Graceface's Mantis family

[hysteresis]

Looking at these makes me soooo happy!

 

[Mantis Lady]

She is beautiful and gratz on the molt.

 

[Mantis Lady]

She is beautiful and gratz on the molt.

 

[Graceface]

Absolutely @MantisGirl13 I'm happy to help any way I can!

They like it humid, and they like to drink water, too. I like to let mine drink off of my finger when I clean their enclosures, which is fun ? They are voracious eaters, which is also fun. My females have tripled their food intake since their last molt (yikes!) 

One of my main concerns with raising Orchids was the high humidity coupled with the need for 'fresh air.' I keep my females on a heat mat at around 86 with a humidifier, both are on a controller keeping it within range (70%RH, 85ish F). I use paper towels as a substrate due to cost and ease of use. The level of food my females eat results in dirty enclosures daily (with so much frass and fly debris). I've found the stale air thing to be a non issue for me, as I get into their cups to change the paper towels daily (most times) to avoid any mold, bacteria, or potential issues in the micro climate of their enclosure. Plus, it gives me an excuse to hang out with them. 

Overall, they are fun, rewarding, and not too difficult to care for (regardless of the hype). As long as you keep them in the appropriate climate, you will do fine. They are a tropical species, the hardest part of their care is just making sure they stay warm and humid enough. An experienced keeper such as yourself will have no problems ?

Definitely show us some photos when your nymphs arrive. I just ordered more and I'm stoked!!

 

[MantisGirl13]

Absolutely @MantisGirl13 I'm happy to help any way I can!

They like it humid, and they like to drink water, too. I like to let mine drink off of my finger when I clean their enclosures, which is fun ? They are voracious eaters, which is also fun. My females have tripled their food intake since their last molt (yikes!) 

One of my main concerns with raising Orchids was the high humidity coupled with the need for 'fresh air.' I keep my females on a heat mat at around 86 with a humidifier, both are on a controller keeping it within range (70%RH, 85ish F). I use paper towels as a substrate due to cost and ease of use. The level of food my females eat results in dirty enclosures daily (with so much frass and fly debris). I've found the stale air thing to be a non issue for me, as I get into their cups to change the paper towels daily (most times) to avoid any mold, bacteria, or potential issues in the micro climate of their enclosure. Plus, it gives me an excuse to hang out with them. 

Overall, they are fun, rewarding, and not too difficult to care for (regardless of the hype). As long as you keep them in the appropriate climate, you will do fine. They are a tropical species, the hardest part of their care is just making sure they stay warm and humid enough. An experienced keeper such as yourself will have no problems ?

Definitely show us some photos when your nymphs arrive. I just ordered more and I'm stoked!!

Thanks so much! I had heard a few different things about humidity and heat, but I think I know what I am doing now! Thanks very much! I will try to post good pics when I get them but they may be too tiny for pics! I am getting them L1.

- MantisGirl13

 

[Graceface]

Thanks so much! I had heard a few different things about humidity and heat, but I think I know what I am doing now! Thanks very much! I will try to post good pics when I get them but they may be too tiny for pics! I am getting them L1.

- MantisGirl13

Ooh, tiny babies!!! Exciting! 

I keep mine at 70% RH, but 60% to 80% is a good range. Even keeping it as humid as they say, mine *still* want and need misting at least once a day. I find once a day misting is fine, if the humidity is controlled to the proper range, but yeah, they looove to drink water and even love it when I mist them directly. Make sure any climbing surface you use can handle the humidity, as popsicle sticks and fake flowers tend to mold or be too wet, causing issues with stale air or grip during molting. I've found the best success with plastic canvas bug ladders and tulle on the lids

Males eat far less and are very small. The females grow substantially with each molt, but the males stay very close in size from molt to molt, until the final molt. My male, Charlie, who molted to adult sooner than I anticipated successfully molted in a 12oz cup, which it turns out was plenty of room. He is about 1.2 inches as an adult. I moved him to a 32oz enclosure just to make sure he could have room to climb around if he wanted. 

I would move your females to larger enclosures in advance once they hit L4, as they grow a lot at molt from this stage.

If you have questions once your nymphs arrive, I'll help as much as I can!

 

[MantisGirl13]

Ooh, tiny babies!!! Exciting! 

I keep mine at 70% RH, but 60% to 80% is a good range. Even keeping it as humid as they say, mine *still* want and need misting at least once a day. I find once a day misting is fine, if the humidity is controlled to the proper range, but yeah, they looove to drink water and even love it when I mist them directly. Make sure any climbing surface you use can handle the humidity, as popsicle sticks and fake flowers tend to mold or be too wet, causing issues with stale air or grip during molting. I've found the best success with plastic canvas bug ladders and tulle on the lids

Males eat far less and are very small. The females grow substantially with each molt, but the males stay very close in size from molt to molt, until the final molt. My male, Charlie, who molted to adult sooner than I anticipated successfully molted in a 12oz cup, which it turns out was plenty of room. He is about 1.2 inches as an adult. I moved him to a 32oz enclosure just to make sure he could have room to climb around if he wanted. 

I would move your females to larger enclosures in advance once they hit L4, as they grow a lot at molt from this stage.

If you have questions once your nymphs arrive, I'll help as much as I can!

Do you know what Instar you can tell the gender of the orchid? I want to make sure that I keep the males at a proper temperature to slow them down. 

- MantisGirl13

 

[Graceface]

Do you know what Instar you can tell the gender of the orchid? I want to make sure that I keep the males at a proper temperature to slow them down. 

- MantisGirl13

At L4, the color band is clear, but before that you can still tell with a margin of error. I was able to accurately *** mine before L4. I used a combination of segment counting, color band, and size of leg petals to decide.

Females have less abdominal segments, as with all mantises, and the last segment is larger. It can be tough to see on L2 nymphs clearly.

The color bands are present, but can look confusing, i.e. not quite all one color but rather a mix of 2. I noticed my males were a more definite muddy pink brown, and nymphs I thought might have any greenish tint in their bands did end up as female. If you have one you think has any greenish hue, analyze their leg petal shape. Females have rounder and larger leg petals, while the males are more narrow and triangular. I'll try to attach photo examples for you. 

An infographic I found online



Brian, one of my males. Notice the shape of his leg petals:



I suppose you can scroll back up to Heidi and look at her leg petals in comparison to Brian's.

I was correct, luckily, on all my guesses using this combination. I don't know if my orchids were L2 or L3 when I received them, so they may have been at L3 and perhaps easier to ***. At L4 the green or pink/brown band is quite obvious, as is the size difference.

If you can't tell on your L2s, then wait until L3 and try again. The nymphs I just purchased are being shipped as soon as the hit L2, so I'm excited to see them and maybe help determine better where my current Orchids were in their life cycle when I received them. 

As to males and cooling...I don't know what to think.  All the care sheets tell you to cool the males to slow their growth. If you reference my 'Determining an instar' thread Here you'll find a link to mantidkingdom. He says slowing males via cooling causes infertility, which defeats the whole purpose of slowing their growth. I don't know who is right, so I'm currently keeping my males at 72 to 75 and my females at 85 to 87. This way, my males are cooler than my females, but not cold, if that makes sense. I've read some things saying to keep them as cool as 60 degrees F! 

I can say, my males seemed to be less healthy and happy when I was keeping them 68 to 71 degrees F. I raised the temp by a few degrees and they seem much better now. 

 

[MantisGirl13]

Thanks so much for the help! Where are you getting your new orchids from?

- MantisGirl13

 

[Graceface]

@MantisGirl13 I ordered 8 nymphs from Mantid Kingdom, because I saw he had an ootheca hatch on IG. They will ship in the next week when they hit L2. Where are you getting your L1s?

 

[MantisGirl13]

DeShawn is great! I am getting mine from Mantis Dictator on the forum.

- MantisGirl13

 

[Graceface]

Edward is molting to adult right now! Excuse the poor image quality; the tulle is in the way

 

[River Dane]

Good luck with the molt! Keep us updated 

 

[MantisGirl13]

Congrats on the molt! I thought it was kinda funny because my dad's name is Edward ?

- MantisGirl13

 

[Graceface]

He has molted well and is looking cute! Also, Jane, one of my Orchid females, molted while I was at work. She is now at the same instar as my other 3. I'll get some good photos tomorrow

 

[Mantis Lady]

Gratz on the molt

 

[Graceface]

Here is Jane, post molt. She looks so much bigger now! I'll get more photos today, yesterday I was too busy to spend time taking photos, and this was all I got

 

[MantisGirl13]

She is beautiful!

- MantisGirl13

 

[Mantis Lady]

She is a beautiful one. Cool picture jane and her molt.

 

[Graceface]

May I present to you to the 3 newest adults in our house! 

Edward:

Brian:

Gordon: