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I understand about the T. sinensis having black eyes during the night. But this week, my male first had one eye stay black all the time and now both are black 24/7. I added black shelf liner to his cage as he is missing a tibia (just a one inch band around his cage to help him climb, and I...

As an update, my poor little "turkey" was dead this morning. Her anus turned black this week and she never laid an ooth.

intheabyss, I am in awe of all your beautiful stick insects with their little pugnacious faces! You must have loved your Goliath! As we gazed at your photos over and over, we couldn't help but notice you were entertaining your insects while studying---what---nuclear physics? Thanks you for...

Your posting really tickled me. So cute! These Mantis religiosa (European) are also found wild in the state of Washington. My neighbor found one sitting on a bag of fertilizer (straw-colored just like yours) in University Place just a few blocks from me, and a young friend of my grandson...

Thomas, at least you have some sense of smell. Mine is zero which means food is about texture only. I can taste salt, sugar and spice just burns my mouth, but no flavor so it's just mean. I used to love to cook, but I can't flavor anything especially recipes that say salt and pepper to taste...

Oh, of course, I get it now. This girl---she has slept on the vertical side head first! That didn't help her floppy abdomen. She's doing better in there after 48 hours of staying straight up but she sure wants out the clear top. I hear her scraping on it all the time. Considering that she...

Pretty Chinese mantis. Looking at her, I don't think mine is any bigger. Since mine, in the photo, was hanging upside down (and in her cage) I think maybe it was distorted. I'll try to get her out for a photo when she walking. I did get four sides of a critter cage covered, leaving the...

Oops, my grandson brought his Bug Rangler over and it's not worth it. The only way it picks up insects (wax worm moth and smaller) is if it is on something flat so the suction works. It will not suck in anything in mid air. I sent it home with him!

Krissim Klaw, your idea is working. I used a toothpick to sort of destroy the chest area of a B. dubia and with tweezers, stuck it in my mantid's face. He buried his nose in it and chomped for about five minutes. It's a start! Thank you for the idea!

When she had her final molt, two months ago, she fell with her old skin. I found both of them on her cage floor. I thought she would die as her back? looked broken and she never got her wings expanded--she really looks like a turkey. But, she lives, eats much lighter than the 15 BB flies you...

OMG, I am so sorry to hear about your infections! I will never feel sorry for myself again! My problems started with a root canal and now my maxillary, ethmoids and sigmoids have all been stripped and made into one giant sinus on each side. Similar x-rays? I have a resistant bacteria and my...

I also use a seedling mat with a thermostat. But reading all of the above, I have made some changes, adding insulation between the granite counter and the mat, and also putting a woven mat under my cages (they had been sitting on the heating mat and I couldn't sync the thermostat with the...

My sense of smell does not exist (3 sinus surgeries.) However, my husband can smell (he noticed the crickets once but I no longer buy them.) I don't have a great space like you do so my two cages, flies, jars, etc are on my kitchen counter sharing space which is why I have to be kind of a neat...

MantidBro, here she is from the side and from the top (her cage is so full of flies I didn't want to open it so we're looking through plastic with an IPhone.) Thanks for your help!

So, ground peat moss, springtails and isopods---the cages don't smell after months having an adult mantis in them? Mine are in the kitchen...

Thomas, I was asking you. Our house is 69 degrees so I feel obligated to try to warm up my mantids. My only problem is that putting a heating pad under the plastic cages doesn't transfer the heat well (I think it would work better if I had a substrate but I just have paper towels so far.) The...

I think I handle my worms differently. About two weeks ago, I threw 150 mature wax worms (the big white ones) that I got from my supplier (Crittergrub) into my bin. Most of them pupated in the food bed within the week. Very few of them spun cocoons. Last week, I went through the bin and...

I just looked at your set up---wow--- but I didn't see any heating. What do you use for warmth?

Re: the peat moss, are you using the fluffy stuff or is it all ground up? If it's fluffy, don't you lose a lot of the non flying feeder insects? Can you use both isopods and springtails at the same time? Do the springtails get out and infest houseplants? I've been using paper towels and I...

I am finding a different worm and moth in my wax worm bin also. The moths are much smaller and their worms are skinny, small, and pinkish. We saw these worms in my son's bumblebee houses a couple of years ago. Decimated the bees just like the wax worms do. I'd feed them to an L5 or 6 T...