# Surprise New Mantids



## ohaple (Oct 12, 2018)

So, someone close to me ordered everything to setup for keeping mantids. After a few weeks, he has decided it is not for him and wants to give the setup to me. That means we are adding 2 more to our little group. Now with 6 mantids, we will need a proper place to put them all.

What I am nervous about is that one is a devil's flower mantis. We were not planning on caring for one of these since they seem to be the most difficult from what I have read. On top of that it is an L2 or L3, so it has many molts to go. I have read the caresheets and sticky thread on here for caring for them, but it looks like there isn't a consensus about humidity.

I will post photos when we get it all setup. Any tips for us? We went from having no inverts to now having 6 mantids, springtails, isopods, and 5 varieties of feeders all in the span of about 4 weeks. ?

One question about placement: We are hoping to get a piece of furniture to keep them all in the living room so they can be displayed and enjoyed. Are mantids bothered by lights or sound? We have a modest home theater system in the living room that we use each night. I remember reading they have some rudimentary hearing for high frequencies, but I also imagine their antennae will be able to detect bass frequencies. Is there any problem with keeping them ~15-20ft from a home theater subwoofer? Do they dislike active areas?


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## PowerHobo (Oct 12, 2018)

Congrats on the surprise additions!

I don't have any experience with them (their care intimidates me), but the more and more I read, it seems as though their humidity requirements are actually fairly low due to the region they're from and the season in which they hatch/mature.


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## Graceface (Oct 12, 2018)

One person's loss is another's gain! Congrats on the new additions. 

Seems like they will be fine in the same room as your entertainment center as long as it isn't cranked really loud or they arent close to the speakers. Have you tried an experiment to see if a movie/show at typical volumes vibrates the cups/enclosures in their chosen location? That would be my concern. If they are molting the vibrations would possibly disturb them. 

I haven't tried raising Devils Flowers for the same reasons you listed. There are a few people I've seen posting about their care and humidity levels recently here, so maybe they can help answer your care questions. I seem to remember reading that the area in Africa they are from has dry and also rainy seasons, so they may require different humidity based on their instar. Good luck!

Pictures of the new friends are always appreciated ??


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## ohaple (Oct 12, 2018)

Thanks guys. I have not run a test, but I will do so. Good idea. I do not think that the 1/8" acrylic will be disturbed much by the levels we listen at.

The other he is giving me is a peacock mantis. It is a very fun looking species as well, but is easier to care for than the devils flower. I am most worried about the heat requirement.

We are working on having our isopod and springtail cultures grow so that we can continue to have a few bioactive enclosures.

Also, the recent post here about an Invertory app made me investigate other options to use while that app is in development. "Reptile Help and Care" app is free on android and has good basic features for tracking your mantids. While it doesn't have some specific options I would like, it is more convenient than a notebook.


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## Mantis Lady (Oct 12, 2018)

Gratz on your new additions.  I have no experenence with them,  You can find vids about them on youtube. They are for sure beautiful.

What I know they need a lot of heat and high humidity. I hope you can help him/her to reach adulthood, Good luck .

I would like to see some pics of your new mantids.


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## ohaple (Oct 12, 2018)

I only have a couple pictures since I am picking them up tomorrow.


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 12, 2018)

They are beautiful mantids! I hope you can give them a good home.

- MantisGirl13


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## Mantis Lady (Oct 13, 2018)

They are beautiful


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## hysteresis (Oct 13, 2018)

Wow. Jelly! So amazing!

Enjoy! ??


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## ohaple (Oct 14, 2018)

Got them home and set up yesterday. Now that we have so much mantid stuff we are struggling to find a good permanent place for them, but for now they are in the living room.

The peacock mantis is very cool looking. It seems very curious. It is missing one leg, but still walks fine and should be able to molt ok.
















The little idolomantis diabolica is doing well overall, but I am a bit concerned about it. It used to have shades of purple on its body, but over the last couple of days it has turned pure white. I figure it might be getting ready to molt, but I am unsure. He is so small it is difficult to get photos of it. In case it is about to molt, I am leaving it alone.






The bigger (literally) impact on our home is the addition of all the supplies. With these mantids came four additional enclosures, some feeders, and a heating pad. The pad is able to keep the bottom of the idolomantis enclosure in the high 90s, with the top staying about 80. It worked out nicely, we have 6 mantids, and six enclosures. Two are large, 15" tall and will be for the idolomantis and giant rainforest when they are grown. Two are medium, 11" tall and will be for the peacock mantis and the female ghost. Two are small, 7" tall and will be for the two male ghosts. I am not happy with how my dad affixed the mesh to the top and how it is currently setup, so I will be modifying them. Also, rather than completely open mesh tops, he made smaller holes in the acrylic so that the humidity will be easier to maintain. One of the small enclosures has no ventilation on top, so I will have to remedy that before putting in a mantis.

Here is what it looks like for now. We havent moved them all into the proper enclosures yet since we need to do some modifications. The little ghosts stay in deli containers for now.
















Here are the spares that don't have mantids in them yet.






And here is a bonus little video of our giant rainforest mantis Carl going after a blue bottle. We had been feeding him dubias before, but he seems to much prefer the flies.

https://i.imgur.com/wBoSSj4.mp4


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## ohaple (Oct 14, 2018)

ohaple said:


> Accidental double post


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## Prayingmantisqueen (Oct 14, 2018)

ohaple said:


> Here﻿ are the spares that don't have mantids in them yet.﻿
> 
> ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿
> 
> ...


Do you have any idea where you (or who ever) purchased these enclosures? I really like that style!


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## ohaple (Oct 14, 2018)

Prayingmantisqueen said:


> Do you have any idea where you (or who ever) purchased these enclosures? I really like that style!


Yes I do. The two medium enclosures (wood and black) were designed and built by me. The other four were designed by my dad, based on my initial design but meant to be easier to build. He also built those four.


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 15, 2018)

Beautiful mantids and enclosures! Your peacock is adorable!

- Mantisirl13


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## ohaple (Oct 15, 2018)

Thank you!

Neither the peacock nor the idolo have molted since they were shipped on October 2, so I am looking forward to some molts soon. I find them more enjoyable when they are larger so you can see them better.


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## Mantis Lady (Oct 15, 2018)

i like those enclosures too and the mantids. The peacock looks cute.


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## ohaple (Oct 15, 2018)

Little Mantis said:


> i like those enclosures too and the mantids. The peacock looks cute.


He is kind of cute. Our giant rainforest has a sort of "aggressive" stare, looking like he is hunting. The peacock has a more "curious" look, and he even tilts his head how dogs and humans sometimes do when they aren't sure of something. Having no experience with this type before, I am surprised at how slender he is compared to the giant rainforest of similar age and length. He also seems to eat less.


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 15, 2018)

Yeah, I guess he will eat less because he is skinnier. 

- MantisGirl13


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## Jaywo (Oct 19, 2018)

I have Idolos and I wouldn't worry about the "paling" of colors. As they get older, they turn beige or beige white then they get colorful again. There is a bunch of info saying high humidity or no humidity at all. I did both and so far, Both have been ok. However, I prefer the bone dry environment until they turn Subadult. This mimics their dry and wet season in Tanzania. You can log on to check their seasonal changes. With high humidity, I did get one with a bad molt. 

It seems that temperature is the more important factor in raising the Idolos to adulthood.

All your little guys/girls are super cute.


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## Foxhill (Oct 20, 2018)

Nice pics. Going back to the music thing, Classical music or Birdsong speeds up germination time in seeds by a registrable percentage, dont quote me, something small like 0.5 or 0.05 % which is like..... 5 minutes lol, even so, Ive got classic FM permanetly playing in the Mantis room. Not sure how theyd groove to the Hardstep Jungle Techno tho...    Junglist!!!  :gun_bandana:


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## ohaple (Oct 21, 2018)

Unfortunately our idolo had its first molt with us Friday and fell during his molt trying to get his last leg out. We caught him before it was too late but he still ended up with problems. Now his raptorials are permanently hanging straight towards the ground and he cannot bend them to catch prey. We are hand feeding him fruit flies and he is happily eating them, but I'm not convinced he will make it to his next molt.


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 21, 2018)

I hope that he survives! How is the peacock?

- MantisGirl13


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## ohaple (Oct 21, 2018)

MantisGirl13 said:


> I hope that he survives! How is the peacock?
> 
> - MantisGirl13


Peacock is doing OK but still hasn't molted. Going on 20 days so it should be any time now.


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 21, 2018)

Ok! I hope that he has a successful molt! How is the idolo?

- MantisGirl13


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## Mantis Lady (Oct 21, 2018)

I hope the idolo has the will to live till his next molt and heal his front legs


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## Graceface (Oct 21, 2018)

Poor guy! Hopefully he will fight and live. Sending positive vibes to him and your peacock for a successful molt ❤?


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## ohaple (Oct 21, 2018)

Thanks! We are going to try to keep him as warm as we can and hand feed him as much as he will take to hopefully speed up his next molt. He took 5 hydei yesterday and another 5 today. Looks like I have evening plans for the next 3 weeks. ?


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 21, 2018)

I am glad he is eating! Can we see a pic of him?

- MantisGirl13


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## ohaple (Oct 22, 2018)

MantisGirl13 said:


> I am glad he is eating! Can we see a pic of him?
> 
> - MantisGirl13


Sure, here is a photo from Saturday. Unfortunately, we woke up this morning and he had passed away. I am not sure what the cause was since he was fed and humidity and temperature were within the recommended range. Possibly the stress of being handled for feeding? We only had him for about a week, but we enjoyed watching him. I;m sure our inexperience didn't do him any favors, but we gave it our best shot. Here he is after the mismolt enjoying a fly. It might just be the way this type is, but he always seemed clumsy, even before the mismolt. We often found him trying to climb the one side of the enclosure with smooth acrylic (the other three sides and top had mesh and sticks), resulting in him falling to the substrate and having to climb back up. He would tap his feet multiple times before taking a step as well.







On a more positive note, we took the time this weekend to build another enclosure so the ghosts could all match and get out of the deli containers. Later this week our order of plants and (more) isopods comes, then we will be housing the peacock and giant rainforest in matching bioactive vivariums.


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## hysteresis (Oct 22, 2018)

Idolomantis Diabolica 

One day... ?


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## Jaywo (Oct 22, 2018)

ohaple said:


> Thanks! We are going to try to keep him as warm as we can and hand feed him as much as he will take to hopefully speed up his next molt. He took 5 hydei yesterday and another 5 today. Looks like I have evening plans for the next 3 weeks. ?


Unfortunately the Idolos has a super hard time gripping things even when they are all fully functional. Heavily barked branches help. I went far enough to wrap paper towels around some branches. Not the most agile of species.


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## Jaywo (Oct 22, 2018)

I'm so sorry for your loss. The Idolos are tough species.


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## ohaple (Oct 22, 2018)

Jaywo said:


> Unfortunately the Idolos has a super hard time gripping things even when they are all fully functional. Heavily barked branches help. I went far enough to wrap paper towels around some branches. Not the most agile of species.


Thanks. We glued barked sticks to the lid closely spaced together to give him the best shot at gripping but I believe he was struggling too much with his raptorials getting caught up in his other legs. It is very strange to me how one of the largest and most aggressive looking species is also the most fragile and clumsy. We don't intend to try any more advanced species until we have some more experience under our belt.

The giant rainforest and ghosts are so fun to watch since they are more active. The ghosts seem to enjoy being handled; they raise their arms up to grab for our hands whenever we take the lid off. They run hand-over-hand and we can even get them to reliably jump from one hand to the other. The giant rainforest doesn't like being handled as well, but is a veracious hunter. If he catches a glimpse of a fly he will sprint across the cage to grab it.

We are beginning to worry about the peacock mantis though. He has not eaten since we got him 9 days ago. His abdomen looks full and round. We have tried allowing him to hunt blue-bottles and hydei, but he leaves them alone completely. We tried hand feeding hydei, blue bottles, and dubias, he shows no interest in that either. The only thing we have been able to get him to take is diluted honey. He is due to molt any day now (hasn't molted since at least 9/30/18 when the breeder shipped) so I figure that is the problem, but 9 days seems like a long time without food.


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 22, 2018)

I am so sorry you lost the little guy. 

- MantisGirl13


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## Foxhill (Oct 23, 2018)

Its a real shame. The way to look at it maybe is that any creature, even the bait, has given their life to provide a greater insight into what we are dealing with here


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## Mantis Lady (Oct 23, 2018)

Sorry you lost your idolo....  

I hope the peacock will molt soon and then eat again. 9 days whitout eating is very long.

Your ghosts will be having cool homes if I see their new enclosures..


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 23, 2018)

I hope that your peacock either molts or eats soon!

- MantisGirl13


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## ohaple (Oct 23, 2018)

MantisGirl13 said:


> I hope that your peacock either molts or eats soon!
> 
> - MantisGirl13


We were getting pretty worried so we tried the trick of cutting a meal worm and putting it to his mouth. He took it and is happily eating. I hope he is not picky like this all the time. We figured that giving him plenty of time to hunt and even be hand fed would work, but I guess he needed to taste it. This means he won't be molting for a little while I guess.


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 23, 2018)

? yay! I am glad he is eating. You never know, some species molt right after eating, others don't. 

I hope he isn't such a picky eater anymore!

- MantisGirl13


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## ohaple (Oct 24, 2018)

MantisGirl13 said:


> ? yay! I am glad he is eating. You never know, some species molt right after eating, others don't.
> 
> I hope he isn't such a picky eater anymore!
> 
> - MantisGirl13


He is a slow eater. Took him about 45 minutes to eat the mealworm, but he ate all of it.


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## MantisGirl13 (Oct 24, 2018)

ohaple said:


> He is a slow eater. Took him about 45 minutes to eat the mealworm, but he ate all of it.


Yeah, I guess that is because he is skinny. I'm glad he ate the whole thing!

- MantisGirl13


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