# Drinking



## asdsdf (Sep 6, 2007)

Can mantid nymphs drink from tissue? I have to put tissue on my containers temporarily since my netting was smelling. (Will get metal soon) Since people have said that they can bite through netting while drinking, would they be like eating the tissue? ( I used tissue because it was breathable, and convenient. What else can you use?)


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## Andrew (Sep 6, 2007)

Just mist everything inside the enclosure. They'll suck up the water droplets.


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## asdsdf (Sep 6, 2007)

Yes, I tried to, but they ended up putting their moouths to the tissue.


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## buddhistsoldier88 (Sep 6, 2007)

> Yes, I tried to, but they ended up putting their moouths to the tissue.


Try using something that will not soak up the water or maybe let the droplets "float" on the surface of something that wont soak it. tissue is too absorbant


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## Krissim Klaw (Sep 6, 2007)

I usually just take mine out and spray some water on my desk and let them walk through it. If they are thirsty they usually immediatly bend down to drink. If you are really worried, you can always get an eye dropper and hold it with a drop and place it up to their mouth. Usually they will either drink or move their heads depending if they are thirsty. For larger mantises that are used to humid climate where it rains, you can also just directly mist them. Then they can drink the water when they clean themselves off.


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## Rick (Sep 7, 2007)

Just mist the enclosure.


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## Hypoponera (Sep 7, 2007)

I use "cheese cloth" instead of netting or screen. While it absorbs water, it is cheap to replace. I have never had a mantid eat through it. I have had several crickets eat through the nylon screen I used before. I just spray water through the cheese cloth. It does a great job atomizing the water!


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## Asa (Sep 7, 2007)

Nick has some foam stoppers for that at

www.mantisplace.com


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## asdsdf (Sep 7, 2007)

Thanks a lot for the suggestions!

Ya, i was planning on buying a LOT of stuff there, even beofre you posted it. Netting, substrate, ff, more Nigerians, etc.

P.S. What is the most money you have spent on mantids from a site? (Not including tanks.) Just wanted to know whether I was normal or not. :? I'm buying lots and lots of stuff.


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## Asa (Sep 7, 2007)

> Thanks a lot for the suggestions!Ya, i was planning on buying a LOT of stuff there, even beofre you posted it. Netting, substrate, ff, more Nigerians, etc.
> 
> P.S. What is the most money you have spent on mantids from a site? (Not including tanks.) Just wanted to know whether I was normal or not. :? I'm buying lots and lots of stuff.


Quite normal. If you mean at one order, probably about 70 something dollars. As a whole on mantids, a couple hundred.


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## buddhistsoldier88 (Sep 7, 2007)

> > Thanks a lot for the suggestions!Ya, i was planning on buying a LOT of stuff there, even beofre you posted it. Netting, substrate, ff, more Nigerians, etc.
> >
> > P.S. What is the most money you have spent on mantids from a site? (Not including tanks.) Just wanted to know whether I was normal or not. :? I'm buying lots and lots of stuff.
> 
> ...


wish i had that kinda $$$


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## Asa (Sep 7, 2007)

> > > Thanks a lot for the suggestions!Ya, i was planning on buying a LOT of stuff there, even beofre you posted it. Netting, substrate, ff, more Nigerians, etc.
> > >
> > > P.S. What is the most money you have spent on mantids from a site? (Not including tanks.) Just wanted to know whether I was normal or not. :? I'm buying lots and lots of stuff.
> >
> ...


believe me, it was spent very very gradually :lol:


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## asdsdf (Sep 8, 2007)

Hmmmmm.....heh heh heh. Well, I was planning to spend all of that(more) in one day.  (You know for supplies and stuff)


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## Asa (Sep 8, 2007)

> Hmmmmm.....heh heh heh. Well, I was planning to spend all of that(more) in one day.  (You know for supplies and stuff)


Maybe that is a little thrifty :lol: 

All you really need, are some house flies, a culture of fruit flies, a trusty spray bottle, some mantids, and something to put them in, like a peanut butter jar. But your're right, Nick's containers look way more proffesional.


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## asdsdf (Sep 8, 2007)

Yep. I always manage my money well!  

Well, it's my only buy for a long time, since it has everything I need. The only thing I may need/want in the future would be more food and mantids. Maybe a few containers (Only 49 cents with aluminum top!), but I would have to buy something with it(I'll make excuses to buy more things), cause shipping is at least 10 dollars. Man, do I fool myself. :lol: 

Oh, wait, no, I would buy more stuff more my mantids. Fake plants/flowers, and stuff like lights, heating mats. The ones at my pet store costs a lot!

Do I spoil them! :wink:


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## Hypoponera (Sep 8, 2007)

For cages/containers, I use wide-mouth canning jars from Walmart. $9.50 gets me 12 1qt jars. Those are large enough for _Stegmomantis_ to rear up to adult. I used them with Chinese until final 2 molts. I replace the lid with cheese cloth held inplace by the jar's ring.


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