Inexperienced and need advice

[Beardedlady]

OK so I have decided I would love a mantis as a 'pet' I have a ten gallon tank with a screen lid which I will be putting some material that's thin like mesh over if I'm successful with an ooth to keep babies inside. I have two big issues....one being that I want a food supply here before my ooth.....but flightless flies and pin heads can not survive in the 30s which is where our local temp is hanging out. Can nymphs eat wax worms? Is there another more cold hearty option? And the second topic was about which species to get.Chinese ate the cheapest online but I would rather get from a breeder but I can't find anyone near me. But I've also read that Chinese are intermediate....so what type is best for a beginner and where to find an ooth? Thank you!

 

[Ghost_Keeper]

Alright, so a ten gallon won't work. If you want to house them in a group until you have a few left, go for one of those butterfly cages (popup butterfly thingy) and really Chinese and Carolina are the only two ooths you'll be able to find that's easy to hatch. Also, you can't really keep really young nymphs unless you can do fruit flies. Hope this helped

 

[Goodkoalie]

Are you planning on keeping the tank indoors or outside? If indoors, you can buy a culture of fruit flies in pet stores or online. Chinese mantises are a very easy species, and are perfect for a beginner.

 

[LAME]

I hatch my ooths in 10g tanks and never have had a problem.

Also rather than buying flies... Try culturing the wild flying fruit flies.

 

[Beardedlady]

Ah so if I get the culture does it need special care? Or just a place to hatch. And yes it will be indoors I'm getting a heat mat to go around the back of the tank yo help with warmth because I'm afraid my heat lamps would dry everything out.....pet stores near me won't have it. Pretty much just deal with fur and fish. I'll see what I can fgind online for the cultures and ooths. Will cold hurt the culture while shipping?

 

[PlayingMantis]

A large fruit fly culture can last anywhere from 6-8 weeks, until the medium is depleted by the flies. Usually when a culture is around 1 month old, I remove some flies from that culture and add them to a freshly prepared culture. You can either make your own cultures from scratch (fruit, vinegar, etc), or purchase pre-mixed culture media.

If your local pet stores don't have it, you can buy them online. Yes, the fruit flies are cold sensitive and may die if it gets too cold.

Also, just a note, even though Chinese mantises are quite common, they're not that easy to raise. They have high mortality rates as young nymphs and seem to be prone to molting issues. But on the bright side, they also have huge hatch numbers so you should be able to get at least a handful to adulthood.