# Inverted Cricket/Kritter Keeper



## Malnra (Apr 1, 2008)

It would not let me insert the image here ... said "IMG" not allowed when I tried using the icons on the message to insert image ...

here is the link .. sorry it did not work for me, i tried twice

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?au...=si&amp;img=211


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## Rick (Apr 1, 2008)

That's why I don't use those. Looks good but how much ventilation do you have now? Also keep in mind many mantids like to hang from the lid and that will be hard since it is smooth. You could glue some mesh or screen to the top (bottom) so they could have a grippy surface.


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## macro junkie (Apr 1, 2008)

mine cant get to the lid because i dont put any sticks in there like u have..all i have is 2 upside down carboard egg cups


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## hibiscusmile (Apr 1, 2008)

You method is interesting  , I screened mne in and it looks great but I have a hard time keeping it closed, the screen is in the way. Maybe I will get up off my lazy ...and take a pic for you...maybe not :lol: 

Ok so I did, and I fixed the closing problem too, can't be too lazy!







the second pic is obviously of the inside, but the divider is hard plastic, so when we go out, two can go instead of one! I like to take them to the doctors office with me or similar places, it's fun for kids and adults alike to get em talking!


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## Malnra (Apr 1, 2008)

Ventilation is solved by me putting in a foam stopper for feeding hole and drilling very small holes in the side .....

I have branches for them to hang from and they will adjust as if in the wild, they have reached the top of the world. ;- )

I used aluminium foil on the lid to seal it from from leaking and moss under the gravel on the bottom to help keep humidity.

Once I get the "right" number of holes the condensation problem will go away.

I like it cause they cant hide from view. The ones I put in there even started hunting on the ground, stalking crickets. I also have flys in there and they have caught those.

I am probably going to roll them all over like that, once the current fly population in the keepers nears zero.


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## Rick (Apr 2, 2008)

I can see in your pic how they like to walk on the sides. Once those get bigger they won't be able to do that as easy and it will make molting difficult/dangerous for them. I think it looks great but I would add some type of surface on the top for them.


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## Orin (Apr 2, 2008)

Geoff_K said:


> I have branches for them to hang from and they will adjust as if in the wild, they have reached the top of the world. ;- )


Unfortunately it's often not that easy in captivity since you might not have the right incline, height, branch surface, etc. If that cage remains the same you'll find out.


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## Durkin (Apr 9, 2008)

i did something similar to hibiscusmile, except since i was using a small critter keeper for a tiny mantis i just cut a square out of #10, fruit fly proof screening, and placed it on top of the cage, then put the top over it holding it down... its essentially a flat top that my mantis really enjoys hanging from, and was able to crawl across quickly and capture a fruit fly at the other side (5"ish across). so i'm pleased with it, will post a pic tomorrow if i remember.


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## Malnra (Apr 9, 2008)

I ran into a problem with mold. When I dumped in some crickets a small amount of oatmeal/cricket food went in with them. This apparently started to mold and spread to the buds on the branches I put in there.

I have transferred the mantis into individual containers while I clear the container. I think it was the level of humidity in there. I never did get around to putting holes in the side to allow cross ventilation, so it is my fault.

As far as them having a place to hang to molt .. as long as they can hang upside down, how is it different than them hanging from the lid ?. The branches are real wood, so it is not like slippery plastic.

I thought I would mention the problem I had as I feel this is a place to discuss housing options and if none of us mention failures others may make the same mistake.


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## Krissim Klaw (Apr 10, 2008)

Geoff_K said:


> As far as them having a place to hang to molt .. as long as they can hang upside down, how is it different than them hanging from the lid ?. The branches are real wood, so it is not like slippery plastic.


Well the surface area of the lid is far greater than the little twigs you have in there. The twigs also seem kind of thin to me, especially when they are sharing the cage with other mantises and must practically walk on top of their neighbor if they should try to pass each other on the twig. I have to admit though I don't have any experience with mantises molting on sticks. I use all screen cages and have yet to have a single mantis choose to shed on any of the many sticks/other cage decorations I provide. They all prefer to use the screen and I've never once had a mismolt so I'm not going to tell them their choice is wrong.The biggest worry I would have with your tank is the constants slipping and falling of mantises trying desperately to crawl up the sides and cling to the ceiling of the tank. Mantises seem driven to climb upward and no matter how many times they fall or how bad the grip is they will keep trying to climb up in that tank. Sure, in the wild they would cling to twigs, but in the wild they would also not find plastic completely encasing them only a foot off the ground.


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## Malnra (Apr 10, 2008)

I really appreciate the discussions Krissim and all. I freely admit I am a novice at this.

Currently the keeper is not operational as I decide where to put holes in for ventilation, so the mantis are in 32oz cups with cloth lids and a stick to get them to the top easily.

I may consider a wide spaced netting at the top, something with say 1/4" openings so they cant hide from me, however would not have a problem getting around due to their size and 1/4" not being a big reach for them.

on a side note, trhe colony of 5 in the normal keeper are are sill alive. 2 molted recently, which makes them bigger than the other 3 so i am watching them often. If i see any agression I will seperate them. YES YES YES it is highly likely agression will show, however i am curious as to when. I keep the keeper loaded with blue bottle flys and some small crickets so there is plenty of smaller food.


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## sk8erkho (Apr 11, 2008)

> on a side note, trhe colony of 5 in the normal keeper are are sill alive. 2 molted recently, which makes them bigger than the other 3 so i am watching them often. If i see any agression I will seperate them. YES YES YES it is highly likely agression will show, however i am curious as to when. I keep the keeper loaded with blue bottle flys and some small crickets so there is plenty of smaller food.


Why don't you just separate the two newly molted and that way you won't have to "watch them often." aggression will set in and I have seen them attack each other even when there was more than enough food for them all. As they grow some tend to attack others more often than others! Trust me my nephew and I have spend totals of hours just studying their habits from nymph to adult!!! (too much time on our hands back then!!!) :blink: Better safe than sorry,mate, especially if you only have a small number of mantids. When there are large amounts of course as I have learned from the members here, you can decide how much cannibalism to allow just to ease back on the numbers, if necessary!  The branches, dinosaurs, (compliments of my then 7 yr. old), a few silk vines and what not, provided cover so that the mantids would not just be in eye contact all of the time planning their next attack!!!! h34r: 

Also, the smooth walls are definitely going to be an issue especially during molting. They tend to get a little weaker and trying to climb those walls will be a stress for them, happened to me when I first got into this hobby. You could a actually see them struggling to get to where they wanted to go.  So, I ran out side, in the deep of winter, and grabbed up a few branches to put in and this helped tremendously!! They molted from the branches as well as the lid, it just varies I imagine!

Anyway, gotta go, good luck,mate!!

Cheers!!

Khori


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## Malnra (Apr 11, 2008)

I have a large number of Giant Asian Mantis's at various stages of development. If one or two were to become eaten it would not be a problem.

The keeper is back as inverted with small holes on all 4 sides as well as some on the top at the corners. So far no humidity problem (but is has only been an hour). I did put in some thicker branches and more smaller ones across the top.

They can move about and will just have to deal with it as I test things out. It's not like they are a rare species and I do have quite a few of them.

On a side note ... I now have 3 brown ones. Not sure when the other two changed colors, but 1 of them in the 5 pack kritter keeper turned brown.


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## Rick (Apr 11, 2008)

Geoff_K said:


> I ran into a problem with mold. When I dumped in some crickets a small amount of oatmeal/cricket food went in with them. This apparently started to mold and spread to the buds on the branches I put in there.I have transferred the mantis into individual containers while I clear the container. I think it was the level of humidity in there. I never did get around to putting holes in the side to allow cross ventilation, so it is my fault.
> 
> As far as them having a place to hang to molt .. as long as they can hang upside down, how is it different than them hanging from the lid ?. The branches are real wood, so it is not like slippery plastic.
> 
> I thought I would mention the problem I had as I feel this is a place to discuss housing options and if none of us mention failures others may make the same mistake.


Keep the oatmeal in the cricket container and try not to transfer any over because it will mold as you know. Problem is is that mantids seem to always want to get to the top and in this case that is the lid which is slippery. I think all you have to do is add some holes for ventilation and glue a piece of fiberglass screen to the "top".


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## hibiscusmile (Apr 12, 2008)

Fiberglass, yea thats what I used!


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