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Gekkonidae, Thanks for the pictures but I gave up trying to make lids using zip ties. I found some tiny doll house hinges at Hobby Lobby, zip tied one side to each lid (back edge) and hot glued the other side of the hinge to the top of the rim and they work great (thanks for the idea, LAME)...

Salmonsaladsandwich, Not my intention to offend any termite lovers, but my male Budwing is such a tiny, flying maniac, flitting all over the room--he just reminds me of a termite with wings. I can't imagine pairing him with my female, who is his exact age, as he looks like a light snack for...

PlayingMantis, Thank you for sharing your experiences. I'm sorry you had to go through it, too! And yours were males, so like Ranitomeya says, it's unrelated to being heavy with eggs. But, were your males heavy? I just feel guilty that in my ignorance, I let my girls maybe get too fat (when...

Okoboji22, I've only kept seven species so far but Chinese is still on top followed by Sphodromantis and Hierodula. It seems I am partial to big, friendly, green mantids :) I would repeat any of these species as they were all aggressive feeders but gentle to handle. I also have Double...

Gekkonidae, how did you attach the final lid?

Savechanges, Re: crowding Popa spurca. I have a solid net barrel 14" dia by 24" tall. It has branches big and small and some silk flowers, set in plaster of paris, that reach the top. Would this be enough space for four Popa spurca? One is a 6 day-old female, two are male subs or pre subs...

For sure I will not be pressing her abdomen! Yuk! About the timing for laying an ooth, my unmated Budwing did at 30 days. Is this about typical? Do unmated females (in this case Hierodula) wait as long as they can hoping for a mating before laying? Does the length of time vary by species...

Gekkonidae, Thanks! I hope you get some older mantids to put in your beautiful set-up, too!

Thanks, Ranitomeya, Jasmine's diet is varied eating mostly BB flies with crickets, waxworms, mealworms and dubia roaches switched in. She is a good eater. Yeah, I now recognize the basic body parts, thanks. I just thought if they have to push out the eggs, it would also expel more of the...

OMG! I thought my Hierodula female, 32 days old and quite heavy, was going to lay an ooth today as she was really checking out her branches. Nope. Instead I returned tonight to see that she has the beginnings of a prolapsed anus! I won't feed her for a few days and hope it will retract and I...

Gekkonidae, thanks for showing your project. I was out gathering items today and can hardly wait to get started. I also understand about cutting the top grid into individual doors. Thanks for that. Mine will be much simpler and never as good looking as yours, but it is a great way to give...

This set-up is just gorgeous! Do the binder edges go to the ridge that surrounds the top of the aquarium or all the way to the top? Also, you know how the mantids like to hang on the lids? How will you open a one piece cover with four different mantids clinging to it? Do you have individual...

LAME, Thanks for your reply---I feel less guilty. I kind of wondered about the incidence of them getting egg bound more often if they are not mated. But I like the idea of the unmated females possibly living longer as I like their larger size. If someone had told me nine months ago that...

LAME, Thank you for your response. Okay then, it sounds like my females are behaving normally. They are still very round---not the Ghost who only eats BB flies but she eats more now than before. Maybe the dubia roaches filled the Hierodula and Budwing up for a few days as they were half the...

I thought female mantids ate lots before laying an ooth but mine have gone on a hunger strike for three days. Last week, they each ate a whole adult male Dubia and then maybe a few BB flies over the weekend. Now nothing. I have tried BB flies, crickets, and waxworms and they just bat them away...

I'm not yet brave enough to deal with ooths and all that they require (like heat) but mostly having to deal with housing all the hatchlings (unless I just let them eat each other until the numbers got few enough to manage but that'd be a true lack of animal husbandry I think...) I hope you get...

Jgod and DeShawn, So the Chinese mantids are being sold here---either they fail to thrive in our area or we should be seeing them, right? Haven't run across one in 48 years in Tacoma---not saying they aren't here though. But, if friends have found the European mantids here (three minutes from...

This thread has made me curious about releasing mantids. What species of ooths do the garden stores in WA sell? I live in the Fircrest/Tacoma/University Place area. DeShawn, do you remember what you released in Tacoma ten years ago? Last summer, friends found Mantis religiosa in University...

Savechanges, The photos are gorgeous! Might I ask what the mantis is standing on that gave it a white reflection in the photos?

Salmonsaladsandwich, Curtain is up, cold and hot floor returns are covered with organza, and I thought I had it all fixed---I didn't think about the light bulbs! The room has a couple of hot, recessed ceiling lights, three wall bullets (with CFLs) lighting the mantids and two heat lamps. So...