Any tips on transporting mantids?

[Butterfly]

Hey Everybody!!

It's been a while since Ive been on, I've had all kinds of stuff to handle. But here's the short version of it.

All but 2 of my ooths hatched this year, so I had hundreds of babies. I released quite a few and only have 13 now. I kept quite a few more but they die off for one reason or another (darn bad sheds being most of them and getting eaten by the others of course is another)

So anyway I have a bunch of bugs again thought I was good to stay in my house for another year and then a bomb got dropped on me. But this was a good one! :wub:

Im saying goodbye to lala land (Los Angeles) and am moving back to Colorado to get married.

Im not getting married right away but I am leaving in 4 weeks. July 8th Im heading out of here for good.

So since this is going to be an ALL day and night drive (1200 miles) Im wondering what I can do about my nymphs. I know it's going to be hot as heck driving through the dessert and dont want them to all die off. I dont have AC in my car, and Im afraid they'll just cook. I know how to warm up my bugs when it gets too cold but not how to cool them off other than misting them.

Driving and misting 13 mantids is not an option though, lol. :wacko:

So my wise Mantis rearing friends what suggestions can you give me?

I would ship them all but that'd cost me too much and im saving every dime I can since gas prices keep going up and up!

Should I just put them all in a large cooler with an ice pack, or leave them in the tray there in now and just cover it and mist them every stop I make?

This is gonna be a funny show for the people that see me pull over to walk my cat (who's never been on a roadtrip or a harness!) and them take out a dozen jars to mist them all, lol.

So if anyone has any easier ideas please let me know.

 

[hibiscusmile]

ou, ou, ou, I do! Pick me!

Do not put them in a cooler with a lid closed, you can use a cooler, or a box, but cooler is better, take and put a light colored cloth, like a bed sheet over the top to keep light out but let window air in without blowing their heads off... ha ha ha....sorry, then mist them when you start out and they should be fine, I would suggest a styrofoam cooler, this way you can keep most of the heat off of them which really shouldn't hurt them, cause most of them do fine in the heat as long as they are not in direct sunlight. Another misting halfway thru the day would probably be fine, as long as they don't mind the humidity, as least here in OHIO that is all we have. Wet Air! Hope this helps.

 

[Rick]

I just left them in their containers and put all the containers in a box. Keep them in the cab wtih you where they won't get too hot or too cold.

 

[OGIGA]

You're planning to drive that 1200 miles in 1 day?? Amazing. Well, if it's just 1 day, they'll probably be fine. But you know, life can bring weird things and you can get delayed. Well, the cooler sounds like a good idea, but don't let it get too cool because you don't want to freeze your mantises. I'd keep them out of direct sunlight but give them a little light so that they're not in pitch darkness. I don't know what species you have, but I bet they'll be fine in 102 degree (F) temperature.

 

[Butterfly]

Hahaha @ pick me pick me, Hi Rebecca!! I was gonna say in my original post "Hi guys and Rebecca" but I knew some of the other gal's would say what about me?! lol.

I may be blond but I wouldnt have put them in with the cooler closed, but I didnt think of making it one of those styrofoam ones, so good call, Thanks!

I'll leave a few of them in their "cages" but some definatley need to downsize for the trip, lol.

And Ogiga, Yep Im a crazy woman. When Id driven it before I stopped to nap. And maybe this time too but then again Im paying some stranger I found on craigslist that has his own truck and trailer to tow all my stuff out there for my 600$ stimulus check, so I really dont want to sleep in case he decides to take off with my stuff while I'm napping. Im only following him in my own car.

Im gonna have to be cracked out on starbucks the whole way :blink: , LOL

And no Im not going alone anymore, I have a friend that said he would ride along with me once he heard about the stranger thats leading me 1200 miles away. haha

 

[Peter Clausen]

Make the new hubby pay for shipping;-)

oh, a ground spider just crawled across my keyboard while I was typing that and in the 5 seconds it took me to run over to a shelf, grab a vial and return...it's gone!

Peter

 

[hibiscusmile]

And Ogiga, Yep Im a crazy woman. When Id driven it before I stopped to nap. And maybe this time too but then again Im paying some stranger I found on craigslist that has his own truck and trailer to tow all my stuff out there for my 600$ stimulus check, so I really dont want to sleep in case he decides to take off with my stuff while I'm napping. Im only following him in my own car.

Im gonna have to be cracked out on starbucks the whole way :blink: , LOL

And no Im not going alone anymore, I have a friend that said he would ride along with me once he heard about the stranger thats leading me 1200 miles away. haha

Hey crazy lady, did u ever see the movie with Richard Pryor in "Movin" ha ha ha, hope the guy driving the truck is not the skitzo with 8 personalities !

seriously take care! When he shows up take a pic of him and his truck with plates and email it to me or someone. [email protected] just in case!

 

[Butterfly]

"Hey crazy lady, did u ever see the movie with Richard Pryor in "Movin" ha ha ha, hope the guy driving the truck is not the skitzo with 8 personalities !

seriously take care! When he shows up take a pic of him and his truck with plates and email it to me or someone. [email protected] just in case!"

I didnt catch that one but I have seen plenty of scary movies (with mom's bday being the day after Halloween, those are our Favorites!! But really, thanks for your concern!!

My mom was already asking for his license info and will be sure to take pictures of him, his truck and all of us before we leave. (another friend is thinking about joining the trip now too!)

lol I can imagine the scary movie trailer now, "3 unsuspecting (lol dumb white kids) take a journey 1200 miles with a psychopathic axe murderer that leads them into the dessert" kinda like the hills have eyes!

Im planning on turning on the "follow me" feature on my cell phone so my mom and friends can track my progress, and Im even borrowing another working phone to put in one of the boxes in his truck without telling him, lol. We'll be tracked the whole way, hahaha.

 

[macro junkie]

. i sent 2nd instar nympths in the post,5 days they didnt have any misting and they where fine.

 

[OGIGA]

Im planning on turning on the "follow me" feature on my cell phone so my mom and friends can track my progress, and Im even borrowing another working phone to put in one of the boxes in his truck without telling him, lol. We'll be tracked the whole way, hahaha.

What feature is that? I've heard nothing of it.

 

[Butterfly]

I have Sprint phone service. I guess it's a GPS enabled feature so you can see where your kids go, Or your car in case you left your phone in the car and it got stolen. It's called the Sprint Family Locator actually.

Im not sure if the link will work but here you go, take a look.

http://sfl.sprintpcs.com/finder-sprint-fam...on_SFL_June2008

Seems like even the Cell phone companies are helping Big Brother keep an eye on us these days!

Id have hated this feature when I was a teenager, I was always able to convinvce mom I was in French class when I was really surfing at the beach all day. I dont know how she never noticed how tan I was getting just by going to "school" lol. B)

 

[hibiscusmile]

Butterfly, go stand in the corner for awhile, I have to go call your mum! :blink:

 

[OGIGA]

Wow, I never knew that. I guess if I ever want to stalk myself, I'll go and get Sprint. :lol:

 

[Butterfly]

Butterfly, go stand in the corner for awhile, I have to go call your mum! :blink:

:lol: Ahahahah, well I guess it's a darn good thing I graduated almost 13 years ago! She cant ground me for High school things anymore, actually lol she cant ground me anymore period.

30 year old's paying rent do not get grounded, well at least not in my book! haha