Hello all

[Mantislotus311]

Hello, I am a new member to this forum and I am very excited to learn from you all. I am also a new amateur entomologist who has a passion for learning about these amazing creatures along with anything else that lives or breathes. I recently purchased 10 Chinese Mantis nymphs and they are arriving tommorow. If anyone has any tips for me that'd be much appreciated. I have done extensive research on Mantids and still I feel like I know nothing. More of a hands on individual so ill apply all that I know to keep them alive and well in my hands. 

 

[hysteresis]

Hey @Mantislotus311!

Welcome to the forum.

Post photos when you receive them, and ask questions if you have 'em.

We'll be here for you!

 

[Mantislotus311]

Will do and thanks for the greet! Very excited for their arrival. These are the mini temporary enclosures I have made for them. They are all very similar. They contain wet moss clump, pebbles for substrate, and fake twigs/flowers for exploration and for them to hang for them to molt. If I should add or take away please let me know. Thanks

 

[hysteresis]

How's your ventilation. A rule of thumb i've heard thrown around is a minimum of 2 square inches. Some add additional cross-cage ventilation holes. That really depends on the species.

Mantises will almost always hang from the lid. FACT. They need a decent surface to grip. Better than slick plastic.

Try tulle fabric, plastic mesh, plastic canvas, burlap, etc. Metal mesh is generally okay for older nymphs. No sharp edges.

 

[hysteresis]

With young nymphs, you'll be feeding fruit flies, hydei most likely by the time you get them. Your mesh needs to be fine enough to keep them in, flightless or not.

 

[Mantislotus311]

I thought about that too. I will be attaching some burlap to the bottom of the lips after I still more ventilation holes in them. Thanks for the input. Ill be making some changes before they arrive. Will meal worms be okay to feed them if they are L3 and younger? 

 

[hysteresis]

Meal worm have mandibles. I'd cut their heads off or they can accidentally do damage (cos they're flexy and can bend back and bite). i3s are still small. I would grab Drosophila hydei cultures. They take time to establish so buy them immediately. If you grab them fresh, you'll end up feeding out the very flies you need reproducing, so as to sustain the culture.

1/4 pinhead crickets are often used, but carry a risk of being gutloaded with pathogens and parasites. It's unusual, but it is a risk. Buy the pins, and feed them in quarantine for half a week. Lettuce, cucumber, fish flakes. Get everything old out of their guts, bare minimum. Maybe try waxworms, cut in half, guts end first into their maws. Slowly, sneakily. They taste the guts and they'll start chomping.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Welcome!

 

[MantisGirl13]

Welcome!!

Like @hysteresis said, you need more ventilation, less moisture in those containers. You will definitely want fruit flies for L3 chinese, otherwise you will be trying to hand feed jumpy nymphs! 

@hysteresis, you are getting really good at advising new members! 

- MantisGirl13

 

[hysteresis]

@hysteresis, you are getting really good at advising new members! 

- MantisGirl13

Ive been learning from some of the best... @MantisGirl13 

@Mantislotus311 maybe  burlap isnt your best choice at this age. Hydei are small, and may crawl in behind the burlap. Try tulle fabric. Available at most craft stores. Maybe Walmart, or even at dollar stores.

Also, consider the relative size of a small nymph to its enclosure. Will it have a chance of hunting succesfully?

I keep nymphs that size in 4oz deli cups. Easy to locate the nymph and easy for it to hunt the ff.

See? I think she was i3 or i4 when taken. The white are dollar store cotton pads (untreated) for makep removal. They hold moisture and release it slower than without. Changed out every two days.

 

[Graceface]

Welcome and congrats on the new additions! 

Fyi, Even Tulle won't hold in FFs, small Hydeii can squeeze through. You have to go with a even smaller mesh. Tulle is great stuff to keep in houseflies or as a molting surface, but FF will sometimes escape and that defeats the purpose in this instance.

I use a mosquito netting type fabric as ventilation hot glued on the lids of 4oz portion cups for nymphs, then pieces of tulle between the lid and cup as a molting surface 

Good luck! 

 

[hysteresis]

Maybe what I think of as tulle isnt really tulle, then. I have a very fine synthetic material. Ive meshed all my nymph cups with it. Melanogaster couldn't escape.

 

[Mantis Lady]

Welcome

I think better use kitchen paper as substrate, because that is easier to clean than pebbles. Mantids do poop a lot and it hold some humididy