# My first Mantis!



## shaneckc (May 8, 2013)

Up until last week, I've never taken much interest in any sort of insect. For the most part, I really wanted nothing to do with them, hahah!

Well, last week at work, I found the smallest praying mantis I've ever seen crawling atop my toolbox. I coaxed it onto my finger and let it crawl around for a bit, intrigued by its miniature size. I had never realized how small these things start off!







I'm always curious to learn about new things, so I started doing a little research while my new friend hung out next to me in a small petri dish. After a little bit of reading, I knew that this mantis and I would be very good friends because I *HATE *spiders, and mantids *EAT *spiders. It's like a match made in heaven :clap: . I fed it a small ant that I killed in the process of putting it into the petri dish, and it must have been hungry because it ate the ant right up. I later learned that ants aren't the best food for mantids, so I'm relieved that it's doing okay since then. I took it home in a small container.

The next day, after doing quite a bit of research on these forums, I decided to build him a small habitat. Inspired by spongeworld, I think this is suitable for such a small Mantis. I will eventually put a screen type material across the ceiling, and more for climbing obstacles along the sides, for when the mantis gets larger. I plan on changing the flooring material regularly, and any recommendations for what to use would be greatly appreciated. Right now, the flooring is just a foam sponge material from the dollar store. I got a 10 pack of these sponges too make replacing the floor easier for now, to avoid mold and other less sanitary conditions. I've been moistening the sponges with warm water daily to help keep the temperature and humidity up.






I think it is a male Stagmomantis Limbata L1, based on what I've read on the caresheets and compared to on several other members pictures of different mantids. It's very possible that it could still be a female, since it is so small, but I'm pretty sure I can count more than six segments on his underbelly. So for now, I'm calling him Geoffrey  . He seems to like to crawl around on my fingers and most of the time in his habitat, he just hangs out upside down. Yesterday was the first day he actually started to explore the habitat a little.

*Click for video:*










I have been feeding him small aphids from a plant outside my house. He typically eats them enthusiastically as soon as he see's them move, so I'm assuming he likes them. After the ant I gave him on the first day, he didn't eat until 2 days later when he gobbled down 3 aphids. He ate 2 or 3 aphids the following day (yesterday) and today he has eaten 2 aphids, as well. I've been taking him out of a his habitat and placing him in a small plastic dish for feeding time. I figured it was easier for him to find his prey while he is this small. Is this recommended? I could see this feeding method potentially interfering with Geoffrey's molting schedule, but I'm not sure.

*Click for Video:*





I'm very excited to watch him grow and molt, but I'm not exactly sure when to expect this to happen. I've read to look for signs of reduced appetite and hanging upside down all day, but I'm not sure what else to look for.

Any tips on how to make Geoffrey a happier mantis and help him develop are greatly appreciated!


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## jrh3 (May 8, 2013)

WOW on the setup very creative you may be on to something, lol.

what is the bottle cap for, they need to be misted if its a water bowl.


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## shaneckc (May 8, 2013)

jrh3 said:


> WOW on the setup very creative you may be on to something, lol.
> 
> what is the bottle cap for, they need to be misted if its a water bowl.


Initially I put it in there for water (there was literally one small drop in it since I didn't want Geoffrey to drown in it). But since then, I've been using it to keep a little food around for him. Here is the habitat as it sits now.


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## D_Hemptress (May 8, 2013)

it looks like a little stagmo to me as well. but you cant sex them until later in life. the last time i tried to guess that i had a boy it ended up being a girl

p.s. its amazing to me that you saw that little dude. before keeping mantids i had never seen any that size


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## MandellaMandy123 (May 8, 2013)

Yep, looks like it's probably a stagmomantis limbata. I have a few L1's of that species too. It's impossible to tell if they are male or female until about L3 or L4, but congratulations!


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## Fishe (May 8, 2013)

awesome matis and habitat, careful, you cant have just one


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## shaneckc (May 8, 2013)

D_Hemptress said:


> p.s. its amazing to me that you saw that little dude. before keeping mantids i had never seen any that size


I know, right? Funny enough you mention that, because he actually got away from me when I first wanted to catch him. I saw him again about 30 minutes later which is when I actually got him, hahah. I was shocked to see one this small because I've only encountered a few larger mantids before and I knew literally nothing about them until 2 days ago.


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## shaneckc (May 8, 2013)

Fishe said:


> awesome matis and habitat, careful, you cant have just one


Is having just one mantis inadvisable? Please elaborate.


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## D_Hemptress (May 8, 2013)

shaneckc said:


> I know, right? Funny enough you mention that, because he actually got away from me when I first wanted to catch him. I saw him again about 30 minutes later which is when I actually got him, hahah. I was shocked to see one this small because I've only encountered a few larger mantids before and I knew literally nothing about them until 2 days ago.


i wonder if the one you have is actually the first one you saw? ide look around some more and see if maybe an ooth hatched near by, there may be more little ones around that you arent seeing


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## D_Hemptress (May 8, 2013)

they are addictive. after enjoying this one you are gonna want another sp.

"they are like tattoos, you cant have just one"


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## shaneckc (May 8, 2013)

Yeah, after learning about how they hatch I looked around a bit yesterday, but I didn't see any others in our shop.

I can definitely see how this can be an addictive hobby, too. I'm sure I'll want to have at least one mantis hanging around from here on out :stuart:


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## dgerndt (May 8, 2013)

Congrats! You'll be hooked on mantids before you know it!


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## ToeChecks (May 8, 2013)

Congrats on the find! i have never found one this small in the wild before. Your so lucky to stumble across it like that! i like your cage aswell! if you want something different for the bottem try terrerium carpet. I personally use exoterra substrate so it holds a bit of moisture. good luck with the little guy, but your going to want more! I started keeping mantids a month ago and now i have 12.


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## shaneckc (May 9, 2013)

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT!

I thought I lost Geoffrey tonight! I came home from my calculus class and went to say hello to Geoffrey and he was not in his cage! I didn't think there were any holes small enough for him to fit through, but apparently he is quite the escape artist. Carefully moving about my room and house, I searched for him for about a half hour with a flashlight. After some extensive searching to no avail, I threw in the towel, realizing that there was a very slim chance I would ever see Geoffrey again. I placed things back were they belonged in my room and before sitting down to publish the bad news onto this thread, swatted a small fly off of my desk hutch, looked up, and sure enough saw Geoffrey perched on the hood of a 1/20th scale Aston Marton 007 V12 Vanquish model on top of my hutch; literally the highest point in my room :blink: . My first thought was; WHAT a relief. My second thought was something along the lines of; Geoffrey, you little ****!!!

What are the chances?? Between finding him twice at my shop, and finding him after tonight's escape, I'm pretty convinced that we're meant to be, hahah! Although with his selection of the 007 car in combination with his escape skills, I think I should have named him Bond... James Bond :stuart: .





So, needless to say, I'll be putting that screen across the top of my Habitat ASAP. Until then, Geoffrey is just going to have to stay in time-out.


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## shaneckc (May 9, 2013)

Geoffrey's new ride.


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## thalassarche (May 9, 2013)

Hahaha, nice escape attempt, Geoffrey! I'm glad you were able to find him. I have those critter keepers for a few of my nymphs, and one very easy and cheap way of blocking access to those vented slats is to just shut a sheet of paper towel in the top. I do that for my bitty nymphs, the ones eating fruit flies and the ones getting the smallest houseflies (since I have learned that they are small enough to get out, oops). The paper towel allows for ventilation while still blocking the slats, plus the bitty nymphs can get their little feet hooked into it easily to hang from. Like I said, easy and cheap, if mesh won't be soon available for you!

As for taking them out for feeding, when I was out of houseflies and my Deroplatys lobata (Xeno) needed a meal, I put him in a critter keeper with one of the smallest crickets that I get for my gecko. He grabbed and ate pretty readily when he was hungry (I used bamboo skewers to move him back and forth), but when he was getting ready to molt he ignored the cricket or even made shooing motions at it instead of grabbing it. So use that as a cue for you: if Geoffrey is ignoring food or actively trying to get it to leave him alone, he's probably prepping to molt in the next day or so, so then just let him be in his habitat until a day after he's molted. Xeno would refuse food a good two days before molting.

And I'll chime in too on how you never have just ONE pet mantis for long. I started with Xeno in early April, and now I have him along with 11 others, and more on the way, hahaha.


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## Coneja (May 9, 2013)

First of all, congrats on your new mantis! He's so tiny and I love the name.  Secondly, your near-loss sounds terrifying! I'm glad you were able to find him: that was really lucky considering his size! Sounds like you've done a lot of research on the forum, so you may have come across this fact already: they like to climb as high as possible and get as close to the light as possible, if I'm remembering correctly. (Good for catching prey in the wild, I believe is the mechanism behind this.) So maybe that's why he was where you found him. That being said, Geoffrey's got good taste in cars!  Really like that last picture.... Good luck with him and welcome!


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## Sticky (May 9, 2013)

I love the pic of him posing so proudly with his new car!! Wicked cute. When will he get his drivers liscencece?


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## ToeChecks (May 9, 2013)

i should have said something about the critter keeper. i had a seven inch centipede escape from one.... tell me how it managed to do that. i dont trust the critter keepers at all unless you have somthing big in them. there is just to many little escape holes. as for the paper towel idea that is great i never even thought of that one. thanks for the tip!


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## D_Hemptress (May 9, 2013)

When i saw the first picture of the enclosure thought that it may be able to get out of the top... i should have mentioned it...

get some nylon and glue it to the top and that will never happen again... along with feeders escaping as well


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## shaneckc (May 9, 2013)

Thanks for the good advice, everyone! I put a paper towel between the lid and the tub last night, so he won't be escaping like that again any time soon. I'll fabricate a more permanent solution when I get some free time at my shop.


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## shaneckc (May 11, 2013)

Any advice on how to help this little dude grow faster? I feed him daily. He'll usually eat a few aphids a day before he loses interest in them. I've been doing my best to keep the humidity and temperature up in his habitat as well. Does anyone know where I can get mantis steroids? (Just kidding :lol: )


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## hibiscusmile (May 11, 2013)

He just needs bigger food, I think what he has is not fulfilling his tummy. And he is tired of chicken...


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## jrh3 (May 11, 2013)

he should be eating hydei flies, the above member sells them on her site and she sends tons of them on a producing culture, lol.


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## ladygigi (May 16, 2013)

D_Hemptress said:


> it looks like a little stagmo to me as well. but you cant sex them until later in life. the last time i tried to guess that i had a boy it ended up being a girl
> 
> p.s. its amazing to me that you saw that little dude. before keeping mantids i had never seen any that size





WolfPuppy said:


> Yep, looks like it's probably a stagmomantis limbata. I have a few L1's of that species too. It's impossible to tell if they are male or female until about L3 or L4, but congratulations!


I find it interesting that you are saying that it looks like a Stagmomantis because it looks just like my Iris Oratoria nymphs as well. . .


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## Dartania (May 17, 2013)

Welcome to this wonderfully weird &amp; interesting world!


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## shaneckc (May 18, 2013)

Geoffrey ate his first spider yesterday. I'm a proud dad haha!


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## Coneja (May 18, 2013)

Haha, isn't it funny how proud we get of them over each of their new accomplishments?


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## sally (May 18, 2013)

Good job Geoffrey!


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## Crazy4mantis (May 20, 2013)

wow you're doing a great job with your first mantis!

He might have gotten out because the lid wasn't tightly on? also, L1s usually molt pretty quickly, so any day now! these are a native species so they shouldn't need extra humidity or temps.

My little ones usually go in one of these bad boys

http://www.mantidpets.com/shop/article_57/32-oz.-Nymph-Cup.html?shop_param=cid%3D5%26aid%3D57%26

so I admire your setup! :lol:


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## shaneckc (May 23, 2013)

So I just noticed today that Geoffrey has molted!! I came home from work and saw his old exoskeleton sitting at the bottom of his habitat =) he seems to be better at climbing already!


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## Coneja (May 23, 2013)

Hurrah! That's always exciting.


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## ladygigi (May 23, 2013)

Congrats Geoffrey! Oh-and you too Daddy! LOL :lol:


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## shaneckc (Jun 15, 2013)

So it's been 23 days since Geoffrey molted from L1 to L2. I've been feeding him as generously as possible. At least every other day I'll find him a decent fruit fly or small moth that seem to be a pretty big meal for the little guy. I'm just anxious for him to molt again but it seems like 23 days makes the L2-L3 molt a little past due. Also, after feeding, his abdomen has been swelling so I can see the segments on the underside more clearly now. I think I count only six... Geoffrey may be a girl!?


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## shaneckc (Jun 15, 2013)

Here's a few recent pics and vids of him eating.


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## Nicolas (Jun 15, 2013)

curled up abdomen, may be a large species. congrats, i hope geoffrey makes it to adulthood!


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## DinehCaveman (Jun 15, 2013)

I also came across a stagmomantis nymph at work, it crawled across my monitor screen. I thought it was a big ant at first. Looked trippy backlit by a colorful hi def screen, so of course it took it home, I don't come across nymphs in the "wild".


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## shaneckc (Jun 20, 2013)

28 days since Geoffreys first molt... Today I tried feeding him and he played around with his prey for a bit but did not fully grab it or eat anything. He looks plump after his few large meals from a couple days ago, and he's just been hanging out at the top of his habitat. I made sure his habitat is nice and humid for him and put him back in by himself. I'm really hoping that he will molt today or tomorrow.


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## Nicolas (Jun 20, 2013)

If he's just flicking the prey around, he may be ready to molt. My subadult female Hierodula M. Is doing that, and I see the wing-buds are very "hard" looking and she is ready to molt.

Good luck with Geoffrey!


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## shaneckc (Jun 21, 2013)

Well, I went to check on Geoffrey and he was mid molt, which was exciting. But he appears to have molted without one of his rear legs. Bummer :blush: . I don't know what I could have done to help avoid this?


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## shaneckc (Jun 21, 2013)

He just finished molting and it looks like the leg came off during the molt. I can see it in the old exoskeleton. I'm a little worried about him developing an infection, now.


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## Nicolas (Jun 21, 2013)

In your sponge cage, it will be unlikely. Just feed him anything but store bought crickets and mist daily, and he will be fine.

Can you post a pic of him?


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## shaneckc (Jun 21, 2013)

Sorry about the poor quality. That's zoomed in with an iPhone 4 camera. I didn't want to reset the moist paper towels on top after I just refurbished his habitat. I'll get a better pic when I take him out for feeding in the next day or two. Hopefully I'll finally be able to accurately determine his gender after this molt, as well. If Geoffrey turns out to be a girl, I'll rename him 'Tripod.'


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## sally (Jun 21, 2013)

The leg may come back after the next molt, hopefully


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## Sticky (Jun 21, 2013)

If you can dab alittle honey where his leg broke off. It is mildly antibacterial. Keep the humidity down acouple of days too. They love humidity.


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