Deirdre the Escape Artist!

[MandellaMandy123]

So the other day I put Deirdre, my adult female S. limbata, in a container with a very small hole, and a half hour later what do I find?

Sneaky little mantis....

But later I forgave her and let her have some apple.

 

[ismart]

Now she is going to escape every time thinking she is going to get an apple. :lol:

 

[MandellaMandy123]

:lol: Oh, no she'll be ripping up all my containers!

 

[twolfe]

Very cute Wolfie. Did she enlarge the hole to escape? I found that I can't use net enclosures with some of my larger species as made holes in them (some intentional and other unintentional). I can't believe mantids like apples.

 

[MandellaMandy123]

Thanks Tammy I don't think she enlarged the whole. I'm not sure she could have made it through, with her legs and everything. The furthest she got out was in the photo. But I was amazed that she even found the hole - that container is huge.

Mantids like a lot of fruit. I think they drink the moisture off of it. Tonight, my five mantids will be getting Thanksgiving turkey!

 

[Precarious]

Too cute...

 

[lancaster1313]

I had a male Stagmomantis carolina that lived in a container with an unplugged port in the top. He would always be poking his head (and sometimes the whole prothorax) out and looking around. I never plugged the hole, just to see what he would do. He ended up staying in his container for the rest of his life, unless I took him out for cleaning or breeding.

He could have easily left the container through that hole. Usually, he would have his head out until I got close to him, then he would pull his head back inside.

It was like one of those arcade games where the creatures pop up for a second and the player has to try and whack them. :tt2:

But of course, I never whacked him. :innocent:

 

[Malakyoma]

I had a male Stagmomantis carolina that lived in a container with an unplugged port in the top. He would always be poking his head (and sometimes the whole prothorax) out and looking around. I never plugged the hole, just to see what he would do. He ended up staying in his container for the rest of his life, unless I took him out for cleaning or breeding.

He could have easily left the container through that hole. Usually, he would have his head out until I got close to him, then he would pull his head back inside.

It was like one of those arcade games where the creatures pop up for a second and the player has to try and whack them. :tt2:

But of course, I never whacked him. :innocent:

I was just feeding my L3 griffin nymphs today, and as soon as I pull the sponge out of the hole in the top (wide enough to fit the screwtop of a water bottle), they run out of it. Doesn't matter where they were in the cup, as soon as that sponge comes out they make a break for it. I let one of them stay out for a while and eat/drink on top of the lid, but the others I put back right away. They're very fast and like to jump

 

[MandellaMandy123]

@likebugs: I can't believe he never escaped! That's really cute.

@Malakyoma: Oh, those naughty little bugs! Goes to show how intelligent they really are... :shifty:

 

[Malakyoma]

@likebugs: I can't believe he never escaped! That's really cute.

@Malakyoma: Oh, those naughty little bugs! Goes to show how intelligent they really are... :shifty:

They're also incredibly quick and jump around a lot If they don't want to go back its hard to get them back. best way I've found is to hold their enclosure upside down above them so they think inside is up and they climb inside.