Adult Enclosure

[Jodokohajjio]

Howdy folks,

I've been toying around with the idea of creating an adult mantis enclosure with removable dividers for a while. My inspiration came from another post (http://mantidforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2298 -->look at nympho's photo bucket pics). I was originally going to try to figure out a way to do this by modifying a 40-55 gallon tank, but I thought that making the whole thing out of acrylic would be better because it would allow for more exact control over dimensions and such.

I haven't finished the design for the lid yet, but I'll be borrowing some ideas from nympho's lid.

Here's the tank:

The dimensions, as it says, are roughly 36"Lx12"Wx24"H. The individual sub divisions would be something like 9"Lx12"Wx24"H. For those mantis keeprs that have had a large variety of mantids, do you think that these dimensions would suffice for most species?

Also, in general, what issues do you guys see with this? Keep in mind that it isn't finished yet...and I haven't actually built anything. The actual building will probably be a summer project for me.

Any feedback at all will be greatly appreciated, and I will be posting the lid for this when I get the design to a point where it is easy to see and understand.

(Oh, and the actual AutoSketch file is here:

www.users.muohio.edu/berlieja/mantis_tank_2.SKF

and the image file is here:

http://www.users.muohio.edu/berlieja/image...nclosure_2.GIF)

 

[Rick]

I do the same thing with glass aquariums. I then cut sheets of plexiglass to make dividers.

 

[nympho]

hi jodokohajjio,

thought id post the plans for my cage, thanks for mentioning it. Some of the construction may be of interest although obviously its a completely different shape being hexagonal.

PLAN JPG = 349KB

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/macu...ca/cageplan.jpg

SECTION JPG = 184KB

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/macu...cagesection.jpg

Here is a picture of one of my partitions. very fiddly to make but does give good ventilation and climbing support and looks quite neat. i tried just gluing muslin onto the frame but it kept getting damaged with twigs etc so decided it would look much better and be alot stronger to set steel mesh into a groove cut centrally in the wooden frame.

FRAME JPG = 147 KB

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/macu...olica/frame.jpg

i have been thinking of making a similar shaped cage to yours to house more mantids (i only have one at the moment :? ) but then again - they take bleedin' ages!

I wish someone would commercially make a really attractive divided up mantis cage (with lighting and heat mat built in) at a really low cost that is, he he! 8)

thats the trouble of course as cages are so labour intensive to make and therefore be v expensive. there also would not be much of a market at all being so niche.

cheers

 

[Ian]

Some nice ideas....but Il stick with the wilko geo tank

 

[nympho]

Some nice ideas....but Il stick with the wilko geo tank

I dont know those. Are they divided up. I cant see much point in keeping 1 mantis per cage as they need so little space, especially in the uk when it is soooo cold and each cage therefore needs heating.

 

[ellroy]

Here we go with the wilkinson fish tanks again Ian.....we all know you were dying to say Jam jars!!

 

[Ian]

Oh dear, I knew this was a bad idea ;P

Na, the wilko tanks are great, they are just standard tanks, ventilated, light, cheap, what more could you ask for?!

 

[Jodokohajjio]

Another idea for this enclosure that I was kicking around today was to further divide the spaces up with a lengthwise divider down the middle so that it would have 8 compartments with dimensions about 9"x6"x24".

If this helps to visualize it, from the top, the compartments would be split like this:

___________

|__|__|__|__|

|__|__|__|__|

I'm afraid that the 6" width may be too short though. Another downside would be that the enclosure would have to stick out 3 feet from the wall instead of 1 foot so that all the feeding holes that I will put in the lid would be open.

Let me pose a question to the seasoned hobyists: Think of the biggest/most space demanding mantis that you've kept. What would be the minimum amout of space that it could live in comfortably? My goal is to make a sort of showcase tank for several adults (Possibly of different species, climate requirements permitting) that is both compact and easy to upkeep.

Ian: I can't seem to find any images or descriptions of these wilko geo tanks online, do you have any links?

 

[Ian]

Hey Jake...

Unfort, Wilko (Wilkinsons) is a UK store. Altho, Im SURE they do similar in the US. Here is a pic:

http://www.k9capers.com/shop/desc/Ferplast...tn_60021099.jpg

Okay, its a really pic, but that is the kinda thing.

If you ask me, I think these are just as effective, as spending a lot of money on a custom built setup!

Cheers,

Ian

 

[nympho]

hi Jodokohajjio

Another idea for this enclosure that I was kicking around today was to further divide the spaces up with a lengthwise divider down the middle so that it would have 8 compartments with dimensions about 9"x6"x24".

Those dimensions are more than adequate IMO. Even rthe biggest mantis wont need anything like 24" height to moult which is the most important consideration. the usual quoted safe height is 3X the mantids length = about 10", being generous, and they dont exactly need much room otherwise as they hardly move.

why not just buy a glass aquarium, that way half the work has been done and you are working from a solid and straight foundation. Glass is clearer than plastic anyway and wont scratch. You could put a fixed partition length ways down the center of the cage (with heat mat designed in 8) ) and then have partitions butting up to that either side which could be removed to make bigger spaces. the big problem is you now have to make 8 lids instead of 4 as well as more partitions!

Minimum dimensions (IMO) for each space would be; height 10" with width and depth about 6" for a big mantis.

A smaller division may have advantages. You have more control where the mantis is, which makes it easier for it to find its food when you put that in. Otherwise the mantis has a habit of stationing itself on the opposite side of the cage to where the prey goes (annoying when you want to see it catching something). A big cage is obviously also more difficult to heat and a tall cage of 24" may result in injuries to a large mantis if it falls.

 

[Salmon]

I do the same thing with glass aquariums. I then cut sheets of plexiglass to make dividers.

I was thinking of doing the same, but aren't the mantids streesed/affected by seeing each other from the other side of the glass?

 

[exboyz04]

Here is a few pictures of one of my cage set ups, if you want more info then here is the page on my website http://www.freewebs.com/2mantis/mantiscage.htm

Any feed back would be great, i need to learn so ideas or mistakes are always good in my books, im still learning.

Michael

 

[Justin]

Looks nice Michael, how do you cover the top?

I'm guessing this for more humid loving mantids? As with all the soil and live plants in there, this would raise the humidity quite a bit too much for the more arid species.

 

[13ollox]

what about room for moulting ?

 

[exboyz04]

Looks nice Michael, how do you cover the top?I'm guessing this for more humid loving mantids? As with all the soil and live plants in there, this would raise the humidity quite a bit too much for the more arid species.

[SIZE=12pt]Hello Justin[/SIZE]

Thanks mate…I cover the top of the Cage with a black piece of ladies tights, then a rubber band. i found this a good choice as i have a very small hole in the tights that i put the food through, so I don’t have to take the tights of to feed, the tights are to long and this helps to double over to cover the small hole up so nothing gets out, works well for me.

Yes good point for the humidity, I don’t spray the enclosure that much, also I have it at room temperature to keep the humidity down.

Thanks for your reply- Michael

 

[exboyz04]

what about room for moulting ?

[SIZE=12pt]Hello 13ollox[/SIZE]

For the molting, the mantis I have in there is small, look in the picture on this message and you will see the size of the mantis compared to the room it has. From the pics it does look a bit cramped but there is enough in there I think, or hope- what you think?. The mantis has been in there most of its life while I have had it, molts went fine. But more room would be better I suppose that’s why I give it a trim now and then.

Thanks for your reply- Michael

 

[exboyz04]

what about room for moulting ?

There is lots of room, and for molting i never had a problem, as you can see in the last picture a slighly blured picture of the size of the praying mantis i keep in there look hard and you can see mantis, it have about 3 times the lenth of the mantis accross the encloseure and its has a good depth for it free from the plants, its hard to tell from the picture i know but there is enough room in there to swing a mantis around, not a cat.

have a great day,

Michael :wink:

 

[bruty2fruity]

u keep a mantid in space like that...jesus christ he must love it! haha its nice but not what id use im a practicall sorta person. i keep them in pint glasses until lv5 then from there i put them in a sweet jar

has ur mantis ever bitten you?