Cool antenna trick

[robelgado]

Is it just me, or do you sometimes have a hard time getting your mantids to move?

Well I have found a solution. I call it, the antenna brush.

So one day, I accidently brushed my hand over one of my mantid's antennas.

And what do you know? He climbed right on up.

At first I thought it was just a coincidence. But it actually works.

Just lightly brush your hand back over their antennas, as if you are petting them.

And they will climb right up on your hand, they don't even get angry. I think they actually enjoy it.

Super cool.

 

[hibiscusmile]

<_< sure, tomorrow morning after the nightmares tonight, I will try it!

 

[robelgado]

<_< sure, tomorrow morning after the nightmares tonight, I will try it!

haha, its actually pretty interesting, I guess they realize my hand is up there, and that stimulates them to climb up.

 

[PhilinYuma]

Is it just me, or do you sometimes have a hard time getting your mantids to move?

Get them to move? That's easy! How do you get them to stay still? Tonight, flushed with my brilliant "success" with Katt's Superman and Female #1, I used the same setup with Female #2. I put them in position and goosed him forward a little and he flew away! Hows that for moving? I finally tracked him down (no easy task in a house as carefully maintained as mine :lol: ), brought him back and tried again with the door closed. I switched out the light, and now he's clinging from the door lintel and looks at me pleadingly every time I open the door, while F #2 paints her nails. This means that i will have to keep on checking to see if he mounts her. Guess whose next honeymoon suite is going to be one of those 13" butterfly cubes!

 

[robelgado]

What do you expect? It's superman....

 

[Katnapper]

What do you expect? It's superman....

:lol: Hahahaha... Omg.... I'm still laughing! Good one, Bobby! :lol:

 

[Rick]

Or you could just put your hand in front of them and use the other hand to touch them from behind.

 

[robelgado]

Yea, but that makes them angry. And they can get jumpy, or just fly off.

So my solution, I like it...

Superman is an exception

 

[Blackmelo]

well I tried petting, I tried brushing the antennae, from front and from behind and my mantis just looked at me in a confused way...

Little nudge from behind still works best here

 

[hibiscusmile]

sometimes, if you blow air on them it helps....

 

[robelgado]

Lol thats strange, maybe it is specific to only the Chinese mantids.

It works on every single one of mine.

Try it again, put your hand above and brush back as if you were petting it.

Make sure it sees your hand when it looks up

 

[bassist]

Tried it with an Acromantis Formosana adult he didn't like it Lol took me a good bit to get him off the wall when he flew.

 

[robelgado]

Tried it with an Acromantis Formosana adult he didn't like it Lol took me a good bit to get him off the wall when he flew.

Lmao, you all probably scare the living daylights out of them, as long as they know it is your hand.

they always climb up lol

 

[The_Asa]

Or you could just put your hand in front of them and use the other hand to touch them from behind.

Doesn't get them angry for me...how I've always done it. Gently touch them in the abdomen and they move.

 

[robelgado]

Not me, If I nudge them from behind they flare up their wings and get in their "fighting stance"

and blowing works, but it's not very effective, sometimes they just chill when I blow on them

 

[hibiscusmile]

Yea the blowing on them is hard, sometimes I pass out! :lol: .. <_<

 

[robelgado]

Yea the blowing on them is hard, sometimes I pass out! :lol: .. <_<

Lol when I put mine in jars, they always want to grab the lip of the jar, they don't like going in.

So I have found a solution to that as well

just get a piece of bounty, and drop it over the mantis and lid of the jar,

it is very lightweight so it does not hurt the mantids

 

[sk8erkho]

I don't usually have any problems getting them to climb up, for as soon as they see my hand they reach up and do the "do want, do want" thing a member posted about a few years back!!! But, for some reason and I think it is that some times when I don't have time to handle all of them when i go to feed them or clean their tanks, my L3 wide arms butt their heads up against my hand or the side of the tank. They get really low to the floor and try dodging my hand in an effort to evade me. then I blow gently over them and s-l-o-w-l-y slide my fingers under their hind feet and then slowly roll my finger and they attach and look up as if to say "oohh, it's you!!" Other than that they are and have ben really cool when handled. My litttle dudes even get to handle them without problems and take care of them for me when I'm out of town and such!!!