hi, New fam!
I just got 4 new mantis babies. I've wanted a mantis my whole life, but the only time I ever saw one was about 22 years ago on a nature learning center on an elementary school field trip. So I thought so long as it's a companion animal, I should get the Luxury Bugs~
I ordered a Spiny Flower mantis and a Violin Mantis: the breeder sent two of each.
My short term goals: get all 4 mantids to reach adulthood.
future goals: get a pink orchid mantis and devil's flower mantis, maybe breed some mantids, maybe hatch an ooth of Carolina mantis and release them throughout my neighborhood. I also love breeding colonies/cultures of isopods and am interested in questionmark roaches, dermestid beetles, bioactive vivariums, houseplants, carnivorous plants, gardening. I have wanted a pet praying mantis all of my life and this is a dream come true. But I also always wanted a horned beetle, so that's on my list as well. Apparently, those are supposed to be native to texas too, but I've never seen one at all. A friend in florida has had them, though.
I Immediately have a lot of questions, though:
-The breeder recommended I use housefly pupa and I ordered that from him, but the pupa haven't hatched all day. Not sure what to feed the babies, now. His site says bait shops sell housefly larva, but I don't know of any bait shops around here that sell houeflies.
- the average temp of my room in winter is 70 degrees Fahrenheit: should I acquire/have already acquired a heater for the mantids? I could get a ceramic bulb, but not sure which one i need. their cages are made of netting and plastic as well as glass. right now i'm using a space heater to keep it between 70 and 73, but I like my room to be cold. could there be a way to better localize my heat for the mantids? build them a screen laced with tin foil to redirect the ceramic bulb's heat?
-the violin mantids were shipped in nice big containers. but the spiny flower mantids were shipped in the kind of tubes usually used for queen ants or bees, and one of the mantids tried to molt during transit. it has trouble moving but i've got it stabilized in a cave of paper-towels. a friend told me to re-humidify this mantis and maybe it will be able to sort itself out. despite being really bad at getting around, it has struck at me, attempted to groom itself, and seems generally alert when not collapsed on its back. is it worth saving or is this just animal cruelty? it has plenty of molt cycles to go, but to get it to the next one, i'd have to be hand-feeding it, right? only one raptor hand works. the other drags directly behind the mantis, causing it to trip over itself. it does seem painful.
anyway, I invested in one conversation piece terrarium for one spiny mantis and here it is: you can see the nymph sticking to the piece of paper it was shipped with
-live pothos plant
-baked indian almond leaf
-baked japanese maple leaves
-coco dirt
-spanish orange isopods
-temporate springtails
-hand carved / modified lid with tulle mesh
it was pretty amazing to put the mantis in the jar, watch her explore it. then I needed to add the isopods, I decided. I sat the mantis to the side on the enclosure lid and she WATCHED me adding the isopods in. of all the things in the room to look at, it really seemed like she was tilting her head back and watching what I was doing to her new bedroom. (also I have a hard time not calling it 'her' for some reason)
and, just as advertised on youtube, when I held her on my fingertip for a minute and turned her side to side to get a look at her, her gaze followed me, like a little hawk.
the violin mantids: one is in a critter keeper with tulle on top, leaves, a log, and spanish orange isopods as a clean up crew. the other is in one of those 'butterfly garden' popup cages. the big one, not the small one. not sure if this is too mush space for them to start with.
the mismolt spiny is in a sandwich box with a lot of soggy coco earth piled in one corner, hanging out in a cave of paper towels. it seemed thirsty when I first put it in there. I put a heating pad on low under the box for a couple of hours to drive up the humidity. I literally have no idea what i'm doing
Their names are Hikari, Fortunato, Castillo and Capriccio
I just got 4 new mantis babies. I've wanted a mantis my whole life, but the only time I ever saw one was about 22 years ago on a nature learning center on an elementary school field trip. So I thought so long as it's a companion animal, I should get the Luxury Bugs~
I ordered a Spiny Flower mantis and a Violin Mantis: the breeder sent two of each.
My short term goals: get all 4 mantids to reach adulthood.
future goals: get a pink orchid mantis and devil's flower mantis, maybe breed some mantids, maybe hatch an ooth of Carolina mantis and release them throughout my neighborhood. I also love breeding colonies/cultures of isopods and am interested in questionmark roaches, dermestid beetles, bioactive vivariums, houseplants, carnivorous plants, gardening. I have wanted a pet praying mantis all of my life and this is a dream come true. But I also always wanted a horned beetle, so that's on my list as well. Apparently, those are supposed to be native to texas too, but I've never seen one at all. A friend in florida has had them, though.
I Immediately have a lot of questions, though:
-The breeder recommended I use housefly pupa and I ordered that from him, but the pupa haven't hatched all day. Not sure what to feed the babies, now. His site says bait shops sell housefly larva, but I don't know of any bait shops around here that sell houeflies.
- the average temp of my room in winter is 70 degrees Fahrenheit: should I acquire/have already acquired a heater for the mantids? I could get a ceramic bulb, but not sure which one i need. their cages are made of netting and plastic as well as glass. right now i'm using a space heater to keep it between 70 and 73, but I like my room to be cold. could there be a way to better localize my heat for the mantids? build them a screen laced with tin foil to redirect the ceramic bulb's heat?
-the violin mantids were shipped in nice big containers. but the spiny flower mantids were shipped in the kind of tubes usually used for queen ants or bees, and one of the mantids tried to molt during transit. it has trouble moving but i've got it stabilized in a cave of paper-towels. a friend told me to re-humidify this mantis and maybe it will be able to sort itself out. despite being really bad at getting around, it has struck at me, attempted to groom itself, and seems generally alert when not collapsed on its back. is it worth saving or is this just animal cruelty? it has plenty of molt cycles to go, but to get it to the next one, i'd have to be hand-feeding it, right? only one raptor hand works. the other drags directly behind the mantis, causing it to trip over itself. it does seem painful.
anyway, I invested in one conversation piece terrarium for one spiny mantis and here it is: you can see the nymph sticking to the piece of paper it was shipped with
-live pothos plant
-baked indian almond leaf
-baked japanese maple leaves
-coco dirt
-spanish orange isopods
-temporate springtails
-hand carved / modified lid with tulle mesh
it was pretty amazing to put the mantis in the jar, watch her explore it. then I needed to add the isopods, I decided. I sat the mantis to the side on the enclosure lid and she WATCHED me adding the isopods in. of all the things in the room to look at, it really seemed like she was tilting her head back and watching what I was doing to her new bedroom. (also I have a hard time not calling it 'her' for some reason)
and, just as advertised on youtube, when I held her on my fingertip for a minute and turned her side to side to get a look at her, her gaze followed me, like a little hawk.
the violin mantids: one is in a critter keeper with tulle on top, leaves, a log, and spanish orange isopods as a clean up crew. the other is in one of those 'butterfly garden' popup cages. the big one, not the small one. not sure if this is too mush space for them to start with.
the mismolt spiny is in a sandwich box with a lot of soggy coco earth piled in one corner, hanging out in a cave of paper towels. it seemed thirsty when I first put it in there. I put a heating pad on low under the box for a couple of hours to drive up the humidity. I literally have no idea what i'm doing
Their names are Hikari, Fortunato, Castillo and Capriccio
Everyone here is pretty nice and helpful. We all share the love of mantids 
