Hai!

[michelle]

Hey every one! My name is Michelle! I'm a Californian and a friend of mine recently got a budwing nymph from a reptile show, thus peaking my interest in these lovely critters. 

I currently have a 5 betta sorority, 2 crested geckos, a leopard gecko and a small dog... Hahaha. Not into animals at all. I swear.

Im very interested in getting a nice little nymph to call my own soon. Just want to make sure it's right for a newbie such as myself and I'd like to thank a kind fellow named John from a Mantid group on FB for referring me to this lovey forum.

 

[Flidais]

Welcome!  Oh, how I wish I had a menagerie like you, but my husband says no.  I slipped mantids in along with our cat pets, and LOVE them!  I would recommend before you get your first that you get a few different size homes for them so you don't end up having to rush into preparing a bigger home as they grow up. . You would need multiple sized cages depending on the type of mantis you raise.  

This forum is fantastic, and many of the members have multiple pets, so lots of info for non-mantids as well.

 

[Sarah K]

Welcome!

 

[michelle]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! Any suggestions on a good beginner Mantid species?

 

[Flidais]

Check out some of the species comments. And then look at the specific care sheet for the species choices in the care portion... there are several species that do well for beginners and some of preference is asthetic.  

I have just Chinese right now as they're one of the more common/easy to find, but there are several really great other spieces out there.

 

[CosbyArt]

Hello Michelle and welcome to the forum

This forum is on Facebook as well, the group is MantidForum.net.

Regarding a beginners species I'll include my cut/paste response as it is pretty inclusive at this point...

Ghosts (Phyllocrania paradoxa) are great and tame easily, and have a very exotic look but are a very hardy species - recommended for beginners too. Chinese mantids (Tenodera sinensis) are a great option as they are a naturalized species so can be captured in the wild - I can collect over a hundred here rather easily in the warmer months before fall. The Chinese mantids also grow large at about 4", which means they also are hungry pigs.

One of my favorites has to be Carolina mantids (Stagmomantis carolina) as they are a native species, and extra nymphs from a ooth can be released (again this is another species that can be found wild locally). They seem to have individual attitudes/traits, take to handling and various feeders well, etc. Likely though I have a soft spot for them as I got started in the hobby rescuing my first mantid from a winter freeze while at work. They do require a bit more care, but if you can mange humidity and feeding properly, I doubt you'll have problems with the species as it was my first.

Some great beginner mantid species though are Flower mantis (Creobroter sp.), Giant shield.hooded mantis (Rhombodera sp.), African mantis (Sphodromantis lineola), Budwing mantis (Parasphendale affinis or Parasphendale argrionina), Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis), Double shield mantids (Pnigomantis medioconstricta), Ghost mantis (Phyllocrania paradoxa), Giant Asian mantis (Hierodula membranacea), and Griffin mantis (Polyspilota griffinii). Although some are not necessary listed as typical beginner species, they are all hardy, and seem to do fine even with beginners.

Have fun searching and getting started.

 

[dmina]

 

[Rick]

Welcome

 

[hibiscusmile]

WElcome!

 

[Zeppy44]

Heyas and welcome.