Denver here!

[PaxALotl]

Hi all -

I'm here in Denver, CO, getting ready to start up a new mantis terrarium for the first time in over 20 years. A long, long time ago I got an ooth from a friend and hatched it out, kept a fantastic specimen to adulthood and really enjoyed. 

Now, I'm thinking to try it again but this time with a ghost mantis. I am pretty deep into aquariums and have a ton of gear around, so I think I'll use a 2.5 gallon acrylic aquarium and put a reptile heater underneath to get started. I have a temp/humidity monitor already, and I will also rig up some kind of auto-mister system to keep it nice in there. 

Looking forward to learning more on this forum!

Any other CO folks around? 

thanks, Dave

 

[john57]

Hi,

I am around the Denver Boulder area. In general mantis prefer more in height than width in a terrarium in order to molt properly. I also used to be very deep in aquariums. I had kept a fresh water stingray which eats six goldfish a day for five years. I had a tube tank in which fish can swim from one tank to another. I had a dome tank as well. I do not use a auto mister since mantis do not like to have water sprayed directly on them in case they walked into the path of the auto mister system. I just use a spray bottle with a very fine mist on the inside glass away from the mantis. Mantis do not need belly heat from a bottom heater.  As long you  have 68°F in the room like winter time and up to 85°F you do not need a heater for the ghost. I use coconut substrate to add humidity. 

 

[Rick]

Welcome

 

[MantisGirl13]

Welcome! If you get ghosts, get more than one. They are communal and look amazing when kept together in a nicely furnished terrarium!

- MantisGirl13

 

[Synapze]

Welcome!

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Ghosts can be kept at room temperature 65° to 80°F. They don't usually need an external heat source. You can use a small spray bottle to mist once a day to keep the humidity between 50 to 70%. If a mantis is about to molt the higher end of that range is more desirable, you can increase misting to twice a day until they molt. Using an auto mister isn't an ideal solution for mantids but you might be able to make it work if you can angle the spray so that it doesn't spray any of the mantids directly (as mentioned they hate that) and it is preferable to mist so that it will hit one of the acrylic walls or another nonporous surface so that there are small water droplets left for the mantis to drink from when thirsty. To help maintain humidity it is recommended to use some type of substrate that holds water such as coconut fiber or sphagnum moss.

They will not drink from a bowl but you can sometimes get them to drink water from your hand if you offer a droplet on your skin, in a small spoon, from a thin straw or an eye dropper. They get a large portion of their fluids from their prey so don't panic if they don't drink every time.

Depending on the dimensions a 2.5 gallon aquarium may be able to house 2 or 3 ghosts at most. It will need some sort of screen (fiberglass window screen) on the lid so the ghosts can hang from it. Ghosts can be housed communally as nymphs but should be separated into male and female groups  of adults. This helps prevent the males from getting eaten by the females and also any unwanted babies. 

 

[Ocelotbren]

Welcome to the forum! If you have aquariums with more width than height another option is to stand it on its side to give the mantids more height, if needed. Obviously you need to make some modifications to make sure they have a gripping surface on the new "top" though. But with larger aquariums, I'm sure they have enough height for most mantis species.

Good luck!

 

[Mantis Lady]

welcome