Recent content by callisto9

Sadly, but not unexpectedly, all mantids are gone. This one (Lazarus) passed after laying 4.5 ooths. Unfortunately, one of the ooths hatched (I didn't get it out in time), but I didn't discover it for a few days. There were no survivors. I have three of her ooths downstairs and will put them...

When we brought Barry in last year, she was our first ever mantis and she laid at least five. She was a Carolina mantis. I really need to wait until I name them... LOL

She'd just laid ooth number 2! Thanks for all the kind words everyone!

Ah, good to know! I had posted pics of them when they were young and never got a definitive answer on her sex. Thanks for the info. I'll keep this posted updated.

So with Thing 1 nearing her one-year anniv, we knew we'd be mantid-less soon. I was ok with that. Despite being fascinating pets, I no longer want to keep them as so. Thought it'd just be best to enjoy them in the wild and on the internet. I'm cleaning up our yard several weeks ago, getting...

Here he is now. Doesn't move around much except when he falls from the top of his cage. Haven't seem him eat anything in at least two weeks.

Sorry for the weird title, but I did'nt know how else to broach this subject. I got two Indonesian double shield mantids from a seller on here a year ago (Nov 28). Thing 1, I kept, and Thing 2 went to my friend. Thing 2 passed this summer/fall. Never got full-sized and died from some sort of...

Thank you both for the input. Will he molt again after this, or was this his last one?

Thing 1, and Indonesian Double Shield Mantis, had his first molt with WINGS! I'd guess this is his 6th or 7th molt. He's never had wings before. I saw him all the way out (or close to it) of his skin before I went to bed. The next day, I saw him on the top of his cage (as usual), but his wings...

I hope so, too. I keep going back to look at the ooths. Hard to tell what's new, what's in progress and what's stuck and has died.

Thanks for the tips everyone. :) I'm just going to let nature take its course outside and if I stumble across one in late summer, I might bring one inside to keep as a pet. I've still got two Indonesian double shield mantids right now, so I'd rather focus my attention on those.

I had terrible luck with getting housefly pupae to hatch, and since I don't have a source locally, it's just hard for me to feed mantids that small.

It's been reeeeeeally hard not to take one indoors and keep it as a pet. But they are so small that I don't know what I'd feed them. I might grab one later in the summer if I see one.

I’ll never forget my first mantis. I only wish we had Barry longer. Makes me happy knowing I might bump into her offspring in the yard now!

We brought Barry Mantilow, a Carolina Mantis, indoors last fall after we saw her on our front porch. I'd never seen a mantis on our property in the 11 years we've lived there. She was an amazing pet. We learned a LOT about mantids in a short amount of time. Before too long, she laid several...