Hello! I am new to mantid keeping and to this forum :)

[Anab1188]

Greetings to everyone!

I'm from Southern California. I have always wanted a mantis ever since I was a child. Now that I am an adult I decided to give it a try and I purchased my first Mantis off of Craigslist and named her Pope. She was very sassy and fun to keep. I loved her very much and It saddens me how she came to die

She fell off her twig on her 5th molt. I found her trapped so I gently picked her up and with a wet Q-tip I struggled for 4hrs to help her out of her old skin. She only had 3 functioning legs but she was alive. I fed her and gave her water by hand. She was doing well Until my mom decided to move her enclosure near a window.....during the night ants came in and ate her  I am deeply distraught about that. ..I am now looking to learn more about them and purchase a few more. I wasn't ready to let go.. Sorry guys for the sad post.

R.I.P. Pope <3 forever in my heart.

 

[Sarah K]

Greetings to everyone!

I'm from Southern California. I have always wanted a mantis ever since I was a child. Now that I am an adult I decided to give it a try and I purchased my first Mantis off of Craigslist and named her Pope. She was very sassy and fun to keep. I loved her very much and It saddens me how she came to die

She fell off her twig on her 5th molt. I found her trapped so I gently picked her up and with a wet Q-tip I struggled for 4hrs to help her out of her old skin. She only had 3 functioning legs but she was alive. I fed her and gave her water by hand. She was doing well Until my mom decided to move her enclosure near a window.....during the night ants came in and ate her  I am deeply distraught about that. ..I am now looking to learn more about them and purchase a few more. I wasn't ready to let go.. Sorry guys for the sad post.

R.I.P. Pope <3 forever in my heart.

Welcome! And so sorry for your loss.  Unfortunately, mismolts are an unavoidable part of life when you keep mantis pets. There are many things you can do to try to prevent them from happening, but sometimes it still happens to the best of us. Hopefully you will be able to prevent losses in the future due to ants though.

Luckily there are plenty of mantises being born in the homes of mantis forum members everyday who are looking for new homes, so you should not have a hard time finding a new friend or two (or a  hundred, like some of us crazy people!), especially on these forums.  

 

[Rick]

Welcome

 

[CosbyArt]

Hello and welcome to the forum

Sorry to hear after all the effort Pope still didn't make it; although, with such commitment you should do fine in the hobby. To prevent possible future issues with ants, if you cover your mantid habitat openings with a fine mesh such as organza fabric (hot glue in place), it will keep them at bay.

I at the moment have five Chinese ooths (Tenodera sinensis) incubating and should be hatching middle of next month if your interested in any. I'll just charge shipping costs for any nymphs if your interested. I'll have many more, and Carolina (Stagmomantis carolina) as soon as wild mantids stay to lay them - but I prefer to incubate them in the spring for release, but if your interested in a ooth I'd offer those at shipping cost too.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Welcome

 

[Anab1188]

Thanks Everyone!! I just ordered two  Hierodula majuscula nymphs which should be arriving tomorrow

I have their enclosures ready and their food. I do have a question..How many instars are there?

 

[CosbyArt]

Thanks Everyone!! I just ordered two  Hierodula majuscula nymphs which should be arriving tomorrow

I have their enclosures ready and their food. I do have a question..How many instars are there?

Depends on the species and various factors; however, the most common is 7 or 8 instars. Once they hatch they are L1, and become adults when they get their wings, typically at L7 or L8.

I couldn't find the instar amount for your species, but did find this caresheet.

 

[Anab1188]

Thank you!! I kind of went on a crazy shopping spree and bought an orchid mantis and 3 south american dead leafs  :sweatdrop:  

Those arrive tomorrow. I'm going to become a hoarder lol.

 

[CosbyArt]

Thank you!! I kind of went on a crazy shopping spree and bought an orchid mantis and 3 south american dead leafs  :sweatdrop:  

Those arrive tomorrow. I'm going to become a hoarder lol.

Orchids (Hymenopus coronatus) are very pretty and a popular choice for experienced keepers. I haven't kept or heard of the South American dead leaf species (Acanthops falcataria) before, but I've had Malaysian dead leaf mantis (Deroplatys lobata) and they were great (and grew very large).

The only issue is those species you ordered require a intermediate care level/experience, see the Orchid caresheet here, and are not recommended for beginners as most new keepers run into issues as the mantids require everything to be to their liking or they often die. As you seem to exhibit care for mantids, if you read up on their care/needs you may be fine. I know some new keepers in the past that have kept dart frogs, reptiles, etc. seem to be able to give proper mantid care with their experience from those pets to various non-beginner mantid species (particularly in the temperature and humidity needs).

Sounds like you are well on your way to becoming a mantis-holic though.

Before you know it you will be breeding them, hatching ooths, raising various feeders, then you will have to devote a room to house them all. It is a lot of fun though, but quickly gets time consuming at that point. As various species of mantid ooths can hatch typically twenty to hundreds of nymphs, so your have more to care for then you know what to do with. Have fun with the hobby, and good luck.

 

[ashleenicole]

Welcome! I'm sorry to hear about Pope, I lost one of my favorites to a fall during her final molt and it was devastating. Good luck with your new babies and make sure to share pictures!

 

[Anab1188]

Pictures will be coming soon. Thankfully I haven't lost a single one and they have all gone through a molt since arriving.

I Currently own 9 mantids  :innocent:

 

[CosbyArt]

@Anab1188 Sounds like you are well on your way then to getting a big jump start on the hobby.

If you multiply your current count by at least x7 then you are entering the number area many of the more extreme keepers tend to keep. Of course there are several too that have hundreds or more, and those aren't simply hatching nymph numbers.

The only issue though is the amount of time and feeders needed for such a group, I've done it myself a few times, and prefer to keep the count in the single digits (not counting hatching ooths). Less mantids allows one on one time with my pets, and still have plenty of time to do other things in life.

 

[Anab1188]

Time is definitely an Issue. After this batch I am sticking to 2-3 at most. Some are very shy and I am trying to dedicate more time to those. I usually spend an hour or two once I get home with them but It doesn't leave much time for anything else. 

 

[CosbyArt]

@Anab1188 Indeed stick with a smaller number of mantids (some keepers take breaks too with no mantids for awhile), otherwise you can become burned-out on all the time required and even ready to give it up. If you currently have too many you can list some of them on the classifieds page to get the numbers down.

 

[Precious]

Welcome!  I'd advise you to start with a bug tent and a big Chinese ooth!!  Taking them through the life-cycle will bring you up to speed quick!  Have fun!

 

[guapoalto049]

Welcome

 

[Anab1188]

Hey guys, Unfortunately I haven't had much time to upload pics of my babies onto my laptop so I can put them on here. I've been so busy I have no idea what instars they are at

 The important thing is that they are alive and well. I have them eating mealworms and waxworms and random moths that I catch. I tried ordering fly pupae and they arrived late and dead. I'm giving up on those. So far I hand feed them and just yesterday I added some extra worms on the bottom of the enclosure but I wonder if they will go down there to get them?

 

[CosbyArt]

... So far I hand feed them and just yesterday I added some extra worms on the bottom of the enclosure but I wonder if they will go down there to get them?

Typically mantises will not run to the substrate to get any worm. Also most worms, especially the mealworms, will burrow into the substrate quickly (mine would do it in under 15 seconds) or hide making their use as feeders non-existent even if the mantis would notice them and try to come after them. The only way to use them is by offering them to mantises with tweezers or such directly.

 

[Flidais]

Welcome!  I am a horder already also, but stopped at 5... with visions for the future!  ?