Does my mantis hate me?

[LittleBro859]

So I let my mantis out, so I could clean her enclosure and she just made a mad dash for it. She only has three good legs, one came broken poor girl, so she kinda like hopped really fast away from me.

I stopped her and after a moment she settled down and just stood there then stretched out her front legs completely and just stood like that.

She also always tries to escape whenever I open the lid.

After my cleaning I put her back in and gave her a juicy looking spider.. Maybe she got mad that the temperature dropped the night before?

Oh well i'll love her even if she doesn't love me.

 

[Giosan]

Haha that's kind of normal behaviour She aint mad.

What species do you have ?

 

[hibiscusmile]

Let her out a little more often, she does not like being closed up. Put your hand in front of her and be still, she will walk onto it. She is just unsure of you!

 

[Rick]

You have to realize these are insects, not animals like dogs or cats.

 

[cloud jaguar]

My wife and I had 5 wildcaught ones this season and sometimes they do act a bit crazy when you first find them. My wife and I tend to handfeed newly caught ones a drop of honey on a toothpick and it seems to calm them down, or make them trust us, just like the house brownie in Spiderwick! Well, at least they get a tasty appetizer!

~Arkanis

 

[LittleBro859]

You have to realize these are insects, not animals like dogs or cats.

I wasn't trying to pet her, give her a bath, or snuggle with her. I realize she's an insect, I've never owned a cat or dog that size that fed off of spiders, crickets and other insects. Nor was I giving her kibbles and bits for food

I have read that they can get comfortable around humans though despite the fact that they're insects.

But to the other replies yeah maybe I do need to let her out more often, she's a chinese mantis. Caught her out in the wild and I've been trying to find a male but unfortunately i've had no luck and I believe it's to late in the season now.

And they can eat honey and it won't harm them???

 

[sidewinder]

LittleBro,

I think Rick's point was that these are wild animals and behave as such. Their instinct is to escape. So the behavior should be considered normal and you should not take it personally.

Scott

 

[LittleBro859]

LittleBro,I think Rick's point was that these are wild animals and behave as such. Their instinct is to escape. So the behavior should be considered normal and you should not take it personally.

Scott

lol my fault i may have taken that the wrong way then, sorry rick.

 

[mrblue]

if they are very well fed they tend to run less. also if you stay quite still they will usually stay quite still on you. the more you move the more they move.

 

[watspoppin25a]

I was holding one of my nymphs while trying to feed it honey and after it took some honey it jumped INTO the enclosure...

 

[Rick]

lol my fault i may have taken that the wrong way then, sorry rick.

What I was trying to say was these are insects, they don't get mad at you or anything like that. To say they do is a bit silly.

 

[LittleBro859]

What I was trying to say was these are insects, they don't get mad at you or anything like that. To say they do is a bit silly.

I'm a silly guy what can I say.

My girlfriend tried to feed the mantis a moth she found while I was at work. The moth got out before she got to dump it in. So she ended up calling me telling me there's a moth in my room and she's scared.. Good times

I want it to love it's home not try to escape.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

How big is the cage? Chinese mantises are a very active species and love to roam around so that might be part of the reason she seems to be turning circles in the cage. As for her behavior, it is a fear response. First she tried fleeing then she went rigid and tried to fake being a stick to escape her precieved threat.

I find that even my friendliest mantises can be a bit skittish when first removing them from cages. I think part of it might be because they are in an enclosed area where they are cornered and then suddenly this massive hand comes straight at them and they have no where to run. Would scare me anyways.

What I usually like to do is let them crawl out and give them a second to relax. I have found swaying your body gently in front of them relaxes them pretty quick. Basically mimicking the sway of plants in the wind just like mantises do.

Just be careful it doesn't work to well and they give you a big mantis face hug by leaping right up on your face. They aren't going to hurt you, but it can startle someone who isn't expecting it. Can't count how many random mantis face hugs I've gotten when handling Chinese. Its practically a right of passage with those guys. XD