Hello!

[Firenkyo]

I've recently gotten into keeping mantises, but unfortunately I've found that care guides can be lacking (for instance, I couldn't find any visual examples of what a full Jewel Flower Mantis nymph looked like and accidentally underfed mine for a couple weeks). I thought that a forum for this would be helpful, and I'd also like to share my own (limited) experiences with keeping them!
I'd like to do illustrations for guides, such as showing each instar of a species in a comparable format, at some point.

I'm very excited to start posting and reading here!

 

[Montana_Mantids]

Hello! Welcome to the forum! Hopefully you find the info you are looking for. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for your first posts!

-Alex

 

[Synapze]

Welcome

 

[Montana_Mantids]

Photo of hungry vs. well fed Creobroter gemmatus (Jeweled flower mantis (the species I think am pretty sure you have)). mantismeet.com is a good place to get information from other experts.

 

[Firenkyo]

Photo of hungry vs. well fed Creobroter gemmatus (Jeweled flower mantis (the species I think am pretty sure you have)). mantismeet.com is a good place to get information from other experts.View attachment 21289

Yes, that's the one I have! I probably should have included the scientific name in my showcase post. These pictures are really helpful, thank you! I found out what their full state is after..an incident with a free mantis sent with my order - I was not expecting to have two and only had stuff set up for one, so I quickly set up the nymph container with a divider. Unfortunately, after about 2 weeks the free one managed to wriggle through the divider and meet Minty. RIP Lentil, thanks for your sacrifice.
I'm glad to see that the full picture looks like what I feed her to now!

 

[hibiscusmile]

What are you feeding it? welcome.

 

[Firenkyo]

What are you feeding it? welcome.

I've been feeding him larger flightless fruit flies (multiple in a sitting until he gets plump), but I've got blue bottle flies shipping to me from Josh's frogs right now!

 

[Synapze]

I've recently gotten into keeping mantises, but unfortunately I've found that care guides can be lacking (for instance, I couldn't find any visual examples of what a full Jewel Flower Mantis nymph looked like and accidentally underfed mine for a couple weeks). I thought that a forum for this would be helpful, and I'd also like to share my own (limited) experiences with keeping them!
I'd like to do illustrations for guides, such as showing each instar of a species in a comparable format, at some point.

I'm very excited to start posting and reading here!

Welcome