# Maso Jar enclosures



## mtolosa (Jun 18, 2013)

Hello!

I'm the new member who got into mantids because they hatched in our Christmas tree ^_^ I'm looking for ways to be active in the forums, so I thought I'd share the enclosures I came up with for housing my little guys until spring rolled around and it was warm enough for release.

I do some canning for fun and also use mason jars as cups and vases, so I had a whole lot of pint sized jars in my cupboards... why not use my various sizes of jars for mantis enclosures, right?? They come in all sorts of sizes, and you can get them at local hardware stores or even thrift stores for about $.99 each. As he got older, I ended up keeping my big male in a 2 gallon pickle jar from Goodwill (I don't think I have a photo of that one though).

They were really low-fi. Just a jar with a fabric square on top (I screwed the lid ring over it to secure it), paper towels (and eventually pebbles) on the bottom, and twigs for hanging and climbing.

As my male aged he got pretty gimpy from various wars with ants and crickets, and he began to have trouble climbing the glass but for the growing nymphs they had no problem.


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## ScienceGirl (Jun 18, 2013)

How attractive!  They look like picnic items! Hmmm... Let's see, I'll take five nymphs to the picnic... For a romp, of course. Not for eating!


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## lancaster1313 (Jun 18, 2013)

They look cool, but many mantids can't climb glass and will stress themselves out if they can't climb the sides. Sticks are usually not enough, in my experience, unless many sticks and leaves are glued to sides. Some mantids will continue to try to climb up the glass even if there is a stick right behind, or to the side of them.

You can glue grippable material (like cloth or screen, My favorite is to glue silk plants and flowers.) to part of the inside that they will appreciate climbing.


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## angelofdeathzz (Jun 18, 2013)

They are nice but, what she ^ said, plus most mantis go to the very top which you can't see with that material all over as a lid, so if you move it to check on them during a molt it could spell disaster, fine screen mesh may be a better alternative.

But hey your heart is in the right place.


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## DinehCaveman (Jun 19, 2013)

I second angelofdeathzz. I had used single ply paper towel to cover a lid and did not see that mantis was molting. It was 95% done molting lost half a back leg, not a catastrophe but unnecessary. I now use white organza fabric to cover vent holes and lids. Hope this is helpful.


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## Rick (Jun 19, 2013)

They work but feeding becomes a hassle since you have to remove the cover every time and the mantis is usually on the underside of the lid.


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## jrh3 (Jun 19, 2013)

agreed , deli cups with a plug on top are the way to go. and bugtrader has a thread on some plastic cup mods that are great.


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## mtolosa (Jun 19, 2013)

As per your suggestions, I've glued grippy cloth to 1/2 of the inside for my next round of mantids! (only on half so I can still watch them through the fronts)

As far as molting, that was never an issue. It's a no-brainer to always look up and under the cloth before opening anything - I actually witnessed many molts like that, and even made two rescues from little guys who had fallen and hung them back up so they could live to see another day.

Feeding also wasn't ever a problem. I used stiff fabric, so whenever it was feeding time I just lifted them gently out on the cloth and let them have "play time" in my house plants while I cleaned the enclosures and got flies/crickets/whatever settled in there before putting them back in. I'd rather take 15 extra minutes for feeding and have cute enclosures than have them set up in deli containers since they lived on a display shelf above the island in our kitchen (easy access to water and supplies). I have a MA in Interior design, so... it has to look pretty! ^_^


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## Paradoxica (Jun 19, 2013)

I had a Taumantis live out her entire life in a mason jar with a bit of cheesecloth on top, she had no problems living there. However it definitely depends on the species of mantis.


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## Rick (Jun 19, 2013)

mtolosa said:


> As per your suggestions, I've glued grippy cloth to 1/2 of the inside for my next round of mantids! (only on half so I can still watch them through the fronts)
> 
> As far as molting, that was never an issue. It's a no-brainer to always look up and under the cloth before opening anything - I actually witnessed many molts like that, and even made two rescues from little guys who had fallen and hung them back up so they could live to see another day.
> 
> Feeding also wasn't ever a problem. I used stiff fabric, so whenever it was feeding time I just lifted them gently out on the cloth and let them have "play time" in my house plants while I cleaned the enclosures and got flies/crickets/whatever settled in there before putting them back in. I'd rather take 15 extra minutes for feeding and have cute enclosures than have them set up in deli containers since they lived on a display shelf above the island in our kitchen (easy access to water and supplies). I have a MA in Interior design, so... it has to look pretty! ^_^


That's all fine and dandy until you have hundreds of mantids. Much much easier to just have a feeding hole. And deli cups don't need to be spartan. But in your situation that seems like a fine setup.


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## mtolosa (Jun 19, 2013)

Rick said:


> That's all fine and dandy until you have hundreds of mantids. Much much easier to just have a feeding hole. And deli cups don't need to be spartan. But in your situation that seems like a fine setup.


I'm sure that's true. I wasn't trying to criticize deli cups as spartan or unattractive, so many apologies if I came off like that. I was just trying to share my alternative to pet store and/or plastic enclosures and explain how it worked for me, with my 15-20 mantids.

I'm sure that if I get many more I'll get tired of monitoring a room full of little ones that need to be tended individually and will jump whole-heartedly onto the deli cup bandwagon!


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## hibiscusmile (Jun 19, 2013)

They look good, nice idea, wish I would of thought of it! but u could use the screen glued to the lid, makes it nice the big fat hole they have, good job man!


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## RocknessMonster (Jun 20, 2013)

love the idea!!! That's usually where mine go between cleanings ^_^


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## mtolosa (Jun 21, 2013)

hibiscusmile said:


> They look good, nice idea, wish I would of thought of it! but u could use the screen glued to the lid, makes it nice the big fat hole they have, good job man!


The only reason I opted for the fabric is because it was on-hand when they hatched fromt he tree and I had to get them into jars; then I just used it for the next 6 months, but screen would work well. Someone mentioned organza too, which would be really nice. I'll have to go grab some while I wait for my new shipment of little mantids!


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## ScienceGirl (Jun 21, 2013)

mtolosa said:


> As per your suggestions, I've glued grippy cloth to 1/2 of the inside for my next round of mantids! (only on half so I can still watch them through the fronts)
> 
> As far as molting, that was never an issue. It's a no-brainer to always look up and under the cloth before opening anything - I actually witnessed many molts like that, and even made two rescues from little guys who had fallen and hung them back up so they could live to see another day.
> 
> Feeding also wasn't ever a problem. I used stiff fabric, so whenever it was feeding time I just lifted them gently out on the cloth and let them have "play time" in my house plants while I cleaned the enclosures and got flies/crickets/whatever settled in there before putting them back in. I'd rather take 15 extra minutes for feeding and have cute enclosures than have them set up in deli containers since they lived on a display shelf above the island in our kitchen (easy access to water and supplies). I have a MA in Interior design, so... it has to look pretty! ^_^


Nice!

Flies are definitely trouble when it comes to feeding. I like to have them nestled in a fold of netting in my insect net, so they'll stay in while I hold down the fold. Then I can pop the swaddled fly under the lid and close it, and then the fly can easily work its way out without getting loose. I hate it when they get loose in the house. . . Luckily, they like windows, and it's easy to release a mantis or frog onto a window so they can stalk the fly.


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