EXTREMELY URGENT HELP PLEASE

[gripen]

Why do you guys who keep these awesome insects as pets, keep them in small or ghetto housing? If your goin to raise them or have them as pets, come on common sense should be please dont put them in too small space for size, give them least a good home with something more then a twig and a cotton ball, make it look good like something u would want to live in, i get so mad all youtube vids and all, etc see people no clue what doing and have these creatures in housing they shouldnt be in and disregarded as just a thing to keep alive so u can watch it eat, and most of all think before u do anything or ask if unsure! Orchid and flower ones also seem to me to be more valuable to just be in a container, they should be kept in good houses with plenty of ways to look at and interact with it, not a damn cup

I think you will find large habitats kill more mantids to starvation than any small cup ever will. For the mantids sake we keep them in small cups not for money or laziness sake.On another note please introduce yourself in the introductions section. And finally welcome to the forum!

 

[hibiscusmile]

She does not need water after the outing, she just needs to be left alone in the original place she has always been, this mantis will need a miracle to make it.

Please note, this applies to any mantis or insect or HOUSE plants you ALL may have, they are just like people, if you put them in conditions they are not used to they will get sick and probably die. It takes only minutes to heat up a container and after that, well the rest is a sad history. :taz:

 

[CoolMantid]

I think you will find large habitats kill more mantids to starvation than any small cup ever will. For the mantids sake we keep them in small cups not for money or laziness sake.

On another note please introduce yourself in the introductions section. And finally welcome to the forum!

Thats the point! I make mini terrariums inside those cups

Why do you guys who keep these awesome insects as pets, keep them in small or ghetto housing? If your goin to raise them or have them as pets, come on common sense should be please dont put them in too small space for size, give them least a good home with something more then a twig and a cotton ball, make it look good like something u would want to live in, i get so mad all youtube vids and all, etc see people no clue what doing and have these creatures in housing they shouldnt be in and disregarded as just a thing to keep alive so u can watch it eat, and most of all think before u do anything or ask if unsure! Orchid and flower ones also seem to me to be more valuable to just be in a container, they should be kept in good houses with plenty of ways to look at and interact with it, not a damn cup

First off INTRODUCE YOURSELF!!!

Second of all I would like to see some backup proof that large fish tanks are better for a mantises survival. Food will be alot harder to find and the mantis would probally die within a few weeks. As gripen said I can easily move my mantis into my empty fish tanks but I dont think it will help them in anyway.

 

[patrickfraser]

@Alienboy 76...Whatever... Lets see your setups and hear of your successes.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

I think you will find large habitats kill more mantids to starvation than any small cup ever will. For the mantids sake we keep them in small cups not for money or laziness sake.

On another note please introduce yourself in the introductions section. And finally welcome to the forum!

Starvation... I don't know maybe this is a species thing or what feeders some of you use? I can release 5 fruitflies in one of my 12inch net cubes with a level 1-3 nymph and have them all picked off in a matter of minutes. I never have problems with my adults finding feeders in my larger cages either. Sorry, I just don't see how it is for the mantises sake they are kept in small cups. I understand why people choose to use the cups, but to say larger enclousers are harmful to the mantises, I can't wrap my brain around that one.

 

[mkayum]

I keep all of my mantids in deli cups, thanks to my family & friends who gave these useful housing cups for my babies. I always make sure each of them get their bellies filled.

 

[Termite48]

I can respond to this concern by writing my own recent experiences. Some may know that I have recently had some Orchids, but this pertains to almost all insects. In the natural world they face direct sunshine at one time or another. Mantids are made for sunshine. Sometimes it is tempting to want to give them what they get in a nature. The one thing though that makes this unfair is that we place them in the sun without regard for the fact that they are trapped, either in a container of glass, plastic, or of some nicer material like a mesh enclosure. Even in the mesh enclosure which simulates the natural environment better by taking away the element of overheating, there is another matter. The sun does not stay still so if you do as I have done and place the mantid in what seems to be a good place at one moment, keeping the mantid out of the direct sun, can change in the next few minutes and the sun's position is now making a direct path of the hot rays of the sun to the mantid. If this is in a plastic or glass enclosure, it may be just a few minutes and there can be damage done. So the moral of the story is if you are willing to be there and watch the mantid in the sun, and it is not in a container smaller than 80 oz. and there is a aluminum vented lid, and better yet some modifications to the plastic container that make for some cross ventilation, be the better keeper and do not leave the mantid(s) outside in the sun. I have eliminated the practice myself since loosing many precious insects with the intent of giving them a treat.

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Why do you guys who keep these awesome insects as pets, keep them in small or ghetto housing? If your goin to raise them or have them as pets, come on common sense should be please dont put them in too small space for size, give them least a good home with something more then a twig and a cotton ball, make it look good like something u would want to live in, i get so mad all youtube vids and all, etc see people no clue what doing and have these creatures in housing they shouldnt be in and disregarded as just a thing to keep alive so u can watch it eat, and most of all think before u do anything or ask if unsure! Orchid and flower ones also seem to me to be more valuable to just be in a container, they should be kept in good houses with plenty of ways to look at and interact with it, not a damn cup

Don't hold back, why don't you tell us how you really feel? :huh:

Just so you know, not everyone is made of money so do they best they can, it's about fun and learning and most take there mantis out to play, so don't look at it like a prison just a bedroom...

 

[mykey14]

Why do you guys who keep these awesome insects as pets, keep them in small or ghetto housing? If your goin to raise them or have them as pets, come on common sense should be please dont put them in too small space for size, give them least a good home with something more then a twig and a cotton ball, make it look good like something u would want to live in, i get so mad all youtube vids and all, etc see people no clue what doing and have these creatures in housing they shouldnt be in and disregarded as just a thing to keep alive so u can watch it eat, and most of all think before u do anything or ask if unsure! Orchid and flower ones also seem to me to be more valuable to just be in a container, they should be kept in good houses with plenty of ways to look at and interact with it, not a damn cup

I AGREE x 1000

i make custom wood cages with leafs and branches and all sorts of vines.

i hate it when people store them in cups and jars.

Jars and cups are for beverages and semi solid food items not exotic praying mantids.

 

[gripen]

I AGREE x 1000

i make custom wood cages with leafs and branches and all sorts of vines.

i hate it when people store them in cups and jars.

Jars and cups are for beverages and semi solid food items not exotic praying mantids.

As I said before deli cups will keep your nymph much safer than anything else you can have unless you have thousands of food items to waste. As Nick said we arnt all made out of money.

 

[CoolMantid]

As I said before deli cups will keep your nymph much safer than anything else you can have unless you have thousands of food items to waste. As Nick said we arnt all made out of money.

I definetly agree with you. We do it for the mantis NOT for us. If I had a bizzilion dollars I would still keep them in "those cups"

 

[MantidLord]

Not to mention space. Keeping 30+ cannibalistic mantids requires a separate cage for each one. If everyone did what you seem to require, no one would have enough room. Not to mention, having all of that ###### in there with a mantis allows prey to hide and come out later, chancing upon a vulnerable mantis or an oothecae. You say you want a natural type setting. Well keep in mind that in nature the mantids don't always live. Keeping them in captivity is a way to prevent such casualties and the habitat we place them in is linked with keeping them in captivity.

On an scientific note, do you think scientists studying different species of mantids create some elaborate container for them? No. And do you think the mantids are thinking to themselves: "Man I wish I had some more orchid flowers in here."? No. Think before you criticize how people raise their nymphs. Your concern shouldn't be how they raise them. What matters is if the nymphs reach adulthood, breed, and those offspring hatch and the cycle repeats. Making sure no crazy crossbreeding occurs that ruins the culture and that no exotic mantids escape and (though unlikely) start up a population in the wild.

 

[Mirk]

I dunno, i think the container size can be argued forever... but, IN MY OPINION, i think it is fairly dependent on the species and the setup of the enclosure. I just posted in a thread on chinese and how i am raising 3rd-6th instar chinese in 30 gallon tall fish tanks. They will chase prey from the lid to the floor regularly( and yes my tanks are currently communal but I used to keep singled chinese nymphes[later instars >5] in 10 and 20 gallon fishtanks with almost no wasted prey). The mantis can easily see prey from over a foot away and often will give chase as long as there is no obstruction to the mantis line of site. And if you have one of the many flower species, they may just watch and wait for the prey items to hopefully stroll by(obviously exceptions for both sides).

So i think all have valid arguments, just alienboy76 is being an exploitative deleted something or other about it and should do a little research of any kind before making an arse of himself. But stating that using large enclosures wastes food items is almost equally naive.

Also not trying to make butts sore or anything just felt the need to put in my 2 cents