As found at this link for the species, here are the details about containers...



> As with all types praying mantids, this species needs an enclosure that is at least 3 times the length of the mantis in height, and at least 2x the length of the mantis width. For an adult female this means is at least 24 cm (9.5") in height and 16 cm (6.25") in width. A nice size for a terrarium would be 30 x 20 x 20 cm (HxWxL) (12"x8"x8"), so there is room for many artificial flowers and perches.


Also you can read the caresheet here on to care for the mantid species. The species is conciderd a intermediate care species and not recommend for beginners.

Regarding fruit fly (FF) cultures all have mold/decomposition to some extent as can be understood by the smell and the FF need it to lay eggs. In a perfect setup the flies and larvae keep turning the culture medium by moving on it, keeping the mold from growing out of control (or making it even noticeable). You can buy commercially made FF medium that has molt inhibitors in it if you prefer rather than make your own.

Bacterial should not be a issue from FF cultures, I haven't heard of the issue before. The only real issue will be mites, but that happens in all FF cultures eventually (they look like dust) when the culture is dying off. Generally mites are of little concern and die off when you throw away or clean out the old FF culture containers. They exist everywhere but only become a concern in FF cultures when the are out pacing the FF population.

Either way the FF themselves eat the medium and digest it, and that should not affect any mantid nymphs. If it was a real issue then FF cultures would kill off all nymphs and the mantid hobby wouldn't exist.


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## Mantidaddicted (May 29, 2016)

CosbyArt said:


> For a Orchid mantis (Hymenopus coronatus) the container should 12"x8"x8" for a large female adult - as it as good to have them in a adult sized container even as nymphs to prevent mis-molts due to size. As found at this link for the species, here are the details about containers...
> 
> Also you can read the caresheet here on to care for the mantid species. The species is conciderd a intermediate care species and not recommend for beginners.
> 
> ...


Thank you for you very detailed response! Really appreciate it. I always just fed my mantis stuff from my garden and never thought anything of it, but lately I've been running out of stuff to feed them lol, I started researching fly cultures and I stumbled across the forum lol as helpful and fun as it is I can't help to be afraid of terrible things happening to my babies , all these abdomen explosions and bacterial infections , BREAKS MY HEART!!! lol!!! Talk about paranoid, anyways thank you!!


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## CosbyArt (May 29, 2016)

Mantidaddicted said:


> Thank you for you very detailed response! Really appreciate it. I always just fed my mantis stuff from my garden and never thought anything of it, but lately I've been running out of stuff to feed them lol, I started researching fly cultures and I stumbled across the forum lol as helpful and fun as it is I can't help to be afraid of terrible things happening to my babies , all these abdomen explosions and bacterial infections , BREAKS MY HEART!!! lol!!! Talk about paranoid, anyways thank you!!


Your welcome, more than happy to help. I feed wild prey too when it is the spring/summer months. The only concern with that is to keep a watchful eye out for any chemical/pesticide use in the area you collect feeders, as that can affect the feeders and your mantids. I haven't had any problem in the last few years but it can happen.

I understand the concern, but thankfully the problems you listed are things that can be easily avoided in most cases. The abdomen problems are typically damage from high falls or other mantids (communal setups or breeding the most common). Bacterial problems are due to habitats with low airflow and/or too much moisture, as water should evaporate in 30 minutes or less.

Just read around the forum and see what you can pick-up there should be plenty of things that will help you out. If you have any questions though, just ask.


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