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I raised a bunch of nymphs last year, and got kind of burned out on mantis keeping for a while. Now I'd like to have just one big female, as a pet to watch, care for and take pictures of. Older instars are preferable, and she needs to be a species that gets big enough to be fed pet store...

My male R. valida is absolutely oblivious to mating. I've tried a couple of times, and he has shown zero interest in my female. I've gone about it every way I can think of short of chopping off his head, which I really don't want to do as he's the sweetest mantis I've ever kept. I've tried...

My wild female just laid a beautiful ootheca (on the mesh of couse) so I'm not that concerned. I just hope the one mentioned above lives a full happy life and has no other issues.

Yeah, I know I was supposed to watch them, but it lasted much longer than I expected, and that female is the most docile mantis I own. She won't take larger crickets or anything she's not used to. I hope you're right- I want some ooths for my backyard, and I'd rather release natives than...

So I mated my first mantises a few days ago- I actually saw some movement outside, and thinking it was a grasshopper or a moth, went to catch it as a treat for my big female Rhombo. However, to my delight, I found a healthy adult male S. carolina! After I had him caught, I was about to go back...

Whoops, looks like I misread. My mistake. But though the wings are a little long, that color's unheard of, they come in all shades. But Plaf94 did say californica in the first post, so that's probably what it is.

I agree with the three posts above me- I have both adult male Chinese and female Carolinas right now, and the Chinese males are much too large to view the Carolinas as anything more than a snack, they're at least twice the length. I believe both of the mantises here are Carolinas, you should...

Hey guys. I was wondering what to expect when some of my females get older, so I searched youtube, and found absolutley nothing about calling behaviour or what it looks like when females release pheromones to attract a male. I've read that they'll wiggle their abdomen up and down, or curl it...

As long as the crickets are fed a healthy diet, they should be just fine if your mantis likes them. Going from the picture on the introduction forum, I'd feed Magnus smaller to mid-sized crickets if he was under my care.

My T. sinesis with black spots on their eyes lose it when they molt a few times, if they survive. They're weaker than their normal siblings. My S. carolinas often would molt badly because of it, but one of them is now a healthy adult.

My 5th instar T. sinesis ate a small cricket every day and did pretty well; but there's no set amount to feed your mantis as long as the individual food item is no more than a third the length he is. If you feed him more, he'll grow and age faster, and if you feed him less, he'll grow and age...

Has anyone tried breeding S. carolinas before? I have a healthy adult female who's getting old enough to breed and a very handsome male who just molted perfectly. I raised the female from the ooth and I'm hoping to have another generation from her. The male I found while on a rainy day walk- I...

Rest in peace.

My parents saw him and want me to put him down, and he hasn't moved a centimeter since I put him back in his cage after getting his legs out of the molt. I think I'll freeze him after I write this post. I hand fed a mantis once before, daily until she molted to where she could catch food again...

I'll keep him for a couple more days. Maybe he'll learn to crawl a little bit. If he's just grabbing whatever is in front of him and flailing his hind legs, and not eating properly, I'll freeze and bury him. Thank you all for the imput.

One of my T. sinesis males molted from a very dumb place and ended up with his wings stuck to a wall and his legs stuck in the molt. I got the legs out in one piece but he is overall severely disfigured. Do I freeze him? He can't climb but his raptorials seem to have come out ok. I definitely...

Very well, actually! Switching to different soil seemed to do the trick. My first batch of eggs recently hatched out of the garden soil, but the adults are currently laying the second in some substrate meant for reptile enclosures. "Jungle Mix" I think. The garden soil dries out about every 3...

Catching her own crickets regularly. I must say, she's really impressed me.

Since my last post, I've replaced the container with one about 2 inches deep, switched to some soil dug up from the backyard, and put a layer of oatmeal on the bottom. However, there's still no eggs. If this doesn't work, we'll have to keep buying crickets. Roaches aren't an option. The males...

She molted on her own! I don't think she can climb well even now, her hind legs came out a little wonky. But she took a cricket wiggling from my tweezers, instead of me having to force her to eat headless ones. I'm hoping she'll be able to catch her own tomorrow.