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Mantid-Tim

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Joined
May 30, 2020
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Location
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    Hello MantidForum members! My name is Tim, and I am new to this community and to mantises in general. I am 29 years old and live in the Bronx, NY--the borough (county) just north of Manhattan. I tutored/taught math for a while, but am currently finishing a degree in Accounting and Economics.

    I bought my first mantis about a month ago. Actually, my girlfriend Jane suggesting a praying mantis as a pet in our no-pets-allowed building is what got me started. When she first suggested it, I admit, my first thought was: ‘a bug isn’t a pet.’ Then, it brought to mind an experience with a mantis as a 3 or 4 year old—feeding it and releasing it and having it come back the next day for several days. Trying to be open minded, I decided to do some research. All the amazing facts on these beautiful creatures is what really ended up changing my mind.

    Anyway, more about the mantises we currently care for:

    I currently have one L4/L5 African Mantis (Sphodromantis lineola; female I think), five L2/L3 Ghosts (P. paradoxa), and one sub-adult cat-eyed mantis (Heterochatea orientalis; aka “Kitty,” also female).  Unfortunately, I had some bad luck at first. A mismolt took my first chatea the first night I had it, but was given a second one for free out of pity and kindness from USMantis, lol. (I got all of them there by the way.) My fault for thinking it would be okay in a small enclosure for one night; I had a glass terrarium order for pickup the next day 😭!

    The lineola is in a modified plastic terrarium (her 8x8x12 Exo-Terra Nano is on the way!) And 4 of the ghosts share an 8x8x12 Nano; one is a cannibal so I separated it. The chatea is in a 12x12x18 glass habitat as well.

    Anyway, thats my intro, sorry to make you read so much...just kidding! Take care all, and I looking forward to talking on the forums!

P.S. Attached are my mantis pics. You can see my setup and most of my mantises (the ghost is the cannibal--lol!)

20200610_212756_HDR.jpg

20200607_182804_HDR.jpg

20200616_221332.jpg

20200614_201821.jpg

 
Welcome to the forum! You have a very nice setup, however I suggest keeping your smaller mantids in a deli cup or something smaller than the exo terra so that they can find their food more easily, which will help to avoid cannibalism. Also, you'll need to be aware that you'll probably need to separate your female ghosts as they get older. 

- MantisGirl13 

 
Thanks!

MantisGirl-- thanks for the tip. I was thinking that with two of the four ghosts as they are smaller and at the bottom most of the time and I haven't seen them eat as much. The other two seem to have no problem finding food. I keep a good amount of fruit flies in there.

Also do you (or anyone) know where to get plastic mesh good for mantis cages? (I like to make a side-vent instead of just holes.) Couldn't find it on amazon, I assume its on a roll or something?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks!

MantisGirl-- thanks for the tip. I was thinking that with two of the four ghosts as they are smaller and at the bottom most of the time and I haven't seen them eat as much. The other two seem to have no problem finding food. I keep a good amount of fruit flies in there.

Also do you (or anyone) know where to get plastic mesh good for mantis cages? (I like to make a side-vent instead of just holes.) Couldn't find it on amazon, I assume its on a roll or something?
I just use tulle fabric. Its about a dollar a yard and you can get it at any store that sells fabric. You could also use window screen, which is a bit more heavy duty, but also more expensive. 

- MantisGirl13 

 
I just use tulle fabric. Its about a dollar a yard and you can get it at any store that sells fabric. You could also use window screen, which is a bit more heavy duty, but also more expensive. 

- MantisGirl13 
Just ordered some online.... I separated the smaller two ghosts out. Saw them both eat today so that's good.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

 
Also do you (or anyone) know where to get plastic mesh good for mantis cages? (I like to make a side-vent instead of just holes.) Couldn't find it on amazon, I assume its on a roll or something?
I use organza fabric. It holds in melanogaster as well as hydei.

And welcome! Thanks for joining us! :D

 
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