Do any of you guys take your mantids outside?

[MantidBro]

I take mine outside. They love it. They become so wild and energetic. I put them on trees, on grass, leaves, etc. Only when it's warm out, though, of course. The warmer, the more they like it. Like a human.

Do you guys take yours outside? How do they react?

Here's a photo of Kent-Lok when I took her outside the other day:

 

[Meadow98684]

I had a Multispina that I would take outside and let be on the bushes or screen door. She loved it. She always came back to me though without a fight.

 

[happy1892]

I don't but I did a few times.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

There are way too many ants for me to want to stick my mantises down anywhere around my house. Occasionally on nice days if I go out to sit on the patio I will bring one of my mantises out on one of their smaller fake plants. Only decent sized nymphs and adult females are allowed outside. I don't trust my boys. They always have the wandering eyes.

 

[Mantis Man13]

I did once, but my Stagomantis carolina mantis tried to escape! Thankfully I got her back. For now on I let my mantises go outside every once in a while in their cages for some fresh air.

 

[brancsikia339]

I do, hymenopus loves the forsythia Last year my idolos loved sunning themselves on a tree

 

[twolfe]

I put some of my mantids outside in the summer on really hot days. I keep them in oversized net enclosures and ensure they have some shade. The Texas Unicorns enjoy being outside. I have one butterfly net that is almost as tall as me. I sometimes put a plant inside it and let the mantids roam around in it.

 

[MantidBro]

I had a Multispina that I would take outside and let be on the bushes or screen door. She loved it. She always came back to me though without a fight.

Nice! I had always put Majesty, one of my first two mantids (Stagmomantis limbata) on the window screen but then she kept losing her feet and I was wondering why. I looked it up and found out that screens can actually tear their tarsa and make them lose their feet. x_x And oh yeah I'm sure she loved it. The feeling of the wind, the scent, the sights (moving plants, an open sky), the heat of the sun. It makes them act wild like they think they're free. Oh she came back without a fight? Cool. Majesty, when I left her in the window for hours at a time, would strike me and flare her wings when I went to get her! Just because I shocked her, though, she climbed on me once she realized.

 

[Coneja]

I was just thinking about this the other day, since my mantis is now huge and not as easily lost. But I'd be worried about winged escape, so I like the idea of having an outdoor net enclosure...

 

[MantidBro]

There are way too many ants for me to want to stick my mantises down anywhere around my house. Occasionally on nice days if I go out to sit on the patio I will bring one of my mantises out on one of their smaller fake plants. Only decent sized nymphs and adult females are allowed outside. I don't trust my boys. They always have the wandering eyes.

Damn you got an ant infestation? Ants really are the worst, seeing how they can catch big prey in numbers and basically over-run them. That sounds nice, sitting with your mantid on the patio. I've taken an L4 T. angustipennis outside and lost her, couldn't find her anywhere until she finally moved. She blended in incredibly. It's a good idea not to take them out when they're too small, I've learned from that mistake. I'll take my males outside, probably from L5-L7, so they're not too small, but don't have their wings yet. The males ARE mischievous, lol. Mine always try to escape (they even do backflips, it's quite amusing).

 

[MantidBro]

I did once, but my Stagomantis carolina mantis tried to escape! Thankfully I got her back. For now on I let my mantises go outside every once in a while in their cages for some fresh air.

Really? What did she do, she ran away? Good thing you got her back, lol. That's nice that you let them outside, and safely, so that you won't lose them.

 

[MantidBro]

I do, hymenopus loves the forsythia Last year my idolos loved sunning themselves on a tree

Nice! My Idolo loves it outside, too, but s/he's just an L2 right now so I'm afraid to put him/her on anything quite yet. But once a bit bigger I definitely will be letting the little one explore the outdoors, like my other mantids.

 

[MantidBro]

I put some of my mantids outside in the summer on really hot days. I keep them in oversized net enclosures and ensure they have some shade. The Texas Unicorns enjoy being outside. I have one butterfly net that is almost as tall as me. I sometimes put a plant inside it and let the mantids roam around in it.

Yeah they love the hot days, it makes them wild. That's awesome that you keep them in net enclosures outside with some shade. I want to do that. Auw that's sweet to have a butterfly net as tall as you. Some day, when I have the money and land, I want to have a green house garden put in: https://secure.cartkeeper.com/~velvetgr/images/image/greenhouse.jpg

Wouldn't that be the best place to let some oothecae hatch (even though cannibalistic, if pests/prey are provided and there are hundreds of nymphs from each ootheca, there should be plenty of survivors in a place so large)?

 

[MantidBro]

I was just thinking about this the other day, since my mantis is now huge and not as easily lost. But I'd be worried about winged escape, so I like the idea of having an outdoor net enclosure...

Yeah it's harder to take the males outside than the females. The females just crawl around on stuff, jump around a few times, but they can't fly off so there's not as much of a risk. An outdoor net enclosure would be cool, I want to do that, sometime, so they can be outside without me having to be there. Then they'd get to be out there for more time which I'm sure any mantid would enjoy.

 

[Danny.]

I take mine out everyday.

 

[MantidBro]

I take mine out everyday.

Sweet, me too, so long as it's not cold. The weather's getting real nice so I've been taking them out every day.

 

[Danny.]

Sweet, me too, so long as it's not cold. The weather's getting real nice so I've been taking them out every day.

It was 88F today. I place them in a shaded-ant free zone.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Damn you got an ant infestation? Ants really are the worst, seeing how they can catch big prey in numbers and basically over-run them. That sounds nice, sitting with your mantid on the patio. I've taken an L4 T. angustipennis outside and lost her, couldn't find her anywhere until she finally moved. She blended in incredibly. It's a good idea not to take them out when they're too small, I've learned from that mistake. I'll take my males outside, probably from L5-L7, so they're not too small, but don't have their wings yet. The males ARE mischievous, lol. Mine always try to escape (they even do backflips, it's quite amusing).

Let's just say this, I ordered a box of crickets that were suppose to be delivered in person. They weren't, the person left them outside on my walkway. I was checking the door hourly just in case. Even so by the time I found them there was probably a couple thousand ants swarming the cricket box.

 

[MantidBro]

It was 88F today. I place them in a shaded-ant free zone.

Yeah it was around the same here today. I let mine in the sun, though. And kept her on my hand most of the time. I let her crawl on some branches from a tree though.