hi everyone, another mantis newbie

scottyvdub · Dec 5, 2009

hi my name is scotty, im from south england, i have kept tropical fish like discus but now i just have an oscar and a humbug cat fish, i also have a bearded dragon and yesterday a i got myself my first mantis, i gennerally find bugs a bit creepy but the mantis is like nothing else ive seen, they seem very cat like, the way they groom themselves and such, ive spent ages just watching my new mantis its awesome, the shop said its an indian mantid, not a giant, i cant find any info on the net about indian mantis its always giant indian mantis so im a bit confused the shop said its not a giant. its about 1 inch long feeding on crickets, i keep it in a plastic critter cage with tissue on the floor and various twigs, i have a spray bottle to spray the gage and i keep it on top of my lizzard tank where it is warm.

bassist · Dec 5, 2009

Welcome,

Make sure the top of the container has a textured surface for the mantis to hang from when molting they don't always go for twigs in the container as they try to go as high as they possibly can. Pet shops are notorious for selling animals incorrectly named with even common names the species is probably a Hierodula sp but once it is an adult you can post pictures to have it's identity confirmed.

Chasebrestle@yahoo.com · Dec 5, 2009

Welcome to the forum.

Katnapper · Dec 5, 2009

Hello and welcome to the forum. A pic of your mantid now may or may not be helpful. As Bassist said, when it molts to adult it will become more apparent which species you have.