# Beanie Baby Boxes



## herpsnstuff

Was just wondering if these would be suitable for housing mantids, I used to breed betta fish and they were great for individually housing them...

They usually measure around 4.5"x4.5"x7.5" and are nice for storing lots together on shelves


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## Rick

Do they look like they can be used for mantids? If you think they will work then use them. I use all kinds of things to house mantids.


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## herpsnstuff

yep they look good may need some modifying in the lid department though nothing a glue gun,etc can't fix....


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## 13ollox

that sounds ok to me for nymphs i but i personally wouldn't put my adults in them unless i was keeping very small species, also ventalation might be an issue if you stack em up together. ill let someone else post on this because im not THE expert in this field .

thanks

Neil


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## herpsnstuff

cheers guys, was also thinking of the 2.5 gallon aquariums you can get with the slide in glass dividers to house 3 different creatures


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## julian camilo

i dont know about beanie babys but i googled it, is this what you mean?

http://www.bcwsupplies.com/prod-BEANBOX6.htm

if so, thats looks to be a good container for mantids in general. however, ventilation is a problem as its a solid tight-fit lid. sooo.... you could replace the lid with some mesh and an elastic band, that would work well. or you could replace part of the lid with some mesh, a bit like in this thread:

http://www.mantidforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2909

though that plastic in your beanie boxes looks pretty tough to cut through so maybe not. maybe a hot knife? i really dont know, i'm sorry. or try drilling holes in the side of the container for cross ventilation but obviously this is a problem if youre using fruit flies or other flies. so yeh sorry ive not been much help, i'm sure someone else can answer it better. good luck.

edit: that divider thing would be useful for housing, say, males and female of a species, and when the time comes for mating, taking out the dividers and letting them get down to it, thne putting the dividiers back. that sounds like a really useful feature. or for thinning down hatchlings of an ootheca into three groups for example.or keeping a fruit fly culture in one division and hatchlings in the other two, and opening the division when its time for feeding and keeping it closed at other times? maybe my imagination is running a bit too wild here, but still that divider tank sounds great


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## herpsnstuff

yes thats what I mean although you can normally find them pretty cheap on ebay lol...... the brittleness of the plastic on the lid could be the only problem I think, but a hot knife should get through it (would hope lol)


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## Rick

> cheers guys, was also thinking of the 2.5 gallon aquariums you can get with the slide in glass dividers to house 3 different creatures


I have a bunch of those small tanks. They work great for mantids. I also cut a notch in the middle so I can use the divider in the middle to house two mantids. Gives you more options.


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## francisco

Hello All,

I use both the small terrariums with 3 divisons and the Benie babies display boxes.

On the boxes I always drill a series of holes on the top, then put some peatmoss as substrate (aprox~.5-1 inch)

and some small braches or artificial flowers.

I use them whenever I need to show my mantids like at Insect shows,schol presentations or at the Museum Insect zoo.

They are easy to carry, light weight and really nice to show off your Mantids,Small phasmids or small beetles.

Regards

to all.

FT


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## rickyc666

those beanie baby boxes are good. i used to use a soldering iron to melt a big hole in the top without the risk of breaking/cracking the plastic, then hot melt or glue some stainless steel/aluminium gauze into it for decent ventilation.

That is a bit time consuming so i have since made a simple tool out of thin sheet metal (so it heats quickly) that looks a bit like those things used for cutting shapes out of pastry, except mine is square. Then hold it in a pair of mole grips, heat it over the gas stove for a few seconds and push it through any plastic lid/tank for a clean(ish) cut hole.

You can make loads quickly that way and every hole is the same size so you just need to glue mesh over it.


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## julian camilo

thats a great idea, although if you use alot of different containers, it might not be as time saving. but i'll try that for sure, thanks.


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## rickyc666

glad you like it.

i used to get the from a local shop which has since closed down. And like a muppet i threw loads away coz i knew id never use them again...now i now i was wrong and i want more, but ill never learn.

I notice your from london, let me know if you find anywhere that supplies them from the uk so the shipping isnt as much as from the US.

I tried briefly but had no luck.

cheers


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