# Why do people choose the setup they do?



## Way.Of.The.Mantis (Apr 18, 2007)

Hi..looking around I have noticed more and more that alot of you keep your mantids in 'deli-cups' or jam jars, not small 2 gall or less plastic tanks. I have not problem with this..its just if you keep mantids, surely its for your own pleasure, like a fishtank, its a stylish centrpoint - a thing of beauty..I myself keep all my mantids in 2 gallon plastic or glass tanks, equiped with heat mats and various foliage.

No offence, but surely this is smarter? I mean it would look kind of cluttered in my room to have lot of jars and pots covered in mess lying around..? Im not trying to hit or anything I just assumed before I came here that most people would have 'attractive tanks' I would have thought people such as commercial breeders would keep thier stock in simple housing because they would have no real attachment to their mantids because they would be planning to sell them.

Any thoughts? Im not saying owning mantids in pots is not filfilling..ill try it myself once I can find some tubs, should be cheaper than tanks.

Oh and Rick, thats a great setup!!! :shock: :shock:

Anyone know of any cheap, good sellers of fruitflies/crickets on the internet or near Suffolk?

Thanks alot!

Jonny.


----------



## captainmerkin (Apr 18, 2007)

I bet half the people here who show those pictures of the deli cups set up have something nicer for their favourite mantids!


----------



## Rick (Apr 18, 2007)

I normally keep most adults in those small 2 1/2 gallon tanks as I think they look nicer and you can divide them in half to house two mantids. But for nymphs that are growing nothing beats the deli cups. Another reason for the cups for small mantids is that a large enclosure can make it difficult for the mantis to find its food. A smaller container allows the food to come into contact with the mantis easily.


----------



## Way.Of.The.Mantis (Apr 18, 2007)

ah ok! Rick are you from the US? Ive never seen deli cups, im guessing some cheap plastic clear beercups will do the same thing?

Where can I get some foam plugs so I can make side feeding holes?(there were pics of these containers in another post) and did you drill or cut the holes for the foam?

Thanks y'all!

Jonny.


----------



## captainmerkin (Apr 18, 2007)

> ah ok! Rick are you from the US? Ive never seen deli cups, im guessing some cheap plastic clear no will do the same thing? Where can I get some foam plugs so I can make side feeding holes?(there were pics of these containers in another post) and did you drill or cut the holes for the foam?
> 
> Thanks y'all!
> 
> Jonny.


I have not seen them either, but I did see something very simular recently but totally forgot why it was useful at the time  

also for live crickets mate use www.livefoods.co.uk they are pretty quick and cheap!


----------



## Rick (Apr 18, 2007)

> ah ok! Rick are you from the US? Ive never seen deli cups, im guessing some cheap plastic clear no will do the same thing? Where can I get some foam plugs so I can make side feeding holes?(there were pics of these containers in another post) and did you drill or cut the holes for the foam?
> 
> Thanks y'all!
> 
> Jonny.


I am in the US. The deli cups are just clear containers that have snap on lids with mesh holes. They are readily available from several websites here. You can get the foam plugs from most places that sell fruit flies as thats what they are intended for (fruit fly vials). I just cut the holes into my cups.


----------



## Way.Of.The.Mantis (Apr 18, 2007)

Many thanks. Do those vials come whe nyou order your flies?

Jonny.


----------



## Rick (Apr 18, 2007)

> Many thanks. Do those vials come whe nyou order your flies?Jonny.


Some places sell them in the vials. Or you can buy everything individually.


----------



## Ben.M (Apr 18, 2007)

Or u can buy live food from http://www.livefoodsforgood.co.uk/ the best prices i've seen before.

I only keep some of my mantids in cups because they are to small for a tank so a cup is the perfect size for them untill they get bigger


----------



## Ian (Apr 19, 2007)

Livefood wise, I can reccomend livefoods.co.uk. Not only are they great value for money, but shipping is very quick as well, not to mention the Steve's excellent customer service.

Over the past few months, I have been quite concerned about space, with my ever growing collection...even my bug house is getting pretty crammed now. So, I house all of my mantids in either large polythene cups, or sweet jars. As I said, simply because it saves space, and they are also cheap and easy to get hold of.


----------



## Way.Of.The.Mantis (Apr 19, 2007)

Ill probs go get some large plastic beer cups for the time being..but where can I get more permanent sweet jars? Its all in wrappers these days!

Jonny.


----------



## Peekaboo (Apr 19, 2007)

People prefer to use deli cups for a variety of reasons.

-Easy to clean

-Inexpensive

-Recyclable/disposable

-Don't take up a lot of real estate

When you have literally dozens of mantises, buying an individual tank for each of them gets too expensive and impractical, as well as space and time consuming.


----------



## Rick (Apr 19, 2007)

> People prefer to use deli cups for a variety of reasons. -Easy to clean
> 
> -Inexpensive
> 
> ...


+1


----------



## randyardvark (Apr 19, 2007)

go to a corner shop or news agents they will probably have some, and often let you have them for free its all good there are a few sites i use for live food

livefood.co.uk

www.livefoodsforgood.co.uk

and livefoodbypost.co.uk has the best prices ive seen

if you want to skimp on p and p the last 2 are your best bet, if you want something in an emergency, or just something a little different livefood.co.uk is the best and as ian said has excellent custemer service, even when they up (it happens)

the reason for deli cups is simple (byy the by in england we just use plasic cups!  ) they are cheap, and when you have a fair few mantids (many of us have over 20) you dont have enough room for hundreds of tanks although mine do go in quite nice sweet jars when they are adult, it works and it keeps them happy


----------



## Way.Of.The.Mantis (Apr 20, 2007)

Ok, cheers for the info guys!


----------

