# New house for Twiggy Girl



## Burmeister (Sep 23, 2018)

Hi I’m BRAND new to this scene. We found Twiggy Girl outside,  I found a cheap terrarium and purchased coconut fibre substrate, some sticks from outside and a couple of silk plants from the pet store. I thought  she’d love her playground but she literally spends every minute hanging on the lid!  

Also is it really necessary to put pill bugs in there? My daughter was worried about that for some reason.


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## ausar318 (Sep 24, 2018)

What are you talking about _a cheap terrarium_?!? It looks amazing! It is really big, though, so you will have to be mindful that she can find food. Although most wild mantids are pretty aggressive when it comes to hunting, so you probably won’t have any issues. 

And just so you know, mantids LOVE to hang upside down on the lids. No matter how awesome you make your enclosure look, most still hang off the ceiling. There are a few flower mantis species, though, that prefer to stand upright on the leaves etc, but their species names can’t come to mind. 

Your setup would be absolutely perfect for a handful of Ghost mantids. They can be kept communally, so you could probably have 8-10 of them in that terrarium. They are really fun to keep, and if you decide to venture into the world of exotic mantids, I would recommend these to start.


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## MantisGirl13 (Sep 24, 2018)

Wow! That is a beautiful terrarium!

Don't worry about cheap looking cages; most of us use deli cups and most of my mantids are housed in nice-sized dollar store tupperware containers! @Synapze uses old cheeseball containers, so don't worry about cheap!

That is perfect for her, and I agree with @ausar318, that would make a PERFECT setup for ghosts.

- MantisGirl13


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## Mantis Lady (Sep 24, 2018)

Burmeister said:


> I thought  she’d love her playground but she literally spends every minute hanging on the lid!


The lid is the favorite spot to hang for mantis. I thought at first too, making a home to climb and stuff but my mantis was always hanging on the lid.?


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## Aristalochia (Sep 24, 2018)

Hi, nice setup. Whats the concern with the pillpugs? They arent necessary, but will clean up the scraps of bugs your mantis tosses out, helping to discouarage things like mites. Springtails will do the same job basicly, if you dont want to use isopods(aka pill bugs, rollie pollies, sow bugs)


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## Prayingmantisqueen (Sep 25, 2018)

Nice! Looks great.

Pill bugs (Isopods), are really good at cleaning up poo and left over feeder insects like Aristalochia mentioned. They help out with the nastys ? so you don't have to clean as often. 

Btw your mantis looks alot better and alot happier than when you found her!


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## Burmeister (Sep 27, 2018)

Thanks for the replies, I'll find a couple outside


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## Synapze (Sep 27, 2018)

MantisGirl13 said:


> Synapze uses old cheeseball﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ containers, so don't worry ﻿ab﻿out cheap!


@MantisGirl13 I know, right?! ?  I see everyone's setups and almost feel sorry for my mantids. I just happened to buy a new batch of cheesy poofs today... going to be needing it soon. I told my spouse that I needed it emptied in 2 weeks. ?

Very nice enclosure, @Burmeister. You have a lucky mantis.


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## Burmeister (Sep 27, 2018)

Lol I never thought about plastic containers but I only paid $10 for the tank. I’m really excited about the Ghost Mantids but where do I even start looking. I’m located in south west British Columbia near Vancouver


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## Mantis Lady (Sep 27, 2018)

Synapze said:


> . I just happened to buy a new batch of cheesy poofs today... going to be needing it soon. I told my spouse that* I needed it emptied in 2 weeks.*


Haha, i had to laugh when i was reading that. Here we don't have big botles or cups in grocerie store that is useful for a mantis home. Hot my homes from pet stores I changed into mantis homes.


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## MantisGirl13 (Sep 27, 2018)

Synapze said:


> @MantisGirl13 I know, right?! ?  I see everyone's setups and almost feel sorry for my mantids. I just happened to buy a new batch of cheesy poofs today... going to be needing it soon. I told my spouse that I needed it emptied in 2 weeks. ?
> 
> Very nice enclosure, @Burmeister. You have a lucky mantis.


 Lol   That's funny

- MantisGirl13


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