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Probably because they're new to this hobby...

I came home today to find she'd molted......again. It's only been 11 days since the last molt so I was a bit surprised. Could it have something to do with the warm, humid weather we've been experiencing in London the last week or so? (I also think it might be down to the fact that I feed her...

So it seems that half my mealworms have decided to pupate at the same time, and I am about to be inundated with darkling beetles. Couple of questions: 1.) Are darkling beetles burrowers? 2.) Are they good climbers? (for example, could they climb the walls of a plastic tupperware container?)...

Over the last few days I've noticed the arrival of small flying insects living in my mantid's enclosure (not fruit flies, much smaller). They're pretty tiny, about 2 or 3 mm's long (less than 1/8 of an inch), and a dark grey-ish colour. They're not bothering the mantid at all, and both flies and...

Mantis Dude: I know your intentions were good, but when a question is asked regarding an issue that involves the health and safety of someone's mantis, if you don't know the answer it's best not to just guess. (I feel like a bit of an ***hole now but I think it needed to be said.)

Thanks for the words of advice - she's fattening up nicely now. I fed her today, and she was ravenous; two mealworms and two house flies so far.

Anyway, she just molted. I must have missed it by a matter of minutes because when I went in to check on her this morning it looked like she'd just emerged from her old skin and was staggering away from it like she was drunk or had just run the London Marathon or something. My questions are...

Must have been one heck of a specimen given Wikipedia lists their average size at 1.6 inches <_<

I got all my stuff from exotic-pets.co.uk - from the enclosure to the false plants to the feeder insects to the mantid itself - and in my own experience the service was great. Everything got to my house promptly and in good condition, and the mantid arrived without even a scratch (and was...

Reason I can't just throw the prey in and let her hunt is that the mealworms will burrow down into the substrate in about 2 seconds flat. Point taken with the whole 'getting in her face' though. I guess I'm just eager for her to eat. I'll follow your advice regarding coming in from less...

So I see all of these cool close-up photos of mantids showing everything down to the minute details. Obviously my mid-range 7 megapixel camera isn't quite up to the task. What kind of camera (in terms of either specifications or recommendations of specific brands or models) would you all...

Actually, the word timid doesn't do justice to the behavior she's displaying. The phrase 'mind bendingly terrified of absolutely anything and everything' is far more adequate. Now I accept that as this is my first Mantid I have nothing to really compare her to, and for all I know the way she's...

How do you know when it's time to clean out your mealworm tub and refill it with new bran etc?

I guess it depends what you're feeding too. You'd need to be more observant if you were feeding a burrowing feeder such as mealworms than a non-burrower like crix. I feed mine mealworms, and have had a few instances where I've dropped the worm and had it burrow beneath the substrate.

My Madagascan Marbled Mantis (Polyspilota Aeruginosa) seems to be getting on ok in her 48cmx31x31 (19inchesx13x13) terrarium. I have to make sure she's able to locate and catch hold of her food, usually with the help of tweezers; but she's happy enough. Ok, I know nothing about mantids, (this...

I think the technical term for a person of his sort is "full of ######".

I'm fairly sure she's female, but she isn't adult. Anyway, she's back on the roof now. She's still not showing that much interest in eating though. Maybe there's a molt coming on... It's quite funny. I'm finding that these mantids are hard work, but it's hard work of a very different sort to...

Hmmm, interesting. This morning for some reason she seems slightly more nervous than usual. I tried to feed her a meal worm, but after making a half-hearted attempt to grab at it, she let it drop to the floor of the terrarium and climbed down from the roof and onto a log that lays on top of the...

Well that's just plain selfish if you ask me. <_<

Since she arrived yesterday my Mantid has spent virtually all her time (we're talking 98%) on the roof of her terrarium. Is this normal behaviour? I've seen her climb up and down the side of the tank so it can't be that she's unable to get back down again, and she's eating well, so it can't be...