# How did YOU get into mantids?



## izbiggs (Jul 27, 2017)

How did you all get into mantids? I'm curious how everybody found these amazing pets and got addicted to them!  

For me, I was fooling around on the internet when I discovered that you could actually order bugs online. I had always been a bug person, having caught and kept black widows and other spiders, and was naturally intrigued. I narrowed my list down to mantids and actually spent about a month researching and combing the internet for the best place to buy a mantis! I decided to get two to start, an African and a ghost. When my mantids arrived, my African was molting and I had a near disaster, which is what prompted me to join the forum in a panic searching for a way to save my mantis. Thus I discovered the rewarding world of mantis keeping! (Don't worry, the mantis was saved  ).

Comment your own story!


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## hymenopus (Jul 27, 2017)

I was given a mantid by an entomologist and it was a Sphodromantis viridis and then I was in!


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## hymenopus (Jul 27, 2017)

I mean lineola


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## CosbyArt (Jul 29, 2017)

I got started by finding a Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) early one morning outside of work after a night of below freezing temps in the fall. With another freezing night ahead I took her home and searched online for information on how to care for her, and discovered the forum and hobby.  

Susanna lived several more months, gave me many several fertile ooths, and started a life new direction for me. There are photos of her in my original introduction post, a few follow-up posts, and elsewhere.


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## River Dane (Jul 30, 2017)

Fall, 2016, just last year, I was looking at types of snakes I wanted, when somehow, the internet lead me to ants. From there, I was obsessed with the idea of having an ant colony. This eventually lead me to other bugs you can keep as pets, including mantises. That's when I realized I love mantises. I started looking for mantises online and stuff and discovered some pretty cool websites that sold them. Unfortunately, I lost interest, until recently, like, literally this May, my love was renewed when I found a Chinese mantis at my local garden center. I named him Mandarin.

Currently, I have two mantises, Catalina (_S. californica, _female), and Jakarta (_D. desiccata, _female). I owned many more, but I went to visit my grandmother in Okinawa, and I released some of them, but a series of disasters killed many of the others...


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## Condodweller (Jul 31, 2017)

Great topic. I recently started collecting a few bugs. I don't know why. I have some isopods( sow bugs, pill bugs and a couple of millipedes ) and that got me searching the internet for other insects as well. Low and behold the wonderful  world of mantids! The wonderful world of fruit flies. An so it goes.


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## Teamonger (Jul 31, 2017)

I got my first mantis from a work mate when he bought an eggsac from the hardware store (sold as natural pest control) as a fun project to do with his kids. Upon it hatching myself an 2 other coworkers demanded nymphs of our own. I was instantly smitten! Unfortunately Vansickle did not make it to adult but he was the start of many many mantises to come. I am now known as "The Crazy Bug Lady" at work as I went ALL IN while the rest of the bug group lost interest.


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## Aquaticcreature (Jul 31, 2017)

I always loved orchid mantids, but I didn't know you could buy them. I went into a pet shop to buy some mice, and saw a Indian flower mantis. I said, "that's cool, but I wish I could get an orchid mantis." Turns out they had them! I told them I would be back on pay day. I came back three days later and bought one. Then I bought a shield and chinese mantis the next week. I knew I was truly an addict when I bought an ooth and kept all the nymphs. I am currently taking care of 86 chinese mantis babies.


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## Ocelotbren (Aug 3, 2017)

I had never seen a mantis in the wild and had certainly never even considered that they could be kept as pets, or that they would make such cool pets.  Last fall, a friend of mine mentioned that he had a praying mantis at his desk at work at one point and the idea sounded super interesting to me so I went home and looked into keeping praying mantises, first out of curiosity but soon enough with the intent of getting one.

As it turns out, I think he meant that one had gotten into the office and was hanging out in his cubicle, not that he had kept it as a pet, haha.  Oh well, it led me in the direction of mantid keeping either way so I am happy.  I bought two Chinese nymphs and raising them myself confirmed that I am officially in love with the hobby!


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## steeve (Aug 4, 2017)

I... caught an imperial moth at work. After not having insects for quite a few years catching that big and beautiful moth made me remember how cool they are. 

Next day I went hunting in my yard for some bugs, found a l3 or l4 Carolina mantis, and started reading all about mantis keep. Only then did I learn there was a whole world I didn't even know about!


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## Exvas18 (Aug 4, 2017)

I was completing a Biology project earlier this year, when I found myself looking for an example of an invertebrate, specifically an inscect. I was looking up images, then remembered how cool praying mantids were. So I went and modified my search for mantids. That's when I found a wikihow image about how to keep mantids.

I got sidetracked for like 2 hours researching these guys, going to videos, websites, anything. I studied these creatures for over a month, and finally on my birthday which just passed this summer, I was ordered my Giant Asian Mantis from Panterra Pets; and that's how I ended up with this amazing insect.


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## Skye Caden (Aug 12, 2017)

One day I learned a little bit about the mantis online and thought, "That would be such a great pet to have." So, when my mom found a mantis clinging to her car door, she decided to bring him to me. I caught food each day for him, took him for walks around the kitchen, and made sure I did a lot of research on mantises. The more I learned, the more I became fascinated with these ferocious predators. My favorite animal has been the praying mantis for several years now and I leap at any chance to have more.


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## Jamesp2112 (Aug 14, 2017)

I had a roommate when I was huge into tarantulas, I'm still in hobby but I'm no longer 40 species thick lol. I got him into spiders, an one day he showed up with a centipede, and 2 ghost mantis. They were so cool, they even changed color with molts. So fast forward  4 years and I'm back to focusing on my tarantulas, reading articles on change g scientific names and putting together a wish list. And once again my roommate  comes home with mantids, this time m venosa? Or so I belive. And he says you have to meet my mantis guy he can get anything. 2 weeks later I had 4 ottomantis scutigera. Whih dispite there  small stature are so awsome. Il, probably always have a mantid now.


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## GingerC (Aug 15, 2017)

I had first heard of pet mantises a year and a half or so ago; the idea intrigued me, and I wanted one, but I decided not to get one because I was afraid my mom wouldn't tolerate feeders in the house. Eventually, though, I saw a forum post about a pet mantis named Aaron Burr, which renewed my interest.

That very same day, my little brother was pestering the parental units about getting a pet, and I offhandedly suggested a mantis. Three months of research later, we got our first _H. membranacea _nymphs in the mail on Christmas Eve!  

His nymph didn't make it to adulthood, but my mantis (named George) is still alive to this day. He's a male and he molted into adulthood at the start of April, I think that's pretty darn old for a male of his species. He ended up being my gateway into being allowed to have all sorts of pets, from geckos to crayfish, and I'm ordering another batch of nymphs once cold weather rolls around.


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## Digger (Aug 15, 2017)

Eight years ago I was visited by an adult male Tenodera sinensis in Princeton, NJ.  It was a quiet Sunday afternoon and he was on the screen door of my porch.  I'd read about mantids being kept as pets, and (being a scientist) was curious.  So I asked if he wanted to come in and look around.  He really liked the free-food environment (especially yummy moths) and quickly took to hand feeding.  I was hooked.


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## MantisRCool (Aug 16, 2017)

I wanted to get a snake, so I went to this expo drunk. Bought a pair of stick insects for some reason. I was always scared of bugs and didnt even know there were such things and sticks insects or different kinds of mantids. I think the guy let the stick insect onto my hand and I was like, to heck with my fear if insects finally. So I got these and while reading up on different stick insects I got to articles about mantids. And I was like wow, I need that lol. So the next expo there was a seller with mantids and I got 2 lineolas and since then, I am hooked. I no more keep stick insects, but I've kept and bred many a mantis and also started to keep tarantulas. I am no longer afraid of insects or spiders and it has been an amazing hobby that helps me with my depression also.


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## moldveien (Aug 17, 2017)

Well as I kid I wanted a reptile as a pet, but at the time (actually until 15.08.2017 which was 2 days ago ) Reptiles and amphibians were 100% banned, in Norway! So i wondered to myself if there was other cool thing i could have as a pet. I discovered people keeping T's and scorpions, so naturally the question was do people keep other insects? I knew people kept phasmids as they were common in pet shops, and I had no clue was a mantis was as we dont have any native species in Norway, so after keeping stick insects for 1 year or so I go on bugzuk.com and discover these nifty little creatures named mantids, my first ever mantis was a hierodula grandis it didnt get to adult hood as it was my first carnivore I had ever kept and i really understimated the care they needed and it died in a mismoult. Now a couple of years later I keep alot of mantis and love them all   Right now my current species are: Gongylus gongylodus, Rhombodera. cf megaera, Phyllotelys breve, phyllocrania paradoxa, and Parasphendale agrigonia, and probobly mores to come, I hope to breed most if not all of my species to share this beautifull hobby with others in my country as most people just keep T's or GALS here so want to spread it some more ^^


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## Orin (Aug 18, 2017)

I used to catch them in the field across the street and kept them as pets. In my teens I saw some amazing dead specimens from Peru and elsewhere in an entomology collection at a local college. I tried to order them from reptile dealers for years but nobody ever came through. I think my first exotics were some _Heirodula patellifera_ nymphs from Hatari in 1994.


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## SpaceWolf (Aug 18, 2017)

I was looking to buy a lizard when the internet showed me some websites with different beetles and some mantids. Intrigued, I searched forth and discovered more and more about these wonderful little creatures. Something about them is just SO fascinating, the way they watch their surroundings, the way they walk and climb. The speed they have when catching prey and how they eat. I just knew I had to have them, so after a long search I finally found the ideal mantis: the ghost mantis. Not only because of its beauty in color and shape but also because you can house them in groups. I never really wanted a lone mantis, also because I love to create a real working vivarium with different bugs in them. Part of the fun is creating a life-like little forest in a box. I've always been fascinated by nature and learned to observe a lot, now I can create and observe.


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## MantisRCool (Aug 19, 2017)

moldveien said:


> Well as I kid I wanted a reptile as a pet, but at the time (actually until 15.08.2017 which was 2 days ago ) Reptiles and amphibians were 100% banned, in Norway! So i wondered to myself if there was other cool thing i could have as a pet. I discovered people keeping T's and scorpions, so naturally the question was do people keep other insects? I knew people kept phasmids as they were common in pet shops, and I had no clue was a mantis was as we dont have any native species in Norway, so after keeping stick insects for 1 year or so I go on bugzuk.com and discover these nifty little creatures named mantids, my first ever mantis was a hierodula grandis it didnt get to adult hood as it was my first carnivore I had ever kept and i really understimated the care they needed and it died in a mismoult. Now a couple of years later I keep alot of mantis and love them all   Right now my current species are: Gongylus gongylodus, Rhombodera. cf megaera, Phyllotelys breve, phyllocrania paradoxa, and Parasphendale agrigonia, and probobly mores to come, I hope to breed most if not all of my species to share this beautifull hobby with others in my country as most people just keep T's or GALS here so want to spread it some more ^^


Wow reptiles are banned? That's crazy! Any idea why? Cause it's not like they can survive in Norway if some irresponsible keeper lets them out lol. Glad you found something that isnt, life with pets is way better than without in my opinion lol. Mantids especially


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## Connor (Aug 19, 2017)

I just recently got into mantids about 2 weeks ago after finding a sub adult European mantis outside and absolutely captured by the intelligence of the animal. I later looked online for advice and came across this forum. Very soon after I ordered some more and became absolutely addicted.... I really need to slow myself down haha!


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## moldveien (Aug 20, 2017)

MantisRCool said:


> Wow reptiles are banned? That's crazy! Any idea why? Cause it's not like they can survive in Norway if some irresponsible keeper lets them out lol. Glad you found something that isnt, life with pets is way better than without in my opinion lol. Mantids especially


They were, as I said they legalized some species on the 15th of august so 5 days ago   (getting a crestie ^^) The reason was back in the 70s the hobby was still rather new and most pet reptiles started dying off around winter time so to stop the importing and then killing of animals they just banned them, then it took forever to legalize them again.


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## Jessie (Aug 20, 2017)

My story is a bit longer haha.

When I was kid I realized I loved animals ten times more then people, I got bullied alot in school. I also suffered PTSD from kids chasing me into the girls bathroom in 6th grade. It just came to me one day that I would love a praying mantis. Bugsey was my first mantis, I sang to him every night. He and I had such a bond, that I would risk my own life for my mantis's. Then in feb my cat Tigger passed away from a sudden heart attack. If it wasn't for Bugsey I would've been alot worse. Then not long after my 6th year old cat Prince was diegonsed with kidney failure stage 4. I remember bawling my eyes out, and I looked at mantis's to distract myself. I found a cat eyed mantis. ( Heterochaeta cf occidentalis) And bought him. Realized life was to short and I thought he looked awesome looking.

They have saved my life in more ways then one.


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## wetterdew (Sep 5, 2017)

That's a good question...it wasn't even that long ago, but I can't really remember!  I've always really admired mantises, even though I've only seen a few of them in the wild in my life.  They seem so elegant and beautiful, as well as intelligent and otherworldly.  There's something special about the way they react to people, almost like they know a secret we've long forgotten.  I'm pretty sure I came across a picture, video, or article of a mantis earlier this year or maybe last year and decided to see how long they live and how they are as pets.  The more I read, the more I wanted one.

I've never really had a pet before other than an anole when I was a kid, but I was excited to try.  I'm a huge bird fan, but I don't want to lock them up in a cage or a house, and I also can't commit to over a decade of care.  Mantises are such a perfect pet for me now.  I hope they are happy, as well.


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## bugboymark (Sep 6, 2017)

Way WAY back in kindergarten (70s)...my friend brought in a Chinese mantis for "show and tell".  I was completely engrossed.  I couldn't believe how gigantic they were!  Have been fascinated (borderline fixated) by all insects and most other wildlife ever since...but the mantis was always #1.  A few years after the kindergarten intro, I was visiting my uncle in S. IL , near Vandalia, during Labor Day, and he showed me a bunch of places where he would regularly see mantises (Tenodera and Stagmo).  This REALLY got me going and I've been collecting and raising both species ever since. Gave Europeans a shot for a couple years, but they were surprisingly difficult to raise.  Anyhow, I've even been able to recruit my high school boy's help in finding these critters (and their food) over the last half dozen years. Lost one to college this year, but the other high schooler is still put to work on occasion. The upside phones these days is the high quality photography capability...so we've both captured some great pictures of mantises over the last few years as well. 

One of these days, I'll post some photos of the 3 Chinese and 3 Carolina mantids I'm raising...plus the dozens more I find living wild around our neighborhood in the NW 'Burbs of Chicago.


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## Carnival Glass (Oct 3, 2017)

Last year around November, right around the time the temp gets to freezing, my boss and I found a beautiful HUGE mantis clinging to the wall by our smoker's patio. I had never seen one up close before and felt awful that she was sitting there in the cold and would probably die so I scooped her up and took her home. She lived a looong time after, while snow was falling outside! She gave me some fertile ooths and I released those in the spring. As she was getting old, I'd take her out on my palm and she seemed to really enjoy the warmth.. Had a soft spot for them ever since!  :wub:


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## Serle (Oct 3, 2017)

I found my first Tenodera around this time of year . Not realizing they are naturalized in our area (B.C.) and not having seen one here before , I found that I was one of few people that had not. Started researching mantids and now raise 3 species ............  S


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## snuhan (Oct 4, 2017)

I'm really into tarantulas, but as a minor I've got to yield to the parents TT One day a tarantula enthusiast I followed on Youtube posted a video about their Giant African mantis, talking about how fascinating it was as the mantis followed the camera around with those big bug eyes (&lt;3). I was pretty instantly smitten, and now I've got an L3 Spiny Flower and an L2(or L3? I bought it at Repticon just this past weekend and it molted yesterday, so I suspect L2. The thing was barely the size of an ant!) Twig as my first mantids and I'm having quite a time!! they really are sweethearts :^)


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## Ocelotbren (Oct 4, 2017)

snuhan said:


> I'm really into tarantulas, but as a minor I've got to yield to the parents TT One day a tarantula enthusiast I followed on Youtube posted a video about their Giant African mantis, talking about how fascinating it was as the mantis followed the camera around with those big bug eyes (&lt;3). I was pretty instantly smitten, and now I've got an L3 Spiny Flower and an L2(or L3? I bought it at Repticon just this past weekend and it molted yesterday, so I suspect L2. The thing was barely the size of an ant!) Twig as my first mantids and I'm having quite a time!! they really are sweethearts :^)


So your parents won't allow tarantulas, but will allow mantids?  Interesting!  Is it just the general stigma around spiders?


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## snuhan (Oct 4, 2017)

Ocelotbren said:


> So your parents won't allow tarantulas, but will allow mantids?  Interesting!  Is it just the general stigma around spiders?


Yea, I think that's all of it. I think they're scared of it getting out...? I don't quite understand it, haha, but they seem to actually kind of like the mantis since it's still small and sweet looking :^) Couldn't pay em to feed or hold it, tho :^P


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## Ocelotbren (Oct 4, 2017)

snuhan said:


> Yea, I think that's all of it. I think they're scared of it getting out...? I don't quite understand it, haha, but they seem to actually kind of like the mantis since it's still small and sweet looking :^) Couldn't pay em to feed or hold it, tho :^P


Haha that is the general opinion of most friends and family for me too.  Cool to look at, but keep it away!  I have gotten my husband to hold them a couple times though.


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## OmniXVII (Oct 4, 2017)

Simply put, I stumbled across some Youtube videos about mantids and they absolutely fascinated me. There's something so interesting about them. They're literally bug-eyed aliens with scythes for hands, THAT YOU CAN HAVE AS A PET.

I can watch videos about mantids for hours, and watch my pet mantis eat and be genuinely entertained by it. They're beautiful, have amazing variety between species, and are cute but deadly at the same time.


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## JettyDoor (Oct 24, 2017)

We hatch them every year for the farm and garden, so I grew up with the joy of hatching nymphs. I saw orchid mantises and fell in love with the buggies, and started researching them, and then Peter said "Hey, we have some available Tuesday and we ship to MN year round.."


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## Cloud the Dinosaur King (Oct 30, 2017)

My dad had three _Mantis religiosa_ when he was a kid, and I found a subadult female _Stagmomantis carolina_ on the side of my house that I named Superclaw(I was 7!). I had her for 2 months before she got killed by a bumblebee. It just kind of went on from there.


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## Ocelotbren (Oct 30, 2017)

Cloud the Dinosaur King said:


> My dad had three _Mantis religiosa_ when he was a kid, and I found a subadult female _Stagmomantis carolina_ on the side of my house that I named Superclaw(I was 7!). I had her for 2 months before she got killed by a bumblebee. It just kind of went on from there.


Superclaw, love it.

I love reading everyone's stories too.


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## Zelda (Nov 5, 2017)

I'm a fan of a YouTuber called Taylor Nicole Dean and she has a lot of animals. I was binge watching her videos and I saw her talk about having a mantis. I was so surprised and instantly in love. A few months later, my neighbor (who loves pets as much as I do) started talking with me about mantis pets, and I figured with her support I should definitely get one right now.


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## Mantis Lady (Apr 29, 2018)

I spend a lot of time on youtube watching vids when I can't sleep and somehow I ended up on vids of ppl who are keeping mantids as pets. I kept watching more of these vids and got facinated by this beautiful insect with its triangled head en huge fore arms.  I started to look for information how to care for them. Then one night I decided to buy one to raise it myself.

I started to look for websites who sells them in my country and found one. I didn't want for my future mantis to sit in a box very long. I ordered my first mantis and some stuff to build a home. And that is how Cochise came into my life. Her home is standing on my desk so I can see her always. And in the evening I let her out for exploring. She loves to do that.

Last week I bought 3 other nymphs to raise.


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