Hello from Indiana

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CosbyArt

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Greetings from Indiana. I'm Thomas and just got started in the hobby of keeping mantids as pets on Thursday (October 23) a day after my birthday.

Ok some about me... I'm 35 years old, and have been married nearly 16 years now (I met my wife Melinda on a local BBS (Bulletin Board System), named PixelPlace BBS, chatroom back in 1995). Our only kids are our pets who are Shelly (Shih-tzu dog), three cats Smokey (black), Stormie (gray tabby), Sissy (black tortoise shell), and Susanna my praying mantis.

All of our pets are rescues, either stray's or from a animal shelter. My mantis Susanna I rescued as the temperatures in my area were in the mid 30's degree Fahrenheit and 20's in the coming few days. I figured there was no need for her to freeze to death so I adopted her. I found her outside at work while on break, and as she was there when I was leaving I took her with me.

I named her Susanna as a web search turned up a bible character who was destined to die but was saved, going back to the "praying" part of the mantis. If you noticed the pattern of our pets name's beginning with a S that is my wife's fault -- we started that with our first pet, our cat Smokey who is now 16.

I work as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer, and went to a local university completing 76 credit hours but never finished the degree. For the real money to pay bills I work at a dead-end restaurant job as it allows me to not worry about taking the responsibility or work with me off the clock like many other jobs I've had in the past. You can view some of my artwork on my deviantART account. I use the alais CosbyArt for my artwork and simply used it here as well, wasn't sure what to use for a alais here.

I'm into playing PC games, and especially the older DOSBox games. As such I'm a big fan and a buyer of GOG games, and many indie games too. As a side hobby I make cheats and mods for many single-player games I play, using another alias.

Of course here is the real reason I am here, my new pet Susanna.

Susanna.jpg


 
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Welcome. She is a Stagmomantis carolina (Carolina mantis).

 


Sound like that girl, found a good home ... warning: mantids are like potato chips ... you can't have just one!

 
Sound like that girl, found a good home ... warning: mantids are like potato chips ... you can't have just one!
Thanks I hope so, so far she seems happy hanging on the lid near the lamp. Yeah funny thing is my sister is already trying to get me several others that she sees when so goes camping in her RV now. :D

Welcome. Pretty Carolina Mantis female.
Thanks, she is a beaut. Only thing I've seen wrong is her right antenna is half the length of the other. Looking at the original photo I took of her, before capturing her, shows the damage. So at least I know I was not responsible for it.

 
welcome sir and awesome for you to take in the little lady! Ive got a couple Stagmomantis Carolina's myself

she looks nice, probably could eat more though.

 
welcome sir and awesome for you to take in the little lady! Ive got a couple Stagmomantis Carolina's myself

she looks nice, probably could eat more though.
Thank you, and indeed that was the image of her after laying her ooth. On the 3rd day of having her she laid one, and I'm reading how to rear the youngins. Since then her abdomen has filled out nicely.

I got my ordered book in the mail today Praying Mantis Ultimate Care Guide and have been trying to fill in some missing details for myself. Seems like it is a good starter book but isn't as detailed as I hoped it would be.

If you have any tips or links to share to a fellow starting Stagmomantis Carolina owner, "I'm all ears". :)

Here is a image of her ooth

ooth.jpg


 
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There are better choices out there for sure.

 
welcome sir and awesome for you to take in the little lady! Ive got a couple Stagmomantis Carolina's myself

she looks nice, probably could eat more though.
The genus is capitalized and species is lowercased I have read, Stagmomantis carolina.

Huh? What are you referring to?
He might be referring to the book you have.

I would not mist the ootheca more than once a day if the ootheca is put onto a fabric lid in a deli container and if the container has even less ventilation I would keep it just barely humid. I would keep the ootheca in a container with ventilation incase the oothecae needs to have periods of drying out.

To remove and stick the ootheca to a suitable container try pulling it off with your fingers from the thing it was laid onto and if it does not come off with ease then get a razor blade or a knife and cut the ootheca off from the thing it is stuck to and try to cut as little as possible of the ootheca so you do not injure eggs. Then you can use a needle and thread to hang it inside the incubating container. Pierce only the bottom part of the ootheca and do not pierce deep because that could go through the eggs inside the ootheca. Just pierce as much as it is needed to keep the ootheca from falling off the thread that is suspending the ootheca, but do not go to deep into the ootheca or you might pierce the eggs.

 
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The genus is capitalized and species is lowercased I have read, Stagmomantis carolina.

He might be referring to the book you have.

I would not mist the ootheca more than once a day if the ootheca is put onto a fabric lid in a deli container and if the container has even less ventilation I would keep it just barely humid. I would keep the ootheca in a container with ventilation incase the oothecae needs to have periods of drying out.

To remove and stick the ootheca to a suitable container try pulling it off with your fingers from the thing it was laid onto and if it does not come off with ease then get a razor blade or a knife and cut the ootheca off from the thing it is stuck to and try to cut as little as possible of the ootheca so you do not injure eggs. Then you can use a needle and thread to hang it inside the incubating container. Pierce only the bottom part of the ootheca and do not pierce deep because that could go through the eggs inside the ootheca. Just pierce as much as it is needed to keep the ootheca from falling off the thread that is suspending the ootheca, but do not go to deep into the ootheca or you might pierce the eggs.
The book makes sense, after all for any topic usually many different books are needed (on many subjects I have bought over 20 books, and each seem to have a little something the others don't). So what are any recommendations for additional books about mantid?

Many thanks for the help on the ootheca. I will remove it once I put my mantis, Susanna, into her new enclosure in the next day or so.

 
Howdy, I'm a new guy also with a Carolina mantis and just finished reading and going back thru several sections of Orin's book. Must say it's both interesting and very informative. I would definitely recommend purchasing it, you won't regret it.
 
Welcome :) Try Keeping The Praying Mantis By Orin McMonigle.
Howdy, I'm a new guy also with a Carolina mantis and just finished reading and going back thru several sections of Orin's book. Must say it's both interesting and very informative. I would definitely recommend purchasing it, you won't regret it.
Thanks for the welcome, and recommendations. I found many of Orin McMonigle's books on Amazon, and direct at his website. I think I'll buy direct from his website, that way surely he gets a better profit cut -- rather than Amazon taking most of it. ;)

Just don't tell my wife about it, as I've already spent over $50 on the hobby in the last few days. :innocent:

 

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