# Another addiction?



## aminah

I don't know how I find these things, but I always do and here I am... researching Mantids. Ha!

My name is Aminah. I'm married, have grown children... one of each kind, and LOTS of critters. Too many! Really. I'm an artist and a student, also.

Let's see...

the Cat, Aneesa







the Rat, Poodah






and some of his Pack






Tiffany and Taffy

Tiff with Poodah's children






random Poodah kids






the whole lot: Toosday, Aleris, Lamis, Aello, Diwali, Fairouz, Moki, Kangee, Cappello






Lamis... now a fully nekkid rattie girl






Cappello... still the adventurous one

There are more, but my pc died not long ago and I haven't retrieved all my pics nor have I uploaded any recent ones. I have all these kids with an additional Black Berky "hermaphroditic" rattie kid... Pumpkin lives with the girls cuz she's "mostly" girl, although she does "dingle with her peepee" LOL

And on to the geckos...

Chanceux Cils, aka. Crunch making her debut on 2 June 06






and her recently






Lucky II






Lucky, daddy to Lucky II, Malika, Bilal and Amra... coming up






My forehead jockey, Flip






L'il Abner as a little tyke






and recently






she made us Black Mission Figs tonite!! Yummmy!! (sorry for the blurries)






Sara'ah






her brother, Faizal






Malika






Bilal, her brother






Kurta






Khamees, the sister that lives with my friend now






Nazeem, who also went to my friend






and little Amra, Nazeem's sister






JabberWocky, Lucille, Yabissa, an adult pic of Lucky and the Grand Baba (daddy and granddaddy to most of these) are not pictured yet. JW and Yabby are dalmations, Lucy is a beautiful tiger with spots in her genes and Big Daddy is a beautiful dark harley guy with pinstriping and HUGE crests. Oh, and Val... I can't believe I forgot Val!! She's a daughter of Grand Baba and has the great harley, pin and huge crests thing going, too. I just got these big kids, so I haven't had a chance to get pics of them yet.

I have way too many fish to post here and even more pics of most of them cuz they're show quality bettas from Thailand and there abouts mostly. I have breeding pics, baby pics, etc.

Not a SQ fishy, but he still took a big piece of my heart with him when he departed... Azul, aka. Zulie, was an amazing little fish guy and he left me with many pretty babies.






This is Faris, an SQ Plakad... as gold as this pic shows and better.






Sorry this pic is so small... darn photobucket resizing thing!

Shadow... a giant Plakad betta boy... RIP, big boy! He was almost 7 inches when he got sick and passed on. I miss him.






And I don't have any pics of my tarantulas yet either... an A. versicolor, an L. parahybana, and a G. aureostriata. I'm working on an A. sp. "amazonica" and a couple other large specimens very soon... something in the Anthoscurria and the Pamphobeteus... not sure which to start with. I just know I like the BIG spidey kids!! Heh!

And now, I want Mantids! Of course!! A couple of Ghosts and a pair of Orchids... for starters!

Hi Everyone!! I hope you enjoy my Zoo!


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## Rick

Welcome and nice pics! Like you I have quite a few critters though not as many as you do. I had a couple rats once and they do make good pets.


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## robo mantis

WOW :shock:


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## robo mantis

i have had a betta but i could never mate him because i couldn't tell sex is it true that only the males blow bubbles so she can lay eggs on them (is that how you tell the difference between sexes)?


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## Butterfly

Wow lots of critters! Welcome to the forum.

I used to have rats and mice but no more. Those were my highschool days. Ive been into Butterflies the last 10 years and recently started colecting and raising Mantids. Very cute little baby rats and love the gekos! Theyre neat!


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## Rick

> i have had a betta but i could never mate him because i couldn't tell sex is it true that only the males blow bubbles so she can lay eggs on them (is that how you tell the difference between sexes)?


Lets not get off subject. The males are the ones with the long colorful fins, female bettas are drab in color and have very short fins. Sexing them is easy. Aminahs betta is very beautiful.


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## aminah

Thanks everyone!!  My gang thanks you all, too. They love the attention... LOL!

In all my betta experience, females will occasionally get bored and blow a bubble nest, release her eggs and proceed to put them into the nest... disregarding the factor that the male kind of NEEDS to help her with fertilizing them before she hangs them up to incubate for a few hours! I love my goofy girls!!

And because there still are wild types (short finned) of Betta splendens available, in all the amazing colors of the long finned types, it can be tricky to decipher who's a girl and who's a guy. Rick is right about figuring out the sexes in long finned types, though... short fins = girl, long fins = boy. But one sure thing is an ovipositor... the "egg tube or egg spot"... that presents itself right behind the ventral fins (the 2 skinny, pointy ones on the bottom) and in front of the "pooper shoot" on her tummy. It will look like a little tiny white tube and be very prominent when she's gravid with eggos.

Now... back on subject, so we don't cause any trouble  I think I've found my first Mantids to start with... Asian Giants! I have to do some more reading, but I'm pretty certain my parameters in the Critter Room are sufficient for them. I'll keep you posted.


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## Rick

Yeah there are wild type still available but I think most people will encounter the long fin, fancy variety.


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## robo mantis

thanks for letting me know anyway i always thought the males made the bubbles but oh well


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## aminah

If anyone is interested in looking at some beautiful Bettas in all kinds of fin types and colors, try www.aquabid.com

...and don't get mad at me if you get addicted and start having fish shipped from Thailand on a regular basis. Hehehe. I have it bad!! :twisted:

Oh, btw... robo mantis, it is the males that blow the nest in "normal" situations, and they usually care for the fry. I just have some weird girls and know a few other folks with some goofy ones, too.


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## robo mantis

oh lol


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## Ian

Hey, and welcome to the forum! Some beautiful photos, and lovely cresties. I am going to get some soon I think, really nice gex.

Speak soon.


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## aminah

Thanks for the all the nice welcomes!

Thanks, Ian.  If you were in the US, I could help you with some very nice gecko kids... I have plenty, as you've seen, and more to come.... Lucille is digging around in the lay box and has quite the BIG BABY tummy with her next two eggos.


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## yen_saw

Hi Aminah, very nice pics especially the giant Siamese fighting fish. I have seen 8 inches Plakad in Malaysia before and almost 10 inches Plakad while I was at Bangkok in 1982. I was a boy fascinated with this colorful fish then. But i am sure you will like praying mantis too, they are like the giant siamese fighting fish on land!


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## aminah

Thank you, Yen... I can't wait! I've always been fascinated with all kinds of creepy crawlers and particularly fierce types of critters... hence, my fascination with Fighting fish. I love my Plakads and am especially fond of the wild ones... they are amazing when given the oppurtunity to "be themselves" and spar a bit. I would love to see them in their natural habitat and going through the rituals of finding a mate and all that.

No flames, please. I take awesome care of my fish and I do not allow them to fight for any sport or anything. They are all well conditioned for spawning and sparring, so no real harm is ever done. The "exercise" makes for healthier parents and fry in the long run.

Anyhow, thanks!


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## TheVesper

I breed bettas seriously for years. Ran a website, member of the IBS, apart of the So Cal Betta group etc. Sold etc. Always nice to see another betta nut.


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