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I'm trying to think of gender-neutral names. :)

Gorgeous photos - thank you for sharing them! I, too, thought you saw an orchid mantis in NY and I was puzzled!

I swore I wasn't going to name them until I knew the sex. Every time I end up naming something with a male name, it ends up being a female. So, for now, here's Thing 1 and Thing 2, my double shield mantids I got from DeShawn! I don't know what instar they are, but they are about the size of a dime. 

Just cleaned out the mantid cups. And no hatched pupae. Put everything back together and put the 3-4 pupae back in each of the containers. I look over 20 mins. later and there are two flies on the top! Finally! And Thing 1 just caught one. *whew* I was getting worried!

Well, one of the mantids got his cricket! Woot!

I got five tiny crickets this evening, but I lost one and two of them appear... near death? I don't. I did put one moving tiny cricket in each of the mantid's cups. They haven't chased it down yet. But, I did see one of them drink from a water droplet and it was freaking CUTE. :P No hatched...

No pupae have hatched yet. It will be 72 hours tonight. I'm going to go in search of mini crickets this evening. There's no other live prey I can buy anywhere here except crickets. The mantids are about the size of a dime. Not sure of instar, but they are young and small.

Well, I put 3-4 pupae in each mantid container. The house is at 70 degrees all the time. I took a bunch more and put them in a separate container tonight and I can put that wherever. The rest of them are in the fridge.  I'm just so worried, as they haven't had anything to eat for 48 hours now...

I have a couple of nymphs. I put 3-4 fly pupae in each of their containers, but the pupae still haven't hatched. It's been about 48 hours now and I'm worried 'cause they haven't eaten anything in a few days. Advice? 

My SO took great delight in catching fun stuff in the yard for our first mantis. I told him no bees, wasps or butterflies though! Basically, no beneficial insects. But it's winter here in Iowa now, so we rely on crickets from the store and (now) fly pupae.

Got my first order from deShawn/MantidKingdom yesterday. I ordered one double-shield mantis, but he included an extra one! Both arrived healthy and active. I had several questions for DeShawn that I sent via PM and he answered them all. Items came with a heat pack, too. 10/10 experience - would...

Do they tend to become less skittish as they age, then?

That's so cute! My guys seem really jumpy/skittish. And with them being as small as they are, I'm worried about losing them.

This is a decent price at Petco: https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/exo-terra-nano-wide-terrarium-8x8x8 

Well poop! I was gonna say, that's a great price for a terrarium!

Yes, it's lined paper. They are about the size of a dime. I'm amazed that something that small and delicate-looking can survive shipping. 

Can you post the link to the $20 terrarium? I'd like to see it.

Whoa, those are some cool plants! I recognize the first one - very cool!

Ha - that's a great name! Welcome to the hobby! I'm fairly new myself. 

I got my package from DeShawn today of two (thanks for the freebie!) double shield mantids. They are so teeny and so cute! And fast! And kinda jumpy. I've already almost lost one and dumped the entire container of fly pupae in the process. Thank goodness for hardwood floors.  These are my first...