Hi from San Diego

hibiscusmile · Jul 2, 2009

I was hoping to have some but only one ooth I have hatched 6 and only three lived, the other one did not hatch, so I must keep looking for new blood lines, I wore mine out!

PhilinYuma · Jul 2, 2009

Opivy said:
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone =) I'm really excited about this - but my mind is still buzzing with what i need to do before ordering. I'm scared of having it die on me =(First off i'm wondering about enclosures. When I order the mantis, i'm under the impression it will be quite small and won't need anything very large? i've read that it only needs to be three times the height, and twice the width - so a small cup like the ones tarantulas are sold in should suffice until it grows up, right?

I checked the petco near my house today, and they have flightless fruit flies - are those the right kind for a L2-L3? (as i plan to order from mantisplace.com)

thanks so much for the help everyone -

also hibiscus, is there any chance you will have ghosts back in stock soon? I'm debating between the Giant Shield, and the Ghost -

Thanks!

You can use small pots, but why go to the expense of buying two sets when you can start them off in 32oz pots and just let them grow up in them? When you're checking out the mantids at the Hives Lady's site, check 'em out.

FFs come in two sizes, little D. melanogaster, and muscular D. hydei. You should get them in advance and have a few cultures ready by the time you get your nymphs. I think that the most important thing about starting out successfully in this hobby is to have lots of food in advance, right Ming Ming?

Opivy · Jul 2, 2009

little confused, what's an FF?

also, i've bene reading on fly cultures - but is it really necesarry? I found fruit fly's at petco

Katnapper · Jul 2, 2009

Opivy said:
little confused, what's an FF?also, i've bene reading on fly cultures - but is it really necesarry? I found fruit fly's at petco

FF = fruit fly

Opivy · Jul 2, 2009

is culturing them necesarry?

also, I was looking at everyones net cages - are there advantages to these? I may just build one myself (I'm on a tight budget, looking for the cheapest enclosure possible.

hibiscusmile · Jul 3, 2009

If u want the cheapest that works, use a box, pics of it are under housing I think, and I made one with a screen for the front and could of used screen on top for more light too, nothing wrong with a box, search for it and I added a lot of limbs and it worked great, specially cause they dont require a lot of water, so box doesnt melt

and culturing is only neccessary if u need small flies, if not dont do it.