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Any of the smaller flower mantises such as Creobroter or Pseudocrebotra sp. or Galinthias amoena. Bark mantises like Elmantis sp. Male orchids can indeed live their entire lives in a deli cup but the females are a lot larger, they need something at least 12 inches tall.

If you made the medium correctly and added a significant number of flies to seed, getting mold after only 4 days seems unusual. How did you make the culture? If the flies are reproducing and the mold has nearly disappeared then it seems like the culture is back on track regardless of how it...

I don't know what they are, it's a bit hard to tell from the pictures. You might have better luck getting someone to ID them if you post a clear well lit picture in a new thread in the General Discussion forum.  The main function of the substrate is to help maintain humidity levels for the...

Thanks! I have 9 Exo Terra terrariums of various sizes and the rest of my mantises are either in deli cups or converted food containers. The terrariums are planted but for deli cups I use sphagnum moss for the substrate. I started out using coconut substrate and liked it's softness & ability...

Losing a mantis to an illness is rough. I'm sorry. I had a boxer mantis die a while back after chewing off his own foot. What seems like a relatively small injury to us can be devastating for them...the probability for infection is high. I have heard of people putting honey on injuries like...

Oh no, that's terrible. I'm so sorry. I know the feeling of finding your favorite mantis sick and there's nothing you can do to help her. This sickness hitting so many of your mantises at once it has to be the grasshoppers, the heat or something else in their environment. I recently heard a...

83°F = 28.3°C 10°F difference in temperature = 5.6°C difference in temperature  He is saying that when temps get above 28.3°C he adds the damp towel and fan and it cools them by as much as 5.6°C Hopefully, now that the heat has gone down and you've replaced the grasshoppers no more mantises...

It's best to wait 24 hours after a molt to handle your mantis to make sure he has dried out properly. It takes several hours after molting for their exoskeleton to dry completely and they feel extremely vulnerable during that time, molting is a stressful process for a mantis. Striking at your...

I hope not! Keep the sick ones separate. I wish I could be more help figuring out what's wrong ?

Stress poop can be caused by any number of things that might be stressing her out. The prolapse alone could be stressful enough to cause it. However, since some of your other mantises are sick/dying it could be that whatever is going on with them is affecting her a little bit too.

It's hard to tell what could be making them sick but since its not isolated to one mantis it has to be something either in their environment or something they are eating. Go through everything they are exposed to, clean out their enclosures, quarantine the sick ones and get new feededers. You...

The black stuff in the center is what you wiped away? That may just be stress poop. It gets sticky and black. The green part it came out of is what I am concerned about, if that's not discharge then it looks like her anus is prolapsed. She may have done it when trying to lay an ooth. I don't...

Oh no. It could be something the feeders have. Maybe quarantine your current stock and a new batch of feeders until you can verify the old ones aren't sick.

Glad I could help.  If you were misting twice a day the humidity was probably on the high side, usually twice a day is too often unless it is extremely dry in your area. The humidity gauge will help you figure out how often to mist. 

That is a long time since her last ooth but sometimes it takes a long time when they are infertile. No idea what's going on with the discharge but it's not normal. The loss of appetite is concerning. My eggbound female didn't have discharge like that, she had been mated but she still couldn't...

Thank you for the kind words. I'm sorry your female mismolted & you had to make a tough decision. Is the male still doing ok? Not that it matters now that he is an adult and won't molt again, the fact that both mantises had trouble molting at the same time suggests the humidity in their...

Unfortunately it is hard to tell if an insect, even one as intelligent as a praying mantis, is suffering. Insects have a very different way of experiencing the world than we do, they have very simple nervous systems, how much pain and suffering they are able to process is unknown. They also...

It is of course your choice to determine if her quality of life is suffering and if it would be better to end it for her. There are several methods of euthanasia: 1. Freezer. Extreme cold will knock a mantis out rather quickly but you need to leave her in the freezer for 24 hours because there...

Hi and welcome! Lots you can still learn even if you are an experienced mantis keeper already. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, this group is very helpful and friendly.

Good luck.