Search results

Hey all In my last thread i had expressed concern about bug spray in the backyard and didn't get much feedback about it. After waiting a week and a half for the pesticides to wash out and for life in my backyard to recover, i captured a cricket and fed it to my adult chinese mantid. She didn't...

Hey guys! Long time no see! I used to live next to a nature preserve, so if a mantid i had caught didn't seem to be thriving i could release them into the wild again. Around this time last year i moved up closer to the mountains and i was sure i wouldn't see any more of my favourite insect, but...

Same problem, different circumstances. My mantid must have started shedding early in the morning, because when i finally got to him he was pretty much dry. I moistened him and taped him up, peeled off what skin i could, but...He honestly doesn't look good. For want of a better term, his...

So, the last time my mantis moulted he lost nearly all of his legs. Today i took him out of his cage to sun himself and hunt, and he tried hanging upside down. Of course, because he lost most of his back legs, he fell off. I tried taping him up in a large, flat enclosure stood on its side. I've...

Would it be possible for me to make a temporary prosthesis for him out of tape? His back legs aren't the same length and have no feet anyway...

Well, he gobbled up one of the red baby ones like there was no tomorrow, and so far he looks okay. I'll try to get some other bugs for him just for variety's sake though. (If this works, i might be able to get him to shed early so he can walk again)

"Some species of spiders will eat boxelders as will praying mantis. Leave any spider webs intact near an infestation. Praying mantis are incredible predators that patiently stalk their prey then use their spiked front legs to snare it." "I'm not sure what nasty juices create toxicity in...

I read somewhere that they're not poisonous, they only smell bad, but i'd rather not try anything unless i'm 100% sure. The last thing i want is to poison my mantis by accident.

So, as it turns out, it's hard for me to get bugs for my mantis directly from my backyard. I never really thought the large amount of birds would affect the number of grasshoppers i get, but it turns out they eat most anything my mantis eats. However, since i live up by the Rocky Mountains, i...

I fed him a grasshopper nymph. I have no problem holding his food while he figures out how to strike. I think he just had to figure out how to adapt to not using his legs.

He ate today, which is good, and he tried climbing again. Would feeding him a lot of honey speed things along any?

He is moving around (pulling himself by his forelimbs - how weird is that?) but his legs are still pretty useless. The one i thought would be safe is now bent and crumpled, and my mantis has chewed part of it off. He's still not eating, but he is drinking and eating honey. I considered taping...

He can't hang onto the lid. His legs are too bent to do much else besides sitting. I spread some netting over the branch and put soft terrarium liner (stuff i use for my tortoise) underneath so he can still sit up. I'll try feeding him tomorrow.

He hadn't moved from where i put him back in the cage for an hour and a half. Gave him some honey (it might be beneficial, and if not it'll make my mantis happy), some water, and moistened the leg he hadn't finished shedding. After a few moments he shed the leg and i held it as straight as it...

Hey gang Kind of at a loss as to what to do. I went outside to check on my mantis and found he had just shed. I couldn't tell you what instar he's in, he's only about two and a half inches long and still hasn't developed his wings yet. He's a chinese mantis, so they're hardy, but...i really...

Alright, so this is only me second time here (first time was regarding my other mantid's old age) so apologies if i don't know the proper terminology. I'm not quite sure what kind of mantid i have (assuming it's a chinese mantis because of the resemblance to my other one?) but he's still pretty...

Well damn, I was hoping she'd be okay. Thanks for all the help guys.

I suppose, but it wouldn't explain the stiff legs and all.

I think I have a male. Is that the one that is brown with the green edged wings?

I usually get my mantids to climb onto me by putting my hand next to their front legs and under their pinching ones, and gently pushing inwards towards it's legs. It will crawl onto me. None of the mantids I've encountered have ever attacked me, more like reaching out to grab me. If she does...