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Ok, thanks gripen! I didn't even think to look up Tenodera identification, but once I did I found that they're easily identified by the vertically striped face, which she def has :) Well, I'll keep her until the wife gets home so I can show her, but after that there's not much point in...

Ok, so in my last post I mentioned that all 3 of my S carolina. were males, and I have been looking for a female in the wild. Well, I found one, but... this thing is HUGE! So huge in fact, that it has got me wondering... are my 3 boys adults? They all have their full-length wings, so I...

Edit: they're all males, not females.

Hi guys! Okay, so it turns out that all 3 of my S Carolina. are female, so... does anyone have any good tips on catching mantids so that I can maybe catch a male to breed? They're kind of tricky what with that whole camouflage thing, lol! Maybe some tips on the best places to spot them, best...

Oops, more people might answer my question if I actually POST my question, lol... is it normal for mantids to binge like this?

Lol, so crowbar is absolutely voracious today! I didn't feed him yesterday, and when I added in fruit flies this morning, he had a field day. He grabbed a FF right off the bat, then while he was still eating that one, another wandered too close, so he snatched that one up too, so now he has...

So I seem to have an MIA exoskeleton! At least one, but it looks like 2 of my 3 nymphs have molted. However, I cannot find their exoskeletons anywhere! I have sheet moss in the bottom of the containers, and due to a mishap involving one of my dogs, the containers got knocked down, so that...

Hmmm, that's interesting. I tried sexing them as best I can (still kinda hard to count segments at this size), but as best I can tell, the two smaller ones have more segments than Charlie (the big one), and she definitely only has six. Probably just a coincidence then that my female is the...

Among my 3 L2 S. carolina. nymphs, I am noticing quite a big size difference! I got all three of them as L1s (as far as I could tell), and their size was fairly uniform. And even after their first molt the other week, they were still more or less the same size, with Charlie being slightly...

I got the acrylic at lowes, $12 for a sheet that was large enough to cut all the pieces and have plenty left over. Ok, SO... looks like I'm going to have to try again at some point. This was my first ever attempt at working acrylic, and, well... I thought it was good, but apparently not good...

S. carolina.

So now that they're all in their second instar, I'm noticing some drastic differences in coloration! At first they were all more or less the same, but now I have one that is predominantly green, one that is a very dark brown, and one that has a dark brown back, but his ventral side is green...

Built some habitats for my 3 L2s today out of acrylic. I used sheer for ventilation on the bottom, top, and back wall. Lined the floor with some sheet moss, and added in some silk/ plastic flowers. No lid, empty habitat: Empty habitat with lid: Finished habitat with mantis: All 3, sitting...

Update: Okay, so all 3 of my little guys have molted successfully now, yay! Which leads me to a question: how long does it take for their new exo to harden/ how long until it's safe to start introducing feeders into their enclosures again? Thanks guys!

Charlie molted to day, he/she is now L2, yay! I'm sooo excited, it's just stupid, haha. But these are my first mantids, so I think it's excusable :) Unfortunately, I didn't witness it. I checked in on them just 10 minutes ago, and noticed charlie sitting next to his/her old skin. That's...

Update: here is a pic of my new temporary setup. Later this week I'm going to go buy some acrylic sheets and some mesh, but these rubbermaid containers do a nice job in the meantime. Glued paper towels to the lid, put some paper towel on the bottom (not glued so it can be replaced), poked...

Thanks everyone, glad to be aboard!

Yeah, how's Stumpy holding up? Crowbar is now missing a leg as well, so I have a vested interest in hearing how it plays out for Stumpy :)

Thanks guys! They're all sitting pretty in individual, appropriately sized enclosures now, so no more fights (I had seen them swat at/ threat display each other before)! They're all L1s, so hopefully crowbar will grow his missing leg back with successive molts :)

Just mels, there were 3 in there together, S. Carolina, and I was warned (on this forum no less), that if I kept them together they'd cannibalize, but I thought if there were enough ffs in there, they'd stick to easier prey... apparently not!