Beta Tank Conversion for Mantids

[sporeworld]

So, when confronted with a "homeless" local mantis, I either throw em in with the rest, or force myself to get creative and try a different approach. This was what I did to make a Petco store-bought "zen" aquarium (about $14) that I had laying around work. It's not the cheapest approach, but for housing individual mantids (especially Orchids) it's more visually pleasing than a deli cup and the square shape looks more organized with multiples. It's easy to veiw your mantis, and you can easily modify the interior. The one pictured in Step 5 has a big European in it (just for posing), but it's a really nice display for an Orchid or Ghost pair - espeically when the flora are properly chosen (the one in the pic is pretty useless).

Step One:

Have one of these just lying around (ha!)

 

[sporeworld]

Step Two:

Obviously, open the package. There's a nice little reservoir in the middle of the tank that you can fill with the rocks they include (harder to clean and will scratch the acrylic eventually when you clean it) or with a sponge (much easier, and you can use that very sponge to clean the enclosure about once a week).

 

[sporeworld]

Step Three:

Optional. The background that comes with the package is just a crappy peice of paper. You could make your own and cut it out, finger paint it, or whatever. Have your kid do it - it's not inside the enclosure, so won't hurt the mantis. You can see I just stuffed in a sponge that I had lying around and soaked it with water (for humidity)....

 

[sporeworld]

Step Four:

Here's the only really crafty part. I got these mesh screen from mantisplace.com, but you could use coffee filters, or cheese cloth or whatever. The plastic mesh is really easy to cut, and stuff a sponge plug into... Hot glue to make a seal and it's done!

 

[sporeworld]

Step Five:

Populate it! Hope this gets some BETTER ideas flowing... I know there're creative types out there that have gone beyond this... Hope it helps...

 

[warpdrive]

that's a great idea, and I might have 2 or 3 of them.

Harry

 

[PhilinYuma]

This looks very cool and should work for small mantids. My only problem with it is that the one I saw advertised by Petco was only 5.5" high, so even a 2" nymph would be living dangerously. Is yours a larger version, by any chance? I saw a "half moon" for about the same price, which was 8.5" high, but it didn't look as nice as yours and was a bit cramped.

 

[PhilinYuma]

Oops!

 

[PhilinYuma]

OopsOops!!

 

[sporeworld]

So nice, ya said it thrice!

That's a full grown female European, I would NOT put her in that size enclosure for more than a day or so. I think it's really nice for watching subadult Orchids, and some smaller species. I'll make another thread in a day or so on the larger Petco tanks I use that CAN hold the bigger guys (and its fantastic for mass Gongy L1/L2).