Chinese Mantis?

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paulk

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Right, I think i've narrowed it down to a Chinese mantis for my first Mantis. I've heard that they are a really good beginners mantis. Easy to keep, no special requiremants, tame and can grow quite large.

I was wondering if any of you out there keep them? How you found them to keep? And your general thoughts on this being a beginners Mantis!

Any feedback I can get will be great, I want to make sure I make the right choice before I commit to buying. :?

 
I started with these. They are not hard to keep however small nymphs tend to die for no obvious reason. They grow pretty fast when kept warm and fed a lot. If you're talking about L4 or above I would say yes, they are easy.

 
I never kept this kind, but I heard that they die a lot. When I was first keeping mantises, I really didn't like to see my mantises dying. Other than the dying part, I supposed there's nothing else wrong with them.

 
They are good beginners they have a high mortality rate but once they get through their first shed they should be fine.

 
Huh! Thats funny :? Out of the thousands I hatch, I only had one die...from lack of water. But I do not keep them long either. Good thing, know what I mean :!:

 
Chinese are easy to keep its just the mortality which annoys me so if u are going to hatch an ooth bud wing may be a good idea as they are quite a hardy species and u should get a lot of nymphs survive 8)

 
Raising my first ooth of these guys now. Quite an easy species, I caught and kept 11 from the ooth since I hatched it out doors. Still have about 8 in ther and theyre finishing off their first sheds.

My favorite though was a European, though I got her as an adult so she was pretty easy.

 
I think there are better species to start with than the Chinese. If you want a larger mantis the Spohodromantis sp. (Africa) as suggested by Rick is easy and hardy, Heirodula sp. (India and Asia) are robust and large, and Paraspendale sp. are also a good possibilty. If you like small mantids (of which I am a fan, but hey it is personal preference) then Miomantis (e.g. paykullii) is easy and quick growing and doesn't get much over an inch and a quarter.

 
I am raising the Chinese and I find that I have learned a lot about good/bad techniques/feeding/housing etc. - all of that fun beginner stuff from them (with a small investment). I feel for my family (two school kids) that this is the right species. It is like training wheels for us in the Mantid world. I have eight left from the ootheca and they all are thriving. We are getting ready for L4, especially for "Bob and Larry". My biggest challenge in looking back was finding a continuous food supply - finding the right sized and kind of food for my little ones (especially when we had poor weather - snow- not two weeks ago). I have learnt not to be scared of spiders as I have them abundantly in my yard and I feed them all of the time to my guys. I appreciate their mellowness. I am getting use to their jumps in size post molt and their speed. For me, yup, a good beginner choice :) .

 
Yup good for beginners..thats me :) Only, one problem ive noticed is that they can be a little too agry (?) at time, without provokation, ive been nipped a couple of times..

 
With the Chinese mantids, I have found that the less I have handled them (tank 1) the more "wild" they are. The ones that I have handled continuously (tank 2) continue to be extremely tame (now at L4). It is also much easier for the handled ones to accept my food. The wild ones tend to be hunters and prefer to run away from me. They will also volleyball away their food from me alot more frequently. I have had the laying down of their prickles on my skin, but my hands are thick and old (years of canning/gardening etc.). I could see those wild ones possibly having an accident and nipping me, but I would be a bit shocked if my tame ones did. I have reviewed a biting scene in my mind so that the automatic reaction wouldn't be to swat them. The reason I say this is that a grade five boy just about swatted my L1 when he said it bit him. Rather, I think the mantid was laying down his arms and prickled the boy (from what I observed as I was right there). The little mantid dropped to its side and played dead - I think it was extremely scared. Gosh, I sure am getting addicted to these quiet little masterpieces of nature... :wink:

 

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