Care during vacation

[Rdatu]

I have a vacation coming next month for approx 2 weeks. So far I'm unable to find a babysitter and taking my pets with me is not an option. I've read back on this topic but haven't found a solid self sustaining system I can rely on.

I even considered getting a monsoon to setup daily doses of water but I'll need multiple monsoon systems to provide for my whole collection. Feeding would have to vary from fruit flies to bbf. Also, I have some ooths just about ready to hatch. I'll be searching to pay for a sitter near southern California, a solid system or will probably give/sell everything then start over when I return. Currently i have a few dozen mantis' with more incoming. I'm hoping I'm able to teach one of my buddies the ropes, but I have a small circle when it comes to our kind of pets. Any advice is welcome, TIA!

 

[hysteresis]

@Rdatu man I feel for ya. I'd say drop them off here in sunny Toronto, but yeah!

My local high end reptile store has boarding facilities for reptiles, amphibians, etc.

Maybe you have a store that offers such services? Maybe they'll throw your birds a roach, or a few flies? 

Worth a shot. 

Best of luck! 

 

[MantisGirl13]

Hmm, good luck finding a sitter! There are some things you can do if it were only a few days or a week that you were gone, but two weeks is a while. I was lucky to find a mantis sitter close by. See if you can convince a friend to do it for you!

If you do get a sitter, here are some things you could do to make it easier:

Feeding shouldn't be difficult, just get lots of hf and bbf pupae and spikes before you go, and show your friend this to use a ff culture.

If an ooth hatches, get a large net cage and show him how to release the nymphs in the large cages when they hatch, and tell him to dump a lot of ffs on every other day. 

Make a lot of fruit fly cultures!

- MantisGirl13

 

[Mystymantis]

Hopefully you can find someone to care for your mantises. Good luck!

That would be really sad if you had to get rid of all your mantises.

One thing you can do to help feed the mantises that are eating fruit flies is make some small cultures, in vials or something similar, and put them inside the mantis cages. Provided the mantis cages are big enough, and you don't have too many.

I did this for some of my nymphs on a vacation and they fared quite well. I put the fruit fly cultures in the container, the mantises had just hatched so I just left them all in one big plastic container, and put a small opening on the fly culture so the flies could crawl out.

It is just an option, I can't guarantee it will work in your case because I don't know how your mantises are setup or if they are small enough to avoid having to much eating of each other.

Also get blue bottle fly pupa like said above, put the pupa in the fridge, then before you go put the pupa in the mantis homes. And if you get a sitter, they can just place the pupa in the container every few days, provided it is warm enough for them to hatch of course.

Though using BBL pupa will not last 2 weeks if you just leave them and have no one to put more in, they will hatch and then the mantises will be out of food for the later half of the vacation. So hopefully you can get a sitter.

 

[hysteresis]

If you buy spikes instead and let them to pupate inside, you'll have a longer window to allow timed release into the enclosure. 

 

[Mystymantis]

If you buy spikes instead and let them to pupate inside, you'll have a longer window to allow timed release into the enclosure. 

That is true. So get spikes instead.

 

[Jaywo]

I hope you find a watcher for your pets. I have had a few babysitters but I'm not surprised to come home to a house full of loose flies and a significant loss of my favorite species. It's tough to find a good caretaker that loves the inverts as much as you.

 

[Mystymantis]

Yeah, I would say keep looking for  someone to watch your mantises, like friends, family, co workers, neighbors. Anyone you think would be willing to care for them, and care for them well.

 

[Rdatu]

My main concern are the higher temp species like diabolica and Gongys. But yes I'm definitely on the hunt for something or someone. I'm even considering wax worms than can turn into moths but it's difficult to time their stages. If all else fails I'll sell or maybe pay someone I can ship them to and pay the returning shipping lol! I love my pets a bunch so I'll definitely be going out of my way to figure something out. Thanks everyone for input. 

 

[MantisGirl13]

If all else fails I'll sell or maybe pay someone I can ship them to and pay the returning shipping lol!

If all else fails, I'm sure you could find someone to do that! 

- MantisGirl13

 

[Mantis Lady]

In a few weeks i am going camping for a few days. I hope i can find a mantis sitter.  Someone from my church. My hissers and  mantis adults can go there. The little nymphs I will take with me.  I think i will take 1 adult to show it to kids. Or 2. a ghost and a hierodula..

 

[MantisGirl13]

In a few weeks i am going camping for a few days. I hope i can find a mantis sitter.  Someone from my church. My hissers and  mantis adults can go there. The little nymphs I will take with me.  I think i will take 1 adult to show it to kids. Or 2. a ghost and a hierodula..

How many mantids do you have now?

- MantisGirl13

 

[Mantis Lady]

At the moment 9. Thinking about to get a budwing. my breeder has them again.

 

[Beastly]

What part of SoCal? I'm near Lake Elsinore and happen to have an Idolomantis myself, but I'll warn you I also have vacation plans for the 21st-24th of next month so I'll be looking for a sitter too. If the dates are not the same and we are in close proximity maybe we can help each other out here.