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I'd like to clarify that I'm seeking fellow Canadians to message me. Hello,  I've been out of the mantis game for a while and would love to see what you guys have available. I'm located in Alberta, Canada. Please PM me what you've got.  Thanks,  Ryan. 

I've bought some silk plants and branches from a local craft store, and I'm about to get a little creative with my ghost setup, but before I do I need to clean it, including changing the substrate and cleaning the glass to remove hard mineral buildup from where I've been misting. I have used...

I captured this beautiful Wheelhouse Spider in my backyard along a fence about two weeks ago, and I have kept her in my private collection ever since ;) They spin huge orb-like webs so I didn't expect her to have much hunting success in a small little critter keeper. My goodness was I wrong...

I had the remarkable luck of spotting a giant woodwasp flying around at our campsite this weekend near the rocky mountains of AB. I had never seen one before and it was HUGE (almost 3 inches!), so it was hard to miss as it flew towards our pile of firewood resting against a tree. It landed on...

I've finally gotten into Google+, so if any of you have been wanting into the field trial I can send you an invite. Just send me a private message with your email and I'll send you one. If some of you have no idea what Google+ is, go to plus.google.com and check it out. I'm already in love...

I took some pictures of two weird looking bugs on seperate plants today. I wasen't sure what they were until I took out my handy-dandy book "Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America" written by Arthur V. Evans from the National Wildlife Federation. Btw, if you don't have this book and...

I had the day off today, so after the rain stopped I headed to my backyard to see what I could find! I found a green bottle fly resting nicely on some patio furniture who made a great subject, some random flowers, and some ants who came out to harvest water droplets! The ants were pretty...

I found this in a tub of 2 week old crickets from a petstore, not sure what it is. If its the larvae of something gnarly I may just keep him! :D He's about half a cm long (maybe a little less). He "looks" like a caterpillar, but I'm pretty sure he's not. He's got a bunch of tiny little...

Found this beautiful little jumper on my backyard porch this afternoon!

I've had my ghosts for a few weeks now, and have made some much needed adjustments to their enclosure. Maybe some other mantid newbies like me can benefit from these tips! I started out with 5 of them at L2/L3, and now I'm left with 3 at L4 (two females and 1 male). Two of them (1 male and 1...

Here is Cujo, my (almost) 3 year old Siberian Husky. I've raised him from a pup since I was 18, and we've been best buds ever since! A little stubborn at times (what husky isn't!) and sheds like a machine in the spring, but overall a great dog and absolutely LOVES people. Cheers!

Got off work early today because of a storm, so I had some time this afternoon to take some pics of my ghosts! Cheers!

Google tells me that females have 6 abdominal segements, while males have 7 (or 8?). I've included some pictures (and my guess) so you guys can (hopefully) tell me from the 4 I have left, which are male and female. I believe they are L4, with the exception of Ghost 3 who is still L3. I...

I just picked up my first dslr, and have been going buck wild with taking pictures and video the last day or so! :D I had a chance tonight to take a few minutes of video of one of my ghosts feeding on a cricket, so I figure I'd share! Keep in mind that I'm using the kit lens (18-55mm) so...

So I was surprised to see random house flies and crickets hanging out on the walls of my room the last couple days. I was flabbergasted (sp?) trying to figure out how they were getting out of a mini-tall exo terra terrarium I have set up for my ghosts. There's a small space between the glass...

Do any of you feed mosquitoes to your mantids? We have a ton here, but I'm a little worried about pesticides they may have been exposed to.

I have a few ghosts coming soon, and I'm asking you guys if a temp of 21-22 C is okay for them. The reason why I'm having some problems getting it a little higher is because the enclosure is in my room (in the basement, cooler than upstairs) and the compact top I have on the exo terra terrarium...

I was just curious which methods some of you use for sterilizing twigs, vines, or branches from your backyard before using in an enclosure (if you sterilize them at all). The reason I ask is because I have a number of really large branches lying around (all of which had been store bought) that...

Hi there! I am currently gathering some information on which mantid species to start off with. I'm not a complete beginner however, I've kept scorpions, lizards and snakes before. Thus I have experience controlling humidity levels and temperature required for proper molting; especially in...

Hi, my name is Ryan, a 21 year old university student living in Calgary, AB, Canada. I currently study biology. I am new to the mantid-keeping hobby, in fact you can argue that I haven't even begun yet! I'm currently looking at information of available species, trying to make the most informed...