Aggressive female

[Nicolas]

How big is your Chinese mantis?

Mine currently is about two inches or so. I suspect when it molts next, it'll be a sub adult.

 

[Synapze]

@Nicolas She's a approximately 4". I'm desperately trying to rush several of my extra Chinese into adulthood in hopes of mating her. She's become so agressive that I'll have to make sure she's well fed beforehand. I'm a little sentimental when it comes to this particular female. Hopefully she'll not make meals out of too many potential mates.?

 

[MantisGirl13]

I hope you will have success in mating her!

- MantisGirl13

 

[Krissim Klaw]

I'm desperately trying to rush several of my extra Chinese into adulthood in hopes of mating her. She's become so agressive that I'll have to make sure she's well fed beforehand. I'm a little sentimental when it comes to this particular female. Hopefully she'll not make meals out of too many potential mates.?

Ironically I've found some of my most bold females to be some of my most chill breeders because they are so confident. It is usually my overly skittish girls more likely to turn on the boys and cause a problem.

Over the years I've gotten in the habit of using a folded paper towel when removing my larger mantises from cages (or when I am in a hurry) You can slide it under their feet easy and on the occasion where their prey drive is keyed off they just grab the paper towel for a second before releasing. Once I have them out and moving I find it easy to switch to my hands without worry.

 

[Synapze]

Ironically I've found some of my most bold females to be some of my most chill breeders because they are so confident. It is usually my overly skittish girls more likely to turn on the boys and cause a problem.

That's comforting... especially since one of the males I've been "super charging" got his wings last night! ?

There's a recent thread about how long to wait before attempting to mate, so I need to give it a thorough reading. I believe 2 to 3 weeks was the consensus.

I'm rather excited since this is my first attempt. I've been saving my pennies to buy several other species to breed. My wishlist is a little on the ridiculous side. ? 

Thanks for the handling suggestion! I'm sure it's going to come in handy.

 

[minomantis]

My largest female sphrodomantis (subadult) is an eating machine right now. Gave her two mid sized locusts the other day. Whilst eating one she saw the other, grabbed it without letting go of the first. She killed both and was holding one in each arm munching from each in turn and looking very pleased with herself.

Where did you get the Locust?  Did you find them outside or purchase them?  I want to feed my mantids Locust or big grasshoppers, but they aren't around where I live, so I'm just curious.

 

[danl82]

Where did you get the Locust?  Did you find them outside or purchase them?  I want to feed my mantids Locust or big grasshoppers, but they aren't around where I live, so I'm just curious.

Bought ones, readily available here and pretty inexpensive. I only have a small amount just for my most voracious females as they can be dangerous to the mantids if they aren't up to the task. I mostly feed with a mixture of flies and crickets. 

 

[Nicolas]

Dunno, my male attacks anything I put in his cage. He's a bloodthirsty, but also skittish guy. 

 

[minomantis]

One of my Chinese mantids has become aggressive since becoming an adult. She used to be my most calm and "friendly" mantis. She bit me a few weeks ago, but it was my fault: I put a water droplet on my hand and she drank from it and started nibbling which I thought was cute... until it suddenly became very painful and began to bleed. I can't fault her for that. But yesterday when I took her out she began stabbing me with her raptors and tried to bite again. Then she wrapped both raptors around my finger! At that point I had to carefully force her off and put her back in her enclosure. She didn't take a defensive pose at any time during the interaction.

Thoughts? Is it common for females to become agressive after reaching adulthood? Hormones? It's rather disappointing and hopefully only temporary.

Or perhaps she tasted my blood and wants more. ?

What's interesting is even for all the years I've handled mantids, they still give me a rush when anything happens too quick. I try to never give my mantids an option to nibble (or a live bite rather lol) on my hand. 

One thing I thought about though is after the shock of a mantis striking and you need to get it off, you could try tickling it's abdomen. Mantids HATE this and that might be one way to get a mantis off. Just thoughts.

 

[Synapze]

What's interesting is even for all the years I've handled mantids, they still give me a rush when anything happens too quick. I try to never give my mantids an option to nibble (or a live bite rather lol) on my hand. 

One thing I thought about though is after the shock of a mantis striking and you need to get it off, you could try tickling it's abdomen. Mantids HATE this and that might be one way to get a mantis off. Just thoughts.

When things get out of hand (lol) I worry about hurting the mantis more than myself. It's hard to control that primal urge to shake her off. 

I'll remember the tummy tickling trick. I think that trick might not work for this female. She's now become too aggressive to handle without stressing her out...  not to mention me. At least she's still pretty to look at. ?