Is it normal for a mantis to be so friendly it only wants to be out of its enclosure. Mine will sit on my hand for hours. It sees me then runs to the top of the vivarium which signals he wants out. He sits on my computer for hours just watching me. Last night he perched on my knee and watched an entire movie with me. i can barely get him back in his vivarium. I don't even feed him when he's out with me. Is he just unusually friendly. He spends at least 3 hours a day out on my arm or shoulder.
Friendly mantis
- Thread starter RedHead
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@RedHead Some recommend limited contact as injuries can be common to a loose mantid - especially closing the habitat lid when putting it back, trapping the tarsi/foot as they do not want to go back (or from a small child or a pet such as a dog or cat when they are loose).
Many mantids love the attention though, and are fascinated by TV and anything that moves such as phone/tablet games too. As your see below many keepers let their mantids roam around, and I've read one where the member use to drive around town and a trip with the mantid perched on his shoulder the whole time.
See some of the photos and posts here...
...and many other posts too
Many mantids love the attention though, and are fascinated by TV and anything that moves such as phone/tablet games too. As your see below many keepers let their mantids roam around, and I've read one where the member use to drive around town and a trip with the mantid perched on his shoulder the whole time.
See some of the photos and posts here...
...and many other posts too
crabbypatty
aka Mad Mantis
@RedHead haha, I do this with my adult H. Membranacea, he loves being picked up. If I'm on the computer he'll chill out on the screen, and I've had him watching a scary movie with me once while I was in bed. He just relaxed and watched the screen too. He's flown to me a couple of times too. As for my other mantids, they will have non of it, haha. He's my favorite, I handle him the most.
Sarah K
Well-known member
It really it depends on the species and the individual mantis, if you ask me. Some species seem really unfriendly, and don't like to be touched, others are curious and climb right out on your arm, with no fear at all! My favorite species to handle are my heterochaeta. Mine don't seem to be afraid of my hand, but they don't move around too much and try to get away from me when I take them out either. They usually remain pretty still and are very content to just hang out and look at whatever is going on around them!
Serle
Well-known member
They certainly seem to develop individual personalities ,I have a Tenodera L2 and he/she will come from a perch and hop right face to face when I get close. One wonders on their intelligence .
cwebster
Well-known member
LOL! Didnt know mantids love tv but they definitely do seem to enjoy attention and interacting.
Mystymantis
Well-known member
I let my female Carolina mantises crawl around (one at a time of course) and they just love exploring and finding perches to sit on.
Hah, that's adorable! My H. membranacea nymph hates being on my hand, but my brother's nymph is content anywhere you put him.
A lot of people would say that they're just a bug, and they only have instincts- and this is at the very least true of our current understanding of mantids- but bees, roaches, and moths are scientifically proven to be capable of learning, so there's that notion down the toilet. I think mantids would be a great subject for cognition experiments, solely because it's easy to tell what they're paying attention to.
A lot of people would say that they're just a bug, and they only have instincts- and this is at the very least true of our current understanding of mantids- but bees, roaches, and moths are scientifically proven to be capable of learning, so there's that notion down the toilet. I think mantids would be a great subject for cognition experiments, solely because it's easy to tell what they're paying attention to.
MajorManny
Well-known member
Aww, that's so sweet! I'm on my third mantis and they do, indeed, all seem to have their personalities. My male ghost wasn't very fond of being held, so I kept it to a minimum. My female orchid was just like yours---seemed to really want to get out--not to escape, but just to sit on my hand--though part of that was so she could get honey.
My current mantis (a giant Asian mantis like yours) is also rather 'friendly', though the mesh enclosure with the zipper sort of spooks her when I open it, making her more hesitant to get on my hand at first than my orchid mantis.
But anyway, I don't know how an insect's mind works. We may not know for a very long time. But your mantis clearly knows you're a provider of resources and not a threat. I'm not too quick to anthromorphize them, but that may be because I can want to detach myself a little since they live such short lives.
I still limit how much time I let them out, however. Maybe once or twice a week and I keep them in sight. Seems like you're doing that, though---so that's great!
My current mantis (a giant Asian mantis like yours) is also rather 'friendly', though the mesh enclosure with the zipper sort of spooks her when I open it, making her more hesitant to get on my hand at first than my orchid mantis.
But anyway, I don't know how an insect's mind works. We may not know for a very long time. But your mantis clearly knows you're a provider of resources and not a threat. I'm not too quick to anthromorphize them, but that may be because I can want to detach myself a little since they live such short lives.
I still limit how much time I let them out, however. Maybe once or twice a week and I keep them in sight. Seems like you're doing that, though---so that's great!
