# Homebrew Crew



## MX83Drifter (Feb 1, 2012)

Alright, I've decided to make a Medium sized enclosure for my Mantis. Now I only put her in here at night, I let her free roam in my closet garden during the day. Ive had her about a week now and man is she tame. So since I'm starting to really like my new friend I made this little spot for her at night. I made this out of an old file container, and supplies from home depot. Got the screen from home depot, and clear silicone. Cut the top off the file containers lid, and replaced with the screen. All the sticks I got from my back yard. The fake leaves are Exo Terra, and of course the heat mad is ZooMed. I'm getting a Night Heat Lamp soon. And all the sticks are held in place with Hot Glue.

Top View







Side View






Small pieces of bark... Rinsed in HOT water before putting in.






Before the Bark






The Lid






What's underneath, Getting a lamp soon.


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## hibiscusmile (Feb 1, 2012)

looks good, just make sure u have molting room and u good to go!


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## sporeworld (Feb 1, 2012)

Looks good. I suspect you'll need some side ventilation eventually. Keep an eye out for mold or mildew.


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## CoolMantid (Feb 1, 2012)

This is for the adult S. Limbata or S. Californica right?


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 1, 2012)

Stagmo Californica yea. Thanks every one, I was Planning on putting side vents yes, was gonna cut about 1" circles on put the screen.


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## Precarious (Feb 2, 2012)

I think it's awesome you let her free by day. I love doing that.


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 2, 2012)

Precarious said:


> I think it's awesome you let her free by day. I love doing that.


I think I've seen some of your videos on YouTube. I'm planning on getting some Idolo's here soon, gonna let them do about the same thing as you, make spots for em around my room towards the ceiling. From what Ive noticed with my friends, free roam animals tend to be alot happier. hahaha, A close friend of mine lets his panther chameleons live in his room, open air. its awesome.


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## Precarious (Feb 2, 2012)

MX83Drifter said:


> I think I've seen some of your videos on YouTube. I'm planning on getting some Idolo's here soon, gonna let them do about the same thing as you, make spots for em around my room towards the ceiling. From what Ive noticed with my friends, free roam animals tend to be alot happier. hahaha, A close friend of mine lets his panther chameleons live in his room, open air. its awesome.


Yeah, they take on a whole new personality when given space to roam. They become much more active and secure. I wish I had space to let my Heterochaeta sp. loose. I think they would really love it since they are so big. Just becomes a major chore to get them fed since they prefer flying prey. But a tree with 7 giant bugs on it would be pretty sweet.


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## Ruaumoko (Feb 2, 2012)

I was hoping that your title would lead to a thread about the merits of creating your own moonshine  sadly dissapointed lol


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 3, 2012)

LOL.... hahaha well i do know how to make some really good HomeBrew Wine? haha.


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## frogparty (Feb 3, 2012)

Homebrew wine....I'll pass.


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 3, 2012)

waiting for Idolo's


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## patrickfraser (Feb 3, 2012)

I know how to make pruno. :lol: Just kidding...or am I?


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 4, 2012)

Soooo, my Mantis is so awesome, I decided to take a video of her chillin on my hand. haha, I cant believe how tame she is for being wild. Sorry for the quality, it is 1080p.... but its shot with a GoPro, so no zooming in....

http://youtu.be/Q3JBuq4qlqs


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 13, 2012)

So, since the arrival of my Idolo's, I've been letting my Stagmo stay free range for a few days now. I woke up this morning, could not find her in her usual spot, I let the day go by thinking i might find her later. Well it got later and later and I started freaking out, thinking I lost my mantid, not to be seen again until found dead in my room... This was not the case... haha, I sat down, looked underneath my shelf to hold my plants, and this is who I found.






I promptly fed her a large cricket  I was not expecting to find this!






I doubt it's fertile, but I would like to try and hatch it either way.... Doe's anyone have an idea of how to get it out of that spot? I've never been in this situation, I'm not sure as how delicate these things are. Suggestions?


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## patrickfraser (Feb 13, 2012)

Give it a few days to dry out and it should just pop off.


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 13, 2012)

Nice, I figured it would have to dry, but I wasn't sure how long.


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## frogparty (Feb 13, 2012)

Awesome! You never know it might be fertile, they can store sperm


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## ismart (Feb 13, 2012)

There is a very good chance that ooth is fertile? Well if you caught her as an adult? Not to mention that ooth just looks fertile to me. Wait like three, or four days for the ooth to harden. Take a razor blade and cut it as close to the wood as possible.


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 15, 2012)

so it was pretty dry, and Im quite the inpatient person.... so this is how it looks... I sure hope its fertile..







and this is where I placed it. should be good here, its already very warm and humid in my closet.






and heres my little monkeys, I love the way they act, very hyper little mantids


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## Chivalry (Feb 15, 2012)

Good for incubation but trust me you're going to want a little bigger container and a lot more excelsior come hatch time. Congrats! I'd wager it's fertile, my wild caught girl laid at least 2 fertile oothecae.


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## Chivalry (Feb 15, 2012)

Hows that UTH working out on the plastic btw? The 'glass only!' all over the instructions freaked me out and I'm not using mine yet.


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 15, 2012)

haha yea I know, I was planning on getting a bunch of insect cups with the paper tops, keep all the little ones separate. I really hope i get some babies haha

As for the under tank heater, I took it out from underneath, i was starting to warp the bottom of the container. it was getting too hot for the plastic. so Im going to be putting it on a vivarium im building.


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## frogparty (Feb 15, 2012)

Nice. You can get the cups with lids at LLL reptile so you don't have to pay for shipping. And dart frogs don't need heaters. Save it for a different vivarium


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 15, 2012)

haha nice. then I wont be using that for a heater


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 18, 2012)

even though my mantids probably wont ever be going in here.... I still would like to share this with you guys....

My new Vivarium... I've been building for about a week now... leme know what you think!


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## frogparty (Feb 18, 2012)

NICE! I have some other plants that will fill it out nicely if you want some cuttings. Just hit me up.


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## CoolMantid (Feb 18, 2012)

That so cool! I jsut finish my terrarium too! One has a fern jungle and the other in a carnivorous plant terrarium


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 21, 2012)

So I was looking for my mantid in her free range, and I caught her in the act! haha laying an ooth...  the other one hasnt hatched yet, but im not going to give up yet.


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## frogparty (Feb 21, 2012)

Haha! That's rad! Too bad the little ones don't eat spider mites. But I bet they eat white fly


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 22, 2012)

haha I know right. either way, its cool she laid the ooths.


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## brancsikia339 (Feb 22, 2012)

Awesome! You caught her. Plus that was a really nice terrarium.


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 22, 2012)

Thanks bud! It's my first "pro" vivarium build. I spent a good amount of time on it, didn't expect it to turn out like it did. I plan to build more here in the near future.


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## CoolMantid (Feb 22, 2012)

Hope it hatches!


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## Mvalenz (Feb 23, 2012)

What a nice girl to leave you a gift.


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## MX83Drifter (Feb 23, 2012)

haha Indeed she is, I really hope the ooth's hatch though... got my fingers crossed!


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## sinensispsyched (Feb 24, 2012)

My fingers are crossed, too!


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