Is a 32 oz enclosure big enough for a single Orchid subadult female?

[TheSamuraiCop]

I wanted to upgrade her to something super cool that I found, but the only thing holding me back is the size. Would she be alright in this? It's a pretty cool setup, but I don't want her feeling cramped! I have her in something larger right now, just far less elaborate inside.

 

[hysteresis]

Ive kept both my females in a 32oz cup right up to their final molt. (Well, one is still sub)

No issues.

 

[Predatorhousepet]

For a subadult female orchid a deli cup is just barely big enough but you'll have to move her to something bigger before she molts to adult. A female subadult molting to adult pretty much doubles in size and her final molt would be on the cramped side.

 

[hysteresis]

Both of my orchid gals molted to adult easily in 32oz deli cups.

 

[Graceface]

I've had 3 out of 3 females who molted to adult in a 32oz cup mismolt; that is 100% fail rate in deli cups. One of those females did survive a few weeks post molt, but all 3 did not live full, Happy lives. You lucked out @hysteresis and had smaller females who managed okay

Adult female Orchids can reach 3 inches. 32oz cups are only around 4-4.5 inches across - not enough space potentially for a large female Orchid. Always follow the old guideline of 2x the length of the mantis and 3x the height for enclosures. 

I highly recommend an enclosure measuring 6x6x9, for safety. I'd rather go too big for an adult and be safe than go too small and potentially lose a mantis (I speak this from personal experience) 

Good luck with Sally (or whatever her named changed to ) 

 

[Predatorhousepet]

I agree. I always move my subadult female orchids from a deli cup to a 8x8x12 inch terrarium well before her final molt. A deli cup isn't big enough to accommodate a female's last molt, it increases the risk of a mismolt signifcantly. She needs a bare minimum of 6x6x9 inches of free space (not just the container size) to make sure she has enough room for her final molt but bigger is definitely better. Deli cups measure 4.5" across and 5.5" tall, not counting any substrate or branches you also have in there. So an empty deli cup can safely accommodate mantises up to 1.8 inches in length, less if you have substrate in the deli cup. (If you have 1" of substrate in the cup, then the size of the mantis can be no larger than 1.5 inches in length.) While it's possible for a larger mantis to sucessfully molt in a deli cup, it's better to be safe and give her more space than risk a mismolt.

 

[hysteresis]

Fair enough.