ladygigi
Well-known member
I got into this on accident but am very excited and have been doing research and just soaking up information. I came into this forum with a zillion questions but have found almost all of them answered here, 
as I have spent my entire day here reading! (Started around 9 this morning, or I should say yesterday morning since it is like 2 a.m..) What happened may sadden some of you, as it does me now (it didn't then) but I had a lizard named Tartan and he LOVED Praying Mantises. They were a real treat to him and so I would occasionally feed him one. He was fed a total of 3 of them. Well, he died just this last week. I had him for 3 years or so, which for his breed was normal for his life expectancy. I hadn't cleaned out his cage yet, and I happened to look in it last week like a day or 2 after he passed and noticed that I had 4 baby mantids. :blink: I was like WOW, obviously one of the ones I had fed him managed to lay oothacae before she was consumed. (There was one that he allowed to live along with him for about 3 days before he decided to make a meal of her.) So, I thought I was going to have a couple of baby mantids. Then a few days later I noticed that I had 7 baby mantids! I was surprised to suddenly see more. Little did I know. . . As of now, the count is up to 10! (Last night.) I'm not sure how long they are going to continue hatching? I'm also not sure what kind they are. All of the females he was fed were the same, but I haven't seen any photos of one that look like the ones I had. The nymphs are a tan color. I've been feeding them flightless ff's and they all seem to be doing well. So far I've only had to remove 2 dead ones. I'm enjoying watching them and am excited about the whole process. The more I read and learn the more I look forward to seeing these little guys grow. They are in a rather large terrarium so I don't have to worry about seperating them or anything at this point. From what I've read it will hold up to like 10 adults. So unless I end up with a bunch more, they should be okay right where they are.
As for me, I am a disabled :wheelchair: behavioral health counselor amongst several other things and can no longer work. I've been experiencing a lot of health problems as of late, so this has really cheered me up and given me a lot of smiles and something to focus on besides sitting at my computer playing games all day! lolz ^_^ I also collect statuettes and figurines of all shapes and forms of Bald Eagles and have a collection of several hundred pieces. I'm a retired Harley owner/rider and widow. I sold my Harley approx. 3 yrs. ago and my husband passed away 17 yrs. ago and I've never remarried. I met my husband while going to school to become a certified auto mechanic, thus working on older cars is/was one of my hobbies or pasttimes. Lastly, I'm a bit of a computer nerd in that I work on pc's for friends doing things like removing viruses, making upgrades and stuff like that. It would be nice to find someone again someday. . . He's gonna have to like Praying Mantises tho!
Some of my nymphs should already be nearing first molt as the terrarium is kept around 80 degrees and the first ones appeared about a week ago. They all like to hang around under the lamps where it is really warm. There is only 1 or 2 nymphs hanging on to the top on the other side where the lamps aren't located. My biggest problem and I'm open to suggestions and advice, is the humidity. I have paper towel folded on the bottom that I TRY to keep misted, but the heat of the terrarium dries it out rather quickly and I'm concerned that it's too dry in there for them. How often should I mist it? I mean should I keep that towel wet? Or is it okay to just wet it a couple times a day or what? I never see the nymphs on it or anything so I'm not sure they are getting the water they need. Ideas anyone? I will take some pics and upload them maybe tomorrow. I've got a couple doctor app'ts. tomorrow so I'm gonna be kinda busy, so it might be Saturday before I can take some pics and get them uploaded. I'm really looking forward to this adventure and making some friends here. I'm definitely going to need you cuz this is all new to me! :helpsmilie:
as I have spent my entire day here reading! (Started around 9 this morning, or I should say yesterday morning since it is like 2 a.m..) What happened may sadden some of you, as it does me now (it didn't then) but I had a lizard named Tartan and he LOVED Praying Mantises. They were a real treat to him and so I would occasionally feed him one. He was fed a total of 3 of them. Well, he died just this last week. I had him for 3 years or so, which for his breed was normal for his life expectancy. I hadn't cleaned out his cage yet, and I happened to look in it last week like a day or 2 after he passed and noticed that I had 4 baby mantids. :blink: I was like WOW, obviously one of the ones I had fed him managed to lay oothacae before she was consumed. (There was one that he allowed to live along with him for about 3 days before he decided to make a meal of her.) So, I thought I was going to have a couple of baby mantids. Then a few days later I noticed that I had 7 baby mantids! I was surprised to suddenly see more. Little did I know. . . As of now, the count is up to 10! (Last night.) I'm not sure how long they are going to continue hatching? I'm also not sure what kind they are. All of the females he was fed were the same, but I haven't seen any photos of one that look like the ones I had. The nymphs are a tan color. I've been feeding them flightless ff's and they all seem to be doing well. So far I've only had to remove 2 dead ones. I'm enjoying watching them and am excited about the whole process. The more I read and learn the more I look forward to seeing these little guys grow. They are in a rather large terrarium so I don't have to worry about seperating them or anything at this point. From what I've read it will hold up to like 10 adults. So unless I end up with a bunch more, they should be okay right where they are.As for me, I am a disabled :wheelchair: behavioral health counselor amongst several other things and can no longer work. I've been experiencing a lot of health problems as of late, so this has really cheered me up and given me a lot of smiles and something to focus on besides sitting at my computer playing games all day! lolz ^_^ I also collect statuettes and figurines of all shapes and forms of Bald Eagles and have a collection of several hundred pieces. I'm a retired Harley owner/rider and widow. I sold my Harley approx. 3 yrs. ago and my husband passed away 17 yrs. ago and I've never remarried. I met my husband while going to school to become a certified auto mechanic, thus working on older cars is/was one of my hobbies or pasttimes. Lastly, I'm a bit of a computer nerd in that I work on pc's for friends doing things like removing viruses, making upgrades and stuff like that. It would be nice to find someone again someday. . . He's gonna have to like Praying Mantises tho!
Some of my nymphs should already be nearing first molt as the terrarium is kept around 80 degrees and the first ones appeared about a week ago. They all like to hang around under the lamps where it is really warm. There is only 1 or 2 nymphs hanging on to the top on the other side where the lamps aren't located. My biggest problem and I'm open to suggestions and advice, is the humidity. I have paper towel folded on the bottom that I TRY to keep misted, but the heat of the terrarium dries it out rather quickly and I'm concerned that it's too dry in there for them. How often should I mist it? I mean should I keep that towel wet? Or is it okay to just wet it a couple times a day or what? I never see the nymphs on it or anything so I'm not sure they are getting the water they need. Ideas anyone? I will take some pics and upload them maybe tomorrow. I've got a couple doctor app'ts. tomorrow so I'm gonna be kinda busy, so it might be Saturday before I can take some pics and get them uploaded. I'm really looking forward to this adventure and making some friends here.
I'm definitely going to need you cuz this is all new to me! :helpsmilie: 
