Is there a way to lower temperature in an enclosure?

[Sylph]

Hey! I'm a newbie here in this forum. I live in a hot place. Sometimes, temperatures can get very high (35+°C or 95 °F) especially in the summer, so i was wondering if you guys have any suggestions to keep temperatures low in enclosures? Air conditioning and a refrigerator are impossible for me due to high costs here.

 

[MantisGirl13]

Keep it in a shady area, and maybe in a cooler basement? What species are we talking about?

- MantisGirl13

 

[Sylph]

Fulciniola sp. I believe they're a type of moss mantis? The seller told me the ideal temperature is 23-27°C  during the day and 18-23°C  at night. I've really wanted to take care of mantids like this for a while now so I was looking for advice since the temperature is my only problem

 

[MantisGirl13]

Interesting! I'd love to see some pics. I've never heard of this sp. before.

Where do you live? If you don't have A.C. then I don't really know what you could do.

- MantisGirl13

 

[Charoozz520]

These are a small species so if you are keeping them in a small container is very hard to regulate the temperature of a container without changing it drastically (too hot or too cold). Warm air raises so you will often find that keeping the tank or cage on the floor will keep it a couple degrees cooler. You can try the method of freezing water bottles in the fridge and putting it around the cage to lower temperatures. I know salamander keepers do this when it gets too hot but this is only a temporary solution and you will have to constantly swap out the water bottles. 

 

[Sylph]

I'll try to post pictures when I get them hehe but yeah, i'll try the freezing water bottle trick with a thermometer inside to monitor

 

[Predatorhousepet]

A fan will help circulate the air but it's not going to lower the temperature as much as you need. You can try adding a wet towel behind the fan but not blocking air flow to help cool the air by evaporation. It can lower the temperature in that small area by as much as 10°F. This is a crude version of what is referred to as a "swamp cooler." You can Google instructions to build a better version if you are handy, there's lots of different ways to do it. It also helps raise humidity which your species probably also needs.

Some mantis species prefer it to be very hot with less humidity such as [COLOR=rgba(0,0,0,.87)]Gongylus gongylodes,[/COLOR] Blepharopsis mendica and Idolomantis diabolica. These are not typically beginner species as they require more specialized care than other mantis species but providing extra heat is part of that so you might want to do some research to see if it's something you are capable of doing in the future.