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Okay, thanks.  This whole molting thing makes me so nervous.  I'm so happy when I see four legs hanging out to dry!  I have three more mantises awaiting their final molt. One of them will be an L9 male!  I think he'll be larger than the females by the time he gets his wings. Anyway, I guess I...

Thanks! When I went back to check on her she was folded over, almost double - hanging there.  I didn't think the molting would go well in this position so I tried moving her.  She was all soft and wonky.  I managed to drape some shelf liner over a paint stir stick and angled it over her...

Hi all, I have a Chinese female mantis who has been gearing up to her last molt for three days now.  I am a bit anxious about the process since she doesn't have both hind legs, just one that is useable.  In order to have an issue-free final molt I have been encouraging her to stay on the...

Thank you to everyone for the feedback!  And that is quite the video on maggot farming!  Almost makes me want to start up my own farm (I am so kidding).  I'm not ready to give up yet since I have had some success along the way.  It looks like part of the problem is the lack of ventilation in...

Hello all!  I am trying to get an indoor system to work in order to have a supply of green bottle flies to feed my Chinese mantises through the 6 months of winter.  I have 7 mantises to feed (L7s and L8s). This summer I was successful getting eggs laid, maggots, then flies when I used rotting...

Thank you all for such valuable input. My mantis stopped taking liquids today. He could no longer lift his head and as I held him in the palm of my hand I realized that he was indeed dying.  So sad.   Tomorrow I'll bury him in the garden.

I came upon one of my dear mantis adolescents hanging, like a rag draped over a laundry line. He was in an L6 molt that had clearly gone very wrong.  He had a hole in his abdomen and was stuck in his exoskeleton.  I don't know how the hole got there.  The branch that he was hanging from had a...

I anticipate that it will be so relaxing once adulthood arrives - no more molting adventures. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one with manicure scissors and tweezers re-purposed for mantid care!

Hi all mantis enthusiasts!  I'm in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  I originally hatched an egg case to have mantises to deal with the bad bugs in my yard.  However, the weather was so bad that I eventually just gave up trying to launch the mantises outside.  I've now got several mantises as pets...