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I've been housing mine about four or so together (they're only L3/L4 right now), but one of them ate all of its housemates in a single day! I think some mantids are just cannibalistic jerks.

Polymer clay won't work because it's vaguely toxic (the package says non-toxic, but finished pieces should be 'for decoration only' so I wouldn't risk putting it in a snakes cage). A self hardening clay may work, as would a natural terra cotta clay that was dried but not fired, but in making a...

I have a bull snake. Bull snakes in the wild steal gopher holes and the like, and I've been contemplating building him a fancy cage with a cave for him. I don't want the cave inaccessible, so I don't have a bear of a time taking him out it cleaning his cage, but I want it to look nice and fairly...

But if those chicken/grouse monsters were kept as pets and could be bred by owners, producing birds that, while not really going to work in the wild and would eventually re-normalize within thee chicken and grouse populations (or just die off), were attractive and desired by pet owners people...

Well that goes toward why the whole argument is moot. Ultimately, none of these hypothetical matings are physically possible so this whole discussion is based on musings of fancy. I mean, there is no ecological impact, or culture contamination, or anything, and if these things were physically...

Anyone quick to point out that dog breeds don't count missed my point. If we're working from a hypothetical point where two (or three or four or all) species of mantis could inter-breed perfectly, the situation would be identical to dog breeds. I am well aware all dogs are a single subspecies of...

I'm going to just have to disagree on this as being a negative at all, because ultimately it's a straw man argument. It's not something that is possible, and if it were possible it wouldn't matter in any way, shape, or form. These insects can't crossbreed so ultimately it's a moot point. If...

I think ghozt is more interested in having a violorchid, or orchilin mantis, or whatever, than contaminating culture. While I seriously doubt anything will come of this mating, but even if there was viable offspring, I'm not sure I follow your logic, Phil. How could the little mutants...

Proper words aside, the primary purpose of language is to make yourself understood to those with whom you're speaking. L# or #th instar are the commonly used terms in the community and entomological world at large, so changing to something else just to use an abbreviation for an english word...

I talked to my wife earlier; she concluded that any connection to a meaning of swelling was sure to have been lost when the use of 'nymph' in relation to insects entered English, and the meaning at the time was closer to 'bridal maiden' than anything else. Language sure is fascinating.

Nymphs are associated, in addition to nature and femininity, with youth which makes perfect sense for growing insects. According to wikipedia one of the meanings from root words is swelling in size, which also fits nicely. I'll have to ask my wife about it; she studied linguistics in college.

I bought 17 L1 ghosts from rebecca. All arrived alive and happy. Great packaging as always, couldn't be more pleased.

I see them every once in a while in the others for sale section, so people are definitely selling them here and there. The forum rules prohibit discussing transporting phasmids over state lines, so you might need to buy from someone local. Actually, it's a little unclear; this section prohibits...

If that's the sort of spray you're thinking of, you actually want fixative spray. Hair spray might do in a pinch, but fixative spray dries without being sticky and has a flat finish.

Most pet stores I've been to carry it as reptile substrate. I tend to use humidity foam, myself. Not the most eye-catching, but easy to clean.

Whoever told you this is definitely wrong because basically the opposite of the theory is true. Genetic defects are almost exclusively recessive traits. The bad traits don't show up and die off right away leaving you with a strong culture; they spread throughout the entire culture, giving all...

I had something similar happen a while back with a male ghost. He was being irritable, so I decided to move him to a 2.5 gallon glass tank I had lying around so he had some more room to be pissy. Unfortunately, my cats decided that he looked crunchy and knocked his cage on the floor. I had...

A sheet of cheese cloth and a rubber band to hold it in place is probably the easiest and cheapest answer. Not the most see-through, so it might be a good idea to position that side on the back for display purposes. It would be easy enough to remove for cleaning, but feeding might be a chore...

I've heard of some great success amongst the wider world of entomology with using clear nail polish, specifically on butterflies and their wings. Giving a dried mantis a quick coat might help preserve some color and detail, although it might leave them a bit more lustrous than nature as a...

I don't know if any studies have been done regarding life-span vs. mating in mantids, so it's probably impossible to give a definitive answer on that. You'd be hard pressed to get even an educated guess.