Lylelovett666
Well-known member
Being new to mantids I am curious about handling my pets.What is too much?Does it depend on the species?Will they get more accustomed to being picked up?
Thanks
Thanks
Handlin/Over Handling
- Thread starter Lylelovett666
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d17oug18
Well-known member
i handle mine everyday, sometimes i let them roam my room(for stray food if you know what i mean 
). Unless you squash them or throw them or something aggressive i dont think to much is bad... probably make um more hungry =P from the work out.
). Unless you squash them or throw them or something aggressive i dont think to much is bad... probably make um more hungry =P from the work out.
Idolofreak
Well-known member
You can handle them a few times a day as long as you're gentle and careful. Just be sure not to stress them out.
Idolofreak
Well-known member
Yeah, like I said, don't stress them out.
Idolofreak
Well-known member
Okay I know mantids can do gross stuff sometimes but ewwww...Yep!The less you touch them,the better they feel!But they are so cute when licking the sweat on your fingers...
PhilinYuma
Well-known member
To answer this, you really need to know what causes stress to a mantis and what the short and long term effects of that stress are. I don't. I have always agreed with Rick on this one, but I suspect that it says more about my personality than the needs of the mantids.
Certainly, if you are transferring young nymphs, they will play the "finger game", jumping from the fingers of one hand to the other, instead of jumping into the excelsior that you have kindly provided. That is either because they love us and want to play, or because they are attracted to the roughness of our fingers that lets them get a good grip.
A lot of members keep a few mantids as pets, giving them names and imagining that theses pets recognize them and have all sorts of human personality traits, and that they like to be taken out of their enclosure and played with. That may not be any more stressful than keeping them locked up in a 32oz pot all their lives.I don't know of any research that shows that they live for a shorter time or are less fecund when handled a lot (say, daily), but generally, it doesn't seem to matter very much; they probably won't live longer than a year, at the outside, anyway.
So have fun and treat your specimens/pets any way that you think is humane. They won't complain.
Certainly, if you are transferring young nymphs, they will play the "finger game", jumping from the fingers of one hand to the other, instead of jumping into the excelsior that you have kindly provided. That is either because they love us and want to play, or because they are attracted to the roughness of our fingers that lets them get a good grip.
A lot of members keep a few mantids as pets, giving them names and imagining that theses pets recognize them and have all sorts of human personality traits, and that they like to be taken out of their enclosure and played with. That may not be any more stressful than keeping them locked up in a 32oz pot all their lives.I don't know of any research that shows that they live for a shorter time or are less fecund when handled a lot (say, daily), but generally, it doesn't seem to matter very much; they probably won't live longer than a year, at the outside, anyway.
So have fun and treat your specimens/pets any way that you think is humane. They won't complain.
Krissim Klaw
Well-known member
Bwhahaha, this reminds me of a funny event that happened the other day.My father had came over and was looking at my mantis, Merlin who was out, and told me she had turned her head to look back at him. I glanced over and told him it looked more to me like she was looking off in the other direction. I leaned in where he had been standing and she turned around and started to crawl toward the end of the leaf and reached up toward my face. I laughed at her, and called her silly since I had no intention of letting her use my face as a plant then backed away and went to sit down on the opposite side of my desk.
My dad in turn leaned down to where I had been to try and get her to reach for his face. Instead, she not only stopped reaching out but she completely leaned away from him and turned around to where I had gone and started crawling toward me and reaching in my direction from the opposite end of her plant. I swear I could here her saying. "OMG who is this creepy guy leering in my face? I don't know him! Stranger danger, stranger danger!"
My father of course looked over at me and asked me if she could recognize me. I really should start doing mantis shows and charging to display my amazing mantis whispering skills. B)
Do I really think she recognized me or that this is proof of anything, probably not, but it still made for such a great laugh.
Idolofreak
Well-known member
I don't know, sounds a lot like she recognizes you to me. Mantids are really intelligent, and an example is that my first mantis, an adult female Carolina, actually figured out how to get out of her cage and successfully escaped when I wasn't looking!Bwhahaha, this reminds me of a funny event that happened the other day.
My father had came over and was looking at my mantis, Merlin who was out, and told me she had turned her head to look back at him. I glanced over and told him it looked more to me like she was looking off in the other direction. I leaned in where he had been standing and she turned around and started to crawl toward the end of the leaf and reached up toward my face. I laughed at her, and called her silly since I had no intention of letting her use my face as a plant then backed away and went to sit down on the opposite side of my desk.
My dad in turn leaned down to where I had been to try and get her to reach for his face. Instead, she not only stopped reaching out but she completely leaned away from him and turned around to where I had gone and started crawling toward me and reaching in my direction from the opposite end of her plant. I swear I could here her saying. "OMG who is this creepy guy leering in my face? I don't know him! Stranger danger, stranger danger!"
My father of course looked over at me and asked me if she could recognize me. I really should start doing mantis shows and charging to display my amazing mantis whispering skills. B)
Do I really think she recognized me or that this is proof of anything, probably not, but it still made for such a great laugh.
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One time my dad was looking at one and it looked right up at him, jumped on his face and bit him... It all happened so fast i screamed. Lol he was just looking at it XD he was not hurt, just a bit creeped out...so was I.
Any clue what made the mantid wig out?
Any clue what made the mantid wig out?
PhilinYuma
Well-known member
Imagine a 3" mantis looking at a 6' man with a 101/2" face. That's the same as you looking at a giant with a 252" (check that math, please, Orin) face. Wouldn't that make you "wig our"? It is possible that when attacked by something so large, the mantis isn't counter attacking but merely making it impossible for the predator to attack. You can't eat something that is sitting on yr face. They may see our noses as giant beaks.
sporeworld
Well-known member
I read about honey bees getting "depressed", and wonder what's really going on there. Like chronic fatigue syndrome for insects? Surely not an emotional reaction... just us projecting that. Right? I pick those "depressed" bees off the wall and feed them to my mantids. They'll be dead either way the next morning (I see their bodies the next day).
I'm positive my mantids "recognize" me. They get aggitated and know food is on it's way. When I feed them, the tapping is pretty ritualized, and there does seem to be a kind of Pavlov's response (did I spell that right?).
So, I think, taking them out and letting them crawl around SEEMS to be a positive experience (for them). So ritually giving them that positive experience MIGHT create a conditioned response that SEEMS like they LIKE to be handled. Even if that's just in response to the crawling around that comes later.
To that end, I have been considering "Feeding Cages". I got a few of those 72" net cages, and am considering letting a bunch run antive in there, then introduce the flies, and let them eat their fill. Logistically challeneging, but then so is cleaning all these FREAKIN cages!!! The upside here, is that I may get a better grip on eatting/molting cycles. If they ate, they go in cage 1. If they didn't, cage 2.
I'm positive my mantids "recognize" me. They get aggitated and know food is on it's way. When I feed them, the tapping is pretty ritualized, and there does seem to be a kind of Pavlov's response (did I spell that right?).
So, I think, taking them out and letting them crawl around SEEMS to be a positive experience (for them). So ritually giving them that positive experience MIGHT create a conditioned response that SEEMS like they LIKE to be handled. Even if that's just in response to the crawling around that comes later.
To that end, I have been considering "Feeding Cages". I got a few of those 72" net cages, and am considering letting a bunch run antive in there, then introduce the flies, and let them eat their fill. Logistically challeneging, but then so is cleaning all these FREAKIN cages!!! The upside here, is that I may get a better grip on eatting/molting cycles. If they ate, they go in cage 1. If they didn't, cage 2.
PhilinYuma
Well-known member
I just spent a while reading the reports on the depressed bees. Thanks, I'd missed it. Oh what a mess! I assume that the head Newcastle Uni researcher is better at neurobiology than psychology. She seems to confuse depression with anxiety, two very different affective disorders in humans. Depression is marked by apathy and anergy, anxiety by hyper vigilance and often increased activity such as pacing and fidgeting in humans. Also, the etiology is very different in humans. Reactive depression is generally associated with loss of a significant other or of self esteem; anxiety is a reaction to an unspecified threat like having your home suddenly shaken! Interestingly, Dr. Wright finally comes down on the side of anxiety:
"What we have shown is that when a honeybee is subjected to a manipulation of its state that in humans would induce a feeling of anxiety, the bees show a similar suite of changes in physiology, cognition, and behaviour to those we would measure in an anxious human," said Dr Wright.Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1393622/BEES-suffer-negative-emotion-says-Dr-Geraldine-Wright.html#ixzz1T83LDAUP
It is not hard to produce this state in a bee. If you try to catch one and it escapes, it will do its zigzag evasive dance, and if you try and fail to catch it a second time, it will become hyper vigilant and very hard too catch. The same is true of house flies for that matter.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing the published report.
Your"sad" bees, Mark, that are moping one evening and dead the next morning are simply dying. Once bees venture out of the hive to gather honey and visit you, they only have a few weeks of life left.
I believe your observation about feeding time. Years ago, when i was raising Bettas (Siamese fighting fish) I found that a show fish in strange surroundings would "sulk" at the bottom of the tank when the judges came around, To overcome this I used the (old) trick of carrying a clipboard when I fed the fish, and when the judges came around the Betta would rush to the front of the tank to be fed. Best in show!
