Hi all.
I was planning on moving Reaper, my Ghost Mantis, into a smaller enclosure. I think he's L3, based on his size, and I have him in an enclosure that I thought was going to be too large for him. It's certainly big, but my main concern was him being able to find and catch his food, and so far he is doing excellent. Every time I put some fruit flies in, he has them all in a matter of hours, despite how much bigger than him his enclosure is.
My only other concern is the potential for a fall. It's a long way down for him given how tiny he is, but I do have some soft substrate at the bottom, and he seems very comfortable hanging on the mesh I have given him. I'd hate to stress him more than I need to.
Do you think a rehouse is necessary, given that catching food has been no problem? He seems to have set up shop in the back corner of the enclosure- he spends basically all of his time hanging upside down, and he hasn't really moved too much at all (aside from his adorable little dance and the occasional walk across the roof of the enclosure). I would be moving him from a space that is 4 x 4 x 8 to a 2 x 2 x 3, which I think would be fine for at least up until his next molt, given that he's less than an inch long. But if I don't need to move him, I'd rather just let him chill and enjoy himself.
Thanks in advance. All the advice I've gotten has been super helpful as a first time mantis keeper.
I was planning on moving Reaper, my Ghost Mantis, into a smaller enclosure. I think he's L3, based on his size, and I have him in an enclosure that I thought was going to be too large for him. It's certainly big, but my main concern was him being able to find and catch his food, and so far he is doing excellent. Every time I put some fruit flies in, he has them all in a matter of hours, despite how much bigger than him his enclosure is.
My only other concern is the potential for a fall. It's a long way down for him given how tiny he is, but I do have some soft substrate at the bottom, and he seems very comfortable hanging on the mesh I have given him. I'd hate to stress him more than I need to.
Do you think a rehouse is necessary, given that catching food has been no problem? He seems to have set up shop in the back corner of the enclosure- he spends basically all of his time hanging upside down, and he hasn't really moved too much at all (aside from his adorable little dance and the occasional walk across the roof of the enclosure). I would be moving him from a space that is 4 x 4 x 8 to a 2 x 2 x 3, which I think would be fine for at least up until his next molt, given that he's less than an inch long. But if I don't need to move him, I'd rather just let him chill and enjoy himself.
Thanks in advance. All the advice I've gotten has been super helpful as a first time mantis keeper.
