Hi, I've been lurking around for a while and I think it's time to introduce myself. I'm 21 year-old female Bio/studio art major at FSU. One day I plan to be a ethologist (studying animal behavior). I have two mantids currently: a green ghost named Olive and a Euchomenella named Piccolo. I used to have a S. Lineola named Luna, but she died of what I think was a bacterial infection caused by a bad cricket. Since they've become adults and settled down I've kept Piccolo and Olive free-range on some fake foliage I have in my apartment.
Piccolo is really inquisitive about everything and she likes to go on my hand and be slowly flown through my apartment. When she sees something she likes she will make a 'I want' motion with her arms. It's like she gestures towards it repeatedly. If she really wants it she's gesture more vigorously. Her favorite thing in the world, though, is probably climbing on my hair. When she was younger she used to climb on my hair and just clean it, but now she likes to munch instead. If she's by my ear I can hear her beak clicking on the strand that she's selected. It honestly freaks me out a little, but I put up with it because she loves it so much. Even when I take her outside to go hunting if she sees my face she'll ignore the bugs and just try to climb on me. She also really loves cream cheese. I feed both her and Olive honey and whatever else seems healthy and appropriate for a mantis (meat, egg, etc.) but one day I was eating a bagel with cream cheese and Piccolo was chilling on my hand about a foot away and suddenly she jumped on my bagel and starting chowing down with more enthusiasm than I even seen her eat her prey with!
Olive is more skittish and generally just does her 'I'm a leaf' impression where she'll shake back and forth, although she's come out of her shell a lot more lately. The other day I had her on my hand while I was rinsing something in the sink and I noticed that she seemed really fascinated with the water so I turned it down so that it was just a thin stream and put her near it. She started drinking from the water and bathing herself (she bathes herself just like a cat). When she put her arm in the water it bent the stream and she played with the angle a bit and finally got it so that it bent right into her mandibles. It was super cute.
Here are some pics:
Piccolo (as a nymph)(I need to take pictures of her as an adult)
Olive (adult):
(nymph)
poor Luna (nymph):
Luna (adult):
Piccolo is really inquisitive about everything and she likes to go on my hand and be slowly flown through my apartment. When she sees something she likes she will make a 'I want' motion with her arms. It's like she gestures towards it repeatedly. If she really wants it she's gesture more vigorously. Her favorite thing in the world, though, is probably climbing on my hair. When she was younger she used to climb on my hair and just clean it, but now she likes to munch instead. If she's by my ear I can hear her beak clicking on the strand that she's selected. It honestly freaks me out a little, but I put up with it because she loves it so much. Even when I take her outside to go hunting if she sees my face she'll ignore the bugs and just try to climb on me. She also really loves cream cheese. I feed both her and Olive honey and whatever else seems healthy and appropriate for a mantis (meat, egg, etc.) but one day I was eating a bagel with cream cheese and Piccolo was chilling on my hand about a foot away and suddenly she jumped on my bagel and starting chowing down with more enthusiasm than I even seen her eat her prey with!
Olive is more skittish and generally just does her 'I'm a leaf' impression where she'll shake back and forth, although she's come out of her shell a lot more lately. The other day I had her on my hand while I was rinsing something in the sink and I noticed that she seemed really fascinated with the water so I turned it down so that it was just a thin stream and put her near it. She started drinking from the water and bathing herself (she bathes herself just like a cat). When she put her arm in the water it bent the stream and she played with the angle a bit and finally got it so that it bent right into her mandibles. It was super cute.
Here are some pics:
Piccolo (as a nymph)(I need to take pictures of her as an adult)
Olive (adult):
(nymph)
poor Luna (nymph):
Luna (adult):
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