Housing dif. species together

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jetsky82

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I've got about 5 mantises, all of different species, all of different ages, and all with their own small container. Feeding them has become tedious, so I was wondering what would happen if I threw a bunch of the medium sized ones together with plenty of food so they don't snack on each other. I was looking through the history on this forum and I haven't found a previous post that describes this.

Just to be clear, we're talking about throwing in an L4 Shield, an L3 Egyptian Jumping Mantis, and an L3 Budwing into a 5 gallon aquarium with a bunch of house flies. Anyone else keep their mantises like this without losing any? I'd hate to lose one.

 
I put my money on the shield being the last in there.
laugh.gif


 
Do a search for "Communal" and you'll see lots of discussions.

But a big enough enclosure with lots and lots of food (more, since it's bigger) will improve your odds.

 
Patrick:

Perhaps everyone could contribute one mantis, we could put them all in the same large tank and see whose mantis emerges the victor.

(joking)

 
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I don't like that idea. I hate when a mantid gets munched. One of my female ghosts wasn't to receptive the other day and ended up leaving a couple of legs, wings, and the head of one of my males. I guess she just couldn't look him in the eye to munch his head. Got a couple goes out of him before his unfortunate misstep. Time will tell if it worked.

I wish I had a wahlberghii. Maybe one day......

 
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We had a communal exo terra with 8 ghosts, and copious amounts of food and some still got eaten. All ours now get seperated. I dont think any species are truelly communal, and if your going to try and house more than one species together, then i think your chances of getting most to mature are slim. You will end up with 1 very fat one :D

 
I belive I have seen in a same container Violins, Heterochaetas and Idolos, but those are very calm, yours..... I think they are agresives, so 5 mantids are not a big deal, I think you need some classes with Miss Becky at the bugatorium to learn how to crontrol your tedium :p

 
There is a very good breeder in France who keeps Gongylus and Phyllocrania all together! :blink:

I tried Creobroter pictipennis with Orthodera novazelandiae nymphs,no problem until L3-L4.

 
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I wouldn't recommend it. I wouldn't even take the chance on species that are normally tolerant towards eachother but that's just me.

 
Hahah ditto to Kiet. Shields are terrible cage mates, even with their own species. Budwings aren't far behind in size and aggressiveness.

I've housed Idolos and Gongys in the same place, with the Gongys a shed or two ahead. As long as the size difference isn't huge I can see any of the tolerant species living together without too many problems (hint: only when you have more than a few!).

 
Ghosts, Idolos, boxers, Gongy's, 1 Arizona unicorn, Hetero's and an adult female orchid all in the same cage. I certainly don't recommend it to anyone, but it's doable. But God help anyone who tries to fly - fluttering = instant death!

To breakdown the logistics, the Ghosts and Boxers were way too small to cause much harm, and the male Orchids would have been fluttering to their death minute one! I tested this with adult male Chinese, and they lived happily (albeit nervously) for weeks, until they got startled and flew. Picked em right out of the air. female Orchid was the queen of the cage. No one messed with her.

Don't try this at home, kids.

 
No, I think it was the Gongy's that ate em. At one point, I ONLY had Gongy's and Chinese in a cage (they mated several times - yuck). Eventually, I only had Gongy's.

The Idolos did eat one of the Boxer females (after she laid 2 ooths), because she just started flying around, which I thought was wierd for a fat female. Before that act of suicidal behaviro, she wouold walk around endlessly threatening the subadult Idolos. And she wasn't as tall as their knee caps! Hillarious! The Bug with No Fear

 
would one big cage with mesh deviders work? as long as the holes in the mesh are big enough for the food (ffs, for example) to move through freely, but too small for the mantids? that way you wuldnt have to put food in a buch on different enclosures, but you wouldnt have to worry about them eating eachother?

 
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