I made a vertical mantis enclosure out of a kritter keeper, well I tried anyways.

[jojolobro]

I got bored and decided I didn't like the kritter keepers my mantids were in since they were so unoptimized for mantids. hot glue guns and boredom go hand in hand. The first thing I needed to deal with was the heavy slant that occurred on the "top" (side). This wasn't an idea I came up with out of the blue, I coincidentally had a bottle cap next to me and thought "I wonder?". Well,  it turns out bottle caps make good feet for sideways kirtter keepers, who woulda thought. I cut a piece of fiberglass to size and glued it to the faux top - hot glue in each corner. I took a long and straight stick and glued it in, since there was nothing stopping it from sliding around. I then popped on the lid and taped some cruddy tape on the bottom slits to prevent dirt from falling out and voila, the mantis equivalent of a run down trailer. Pictures include everything done and an unappreciative mantis sitting near the bottom of the enclosure for some reason. I have no idea why I turned this into a story instead of just saying how I did it. I contemplated using hot glue instead of tape to plug the slits but ain't nobody got time fo' dat.

 

[jojolobro]

Sorry for the dark pictures, flash is a bum.

 

[CosbyArt]

@jojolobro Interesting idea and works on many aspects too. Seems like the bottle caps are the perfect height for the lid overhang.

The faux top was a good choice as that plastic is so brittle it cracks easily, and only a Dremel cut-off wheel would offer the best shot of not destroying it. Looking at the angle though air should freely exchange with the well vented front to prevent stagnant air anyway.

I'm not a fan of the tape either, besides the possible mantis problems, tape will loose it's tackiness and come loose (or fall off) within a few weeks to months. A easy solution that will not grow mold is to cut a plastic sheet to size, and hot cut the edges of it in place. To keep with the "run down trailer" motif you could even cut the plastic from gallon zip-lock sandwich bags.

 

[GayJerk]

A easy solution that will not grow mold is to cut a plastic sheet to size, and hot cut the edges of it in place. To keep with the "run down trailer" motif you could even cut the plastic from gallon zip-lock sandwich bags.

I second this ^ Tape is not the best idea but honestly the closure looks pretty good!! You could also cut a piece of corrugated plastic (the kind they use for signs) and glue it with hot glue to the inside of the enclosure near the lip. This way you can open the lid and not have to worry about dirt falling out. 

 

[jojolobro]

I ended up cutting a ziplock bag in half and fitting it to the keeper. I think it looks much better now, and more importantly, alot more functional. Here's a picture, mantis included . I've never been very good at artsy craftsy stuff like this so I'm happy I made something that functions as intended lol.

 

[CosbyArt]

@jojolobro Great to hear the changes the one alteration did, congrats on your project. Crafty or not if a project is interesting, or is needed, it is surprising how well they come together. Hopefully you'll do more crafty things in the future.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Remember the time when we were making cages out of boxes?