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Yeah, all this good info just about covers it, but if you are looking for something valuable/rare from a breeder, you might want to try slipping him a few bucks --$40-50 or so -- and do that a few times, so that when you do request some nymphs, he will have a good association with yr name. Start...

Free mantises and feeders for new forum members. So let me get this straight. First, there have to be members of a New Forum, (or should that be News Forum? Can anyone join? What is it called?) and they all have a bunch of mantises and feeders (all my mantises are feeders, anyway, but that's...

Very impressive young Alex! So now, if you are seated comfortably, perhaps we could explore why you would sacrifice a male moth and not a female. I'm sure that you've heard of the playwright Sophocles. Do you remember his play, Oedipus the King? Well, when he was a little boy.... :D

I agree that this is not a "seizure" in the mammalian sense. It is, in fact, an attempt by evil spirits to escape from the body of the mantis that they have invaded. Of course, they don't fool She Who Cannot be Fooled (BbHN).

The ooths that you purchased from the N.Z. dealer are wild caught, as I guess the dealer told you. If the holes that appeared did so after you got them, it certainly seems that they were caused by the emergence of a parasitic wasp or fly. These are so small that they can sometimes escape...

A thing that we often overlook, Y.A., is that in nature, a flying or perambulating male would be likely to pass right on by if she wasn't emitting pheromones, "calling". It is often said that more males are eaten when attempting to copulate in captivity than n the wild because we don't give them...

Yeah, the car-ride injuries make sense, especially if they banged their eyes against the mesh when the car hit a bump or a rough patch Are you a steady driver, KK? :D

Good stuff Y.A.! Now, did you notice the column that said "sex chromosome mechanism in the male"? It was XO instead of the familiar XY. Does that suggest diploidy or haploidy to you (easy one!) and what is the mechanism used to explain the loss of the Y chromosome (much harder. It has the word...

Forgive me, Guy, but i know no such thing. It is well known that CFLs produce UV light and that cataracts can be caused by UV light, so it should not be surprising that I made such a connection. So what do you believe is the connection between your affected mantids and the CFL? I am aware that...

We're going wild here, folks! What is a "cataract style blotch"? A cataract is a white opacity that develops on the lenses of vertebrate eyes. In humans, it is associated with age rather than light. but, of course, the two main mantis eyes are composed of conical ommantidia -- take a look here...

If only one individual had this problem, it must be the individual rather than the environment that was the problem. Your mantis probably had a stricture, necrosis or mechanical blockage in the gut; you did nothing wrong and its death was inevitable. The Great Mantis Goddess (BbHN) is not mad...

Mantids are diurnal creatures and need daylight. Give them as much as they would receive outside and preferably artificial light with a spectrum similar to daylight.. They use vision for prey capture and are largely inactive at night. A famous mantis keeper named M. Arnold described the result...

Welcome. BTW, why do you say "Hi, UK? This is an American forum! :D

@Mantiskid: What you have probably already guessed about me is true. I am a really , really rotten person. My last post was designed to lure you into saying that you believe that mantises need calcium so that i can ask if it helps in the development of their "tiny bones". Then I have a nightcap...

You are right, of course,: chimps, tamarinds and some other primates, though notably not the orang-outang (is hat the U.S. spelling? Too lazy to check!) and gorilla so far as I know. These tend to be "social cannibalism", though, rather than the casual kind of an alligator or mantis eating its...

Tammy; these are marvelous as always. What they don''t show is the skill, time and patience required to come up with them! I have seen mantis individuals that took longer to mature than their siblings (I personally don't call them "runts" because they end up the same size as the others)...

Welcome from Yuma Arizona!! @Bright Spark: And welcome to you, too. Are you going to introduce yourself, now and tell us how you know Piccalilli * I mean Piggadilly? (U.S. Members: This is just a silly Limey joke. Piccalilli is Yummy Yellow. "Pigadilly refers to Piccadilly Circus in the Big...

This is pretty much in line with Bible Prophecy: http://www.seekingtruth.co.uk/weather.htm If enough folks want to send me enough (free) ooths, I am prepared to start building an Ark to keep our pets going until the End Time.

I have never really understood the reason for "gut loading" mantis prey. Is it to provide them with the veggies (most prey animals are vegetarians or omnivores) or vitamins and minerals that they won't get from eating prey that have not been "gut loaded"? I have heard that calcium is one of the...

Talk to Peter; he's your go-to guy. Also, you should try StickTalk at www.sticktalk.com Most of the members speak Brit, but you'll catch on after a while and you can trade with U.S. members.