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Jim, It so often begins that way.  THEY find (choose) YOU.  Like cats - they instinctively know a good potential owner.  I was found by a gravid female way back in 2005. And, like you, got hooked. 

Great macros.  She's adorable !

If you feed crix to your mantids, what methods do you use to capture a cricket and deposit it into the mantid's housing?  For years I've tried spoons, toilet paper rolls, tweezers, small bottles.  It's always a nightmare trying to capture them.  How do you securely capture your crix??  Many...

Taters are fine for crix.  No iceberg lettuce, watermelon, carrots.  Green leafy veggies like kale or collard greens are favorites.

My decade of mantis experience has taught me most species of these voracious little piggies will eat many types of "people" food.  High fructose fruit, jam, honey, even salmon (cooked). However - it's not their natural food and it's not what they consume in the wild.  Because of that, I feel...

I'm a skeptic's skeptic.  I made my first order from Josh's about 4 weeks ago (been raising mantids for 10 years).  Simple order:  1 producing container of gasters and Josh's own brand of media powder. The gaster's came fresh, well-packed and thriving.  The media powder made a highly productive...

Update: Most of the hatchlings (about 200) were taken over to Princeton University and sprinkled in a number of large, flowering gardens.  The pups will be studying entomology, primarily - but a few  said they were interested in:  neurobiology, astrophysics and international finance. The...

In all the years and species I've kept, only once have I had an incident.  Here's my original post from June, 2013.  She grabbed my thinking I was prey.  In years following, the consensus is to gently squeeze their abdomen...

Congratulations Mysty.  Newborns are so cool.  I've got about 500 L1s to deal with at the moment.  Herding them and feeder "gasters" is......a challenge!  :eek:

Alimama, I've had a long history of hatching T. sinensis - and have just had 3 wild ooths hatch in the last week (yielding about 500 pups).  This species can do ok for the first 2 - 4 days without food. Any longer than that and they will start eating (cannibalizing) each other. Make sure you...

I finally found a PetSmart that had melnogasters.  Most do not around these parts.  But all is well -- got an overnight of an active culture from Josh's Frogs, and have started another culture myself.  Also got prompt response for container supplies from my old standby vendor Rebecca @ Mantis...

I suspect they were very happy with the Xmas decorations! 🎅

Thanks everyone! Just in a vendor panic trying to get melnogasters !!  Maybe will try Josh's Frogs (never used before).

Ah - forgot to mention.  Tenodera sinensis.  My favorite.

They is risen ! Easter Mantids hatch this morning (one of three ooths). Nice, healthy births. About 200 cute, hungry pups. Now the panic to get them food (didn't expect the hatch quite so soon). I've been away from the hobby for a couple of years; now scrambling to re-establish vendor...

Gawd !  That second shot is priceless.  Femme Fatale  is clearly saying:  "Hey!  Look what I found !"

Duct tape saved the day again !! (Just kidding about duct tape, but congratulations for the quick-thinking life-saving maneuver).

Giant ice cream goo cone.  YUM !

I've used a beautiful butterfly bush on my deck as a natural "hangout" for a number of my T. sinensis this summer.  To my disappointment I've lost several (one had stayed on the bush 3 weeks).  My last girl, a very gravid pet named Photon, disappeared after enjoying the bush for just one day. ...

Eight years ago I was visited by an adult male Tenodera sinensis in Princeton, NJ.  It was a quiet Sunday afternoon and he was on the screen door of my porch.  I'd read about mantids being kept as pets, and (being a scientist) was curious.  So I asked if he wanted to come in and look around.  He...