1/2 gallon fish bowl--L5 budwing

[Mvalenz]

I have my L-5 budwing in a half gallon fish bowl. How long until I should upgrade her to something a little bigger? And what is a good size to upgrade her to? I had placed her in a 10 gallon tank recently and she wasn't eating too well in it. But she loved all the room she had to frolic in. I placed her back in the half gallon and she started eating on the regular again. The reason I ask is because I think she is going to molt again and I want to make sure she has enough room.

 

[ShieldMantid1997]

3x her height, 2x her length, but i like to make it a little larger, like 4x height and 3x length

 

[Mvalenz]

OK. She should be ready for something a little bigger after this next molt then. My fish bowl is

6"x6". She is a little under 2" I think. Kinda hard to measure her because her little butt curls up.

 

[Termite48]

It is really important with the next few molts for your mantis to have more room, the reasons for mis-molts are not always things that you could have avoided, but a cramped enclosure is one of the things you can prevent and also make sure that you mantid is fully hydrated from the inside, not just spraying and humidity but enough gut loaded feeder insects especially approaching a molt.

 

[Mvalenz]

Including this molt or after? I have been feeding my crickets either potato or banana. Not sure if this is enough. And I gave her a droplet of water from a bamboo skewer tip earlier today because i never see her drink water otherwise. I do hope she stops hanging on the sides and top of the enclosure for when she does molt. The side is plastic and the top is a McDonalds cup lid. Don't think she will have a good grip on either of those. There are plenty of sticks in there though. Just hope she has the instincts to use them.

 

[kr1cket]

The side is plastic and the top is a McDonalds cup lid. Don't think she will have a good grip on either of those.

Hot glue some mesh to the lid or one side?

 

[Mvalenz]

Thanks. I taped a piece of paper towel to one side but she never uses it. She has since moved down from the top to the sticks. I hope she stays down there till she molts. I want to catch it on camera. Guess it's going to be some late nights for the next few days. I have a feeling it is going to happen soon though.

 

[meaganelise9]

Yeah, I think it's important to provide a very grip-able top since they like to spend so much time on top upside down. Not providing that, you risk mis-molts. Some things I like to use are tulle that you can by in the wedding aisle at Michael's or plastic grid that I find in the knitting/cross stitching section at the craft store, which is more rigid. Also, Rebecca (mantisplace.com) sells plastic grids of all sizes depending on how big your feeders are, which works really well. And her nymph cups already have grippy fabric lids with feeding holes.

 

[Mvalenz]

I think I need something that opens from the side like one of her hexagons. This way I can cover a nice amount of area at the top with screen or something similar. I'm going shopping for supplies tomorrow.