L6 (orig. L5) Hierodula venosa ❤

[hysteresis]

And also for the record, I came home to find that golden #1 has succesfully molted to L6. She is stunning! 

Pics in a bit.

 

[hysteresis]

Im not touching her for a bit, but here she is. Notice the molt at the bottom... is that normal?

Golden #1

Up close...

 

[hysteresis]

Im sorry. EVERY &@^^%@ I load my mantis pics into my forum share folder in Dropbox, the pic renders sideways.

I have to open it then save it again, in Paint.net. Dropbox link refreshes, and then it renders correctly.

 

[hysteresis]

Golden #1

Here she is, on a near-spent paper towel roll, so as to appreciate her size.

She's very pretty.

Nice colors!

A little unsettling to handle, and only L6.

 

[Graceface]

She is so pretty! Congrats on the successful molt  

 

[hysteresis]

She is so pretty! Congrats on the successful molt  

Thank you!  She's got two medium dubias in there. Curious but not striking yet, as far as I have seen.

Is it normal to find their molt at the bottom? Hers was.

 

[Aristalochia]

Cool she's big

 

[danl82]

Yes completely normal to find tge moult on the bottom of the enclosure.

 

[hysteresis]

Yes completely normal to find tge moult on the bottom of the enclosure.

Cool, thank you very much! 

 

[Mantis Lady]

Gratz on the molt. She is beautiful

 

[Graceface]

Thank you!  She's got two medium dubias in there. Curious but not striking yet, as far as I have seen.

Is it normal to find their molt at the bottom? Hers was.

It can take a day or 2 for them to eat after molting, so don't be concerned. She will eat when she is ready. 

And yes, finding the molt on the floor is normal. The exoskeleton falls off like that sometimes and gravity always wins! 

 

[hysteresis]

It can take a day or 2 for them to eat after molting, so don't be concerned. She will eat when she is ready. 

I offered a dissected cricket this morning before work and she took it. Nom nom. Dubias just sit there looking dead. LoL. Until you nudge em.

And yes, finding the molt on the floor is normal. The exoskeleton falls off like that sometimes and gravity always wins! 

Thank you. She looked perfect, so I had no real suspicion to think she fell. 

 

[Graceface]

I offered a dissected cricket this morning before work and she took it. Nom nom. Dubias just sit there looking dead. LoL. Until you nudge em.

 . 

I don't feed dubias, the thought just bothers me. Funny, I love mantids but I'm not a real 'bug' person, and just the concept of purposefully owning and raising roaches is too much for me, hahaha. Plus, I raise smaller mantids that eat solely flying insects, so I dodged that bullet! I still can't believe I'm breeding flies! I used to be deathly afraid of spiders, and this week I fed one I caught in my house. Progress

 

[hysteresis]

@Graceface funny hey?

I got the dubias from dude that sent me the goldens and rhombos. I dont see how stationary / hiding prey like that gets a mantis to strike. Odd.

They sure love crickets tho. I need some Black Soldier Flies.

 

[Graceface]

@Graceface funny hey?

I got the dubias from dude that sent me the goldens and rhombos. I dont see how stationary / hiding prey like that gets a mantis to strike. Odd.

They sure love crickets tho. I need some Black Soldier Flies.

I think most people are hand feeding dubias to their mantids with tongs, since they like to burrow. I can't imagine the time that must take! I have around 50 mantids right now... 

I tried feeding meal worms and superworms to my Orchids and they looked so offended I can't get them to eat anything but flies. I'd try moths, but I haven't looked into getting them or raising them as a food source. They'd need to be bigger than Blue Bottles to be worth my time. 

 

[Mantis Lady]

I tried feeding meal worms and superworms to my Orchids and they looked so offended

LOL, my mantids loves flies too, Aurene needs something bigger than flies. But she love them. My ghosts are too big for FF so I hope some smaller flies will hatch soon. Today they got dubia white goo, but they are not used to handfed yet.

(I hate flies but i see them differently now: mantis food)

 

[Graceface]

LOL, my mantids loves flies too, Aurene needs something bigger than flies. But she love them. My ghosts are too big for FF so I hope some smaller flies will hatch soon. Today they got dubia white goo, but they are not used to handfed yet.

(I hate flies but i see them differently now: mantis food)

The flies don't bother me much, though they are annoying for sure! Dubia white goo... Now that bothers me

 

[Mantis Lady]

Dubia white goo... Now that bothers me

It will feed the little ones who are too big for FF. I got baby grasshoppers, those are smaller than the fat flies, they can try to eat that.

3 little mantids I fed with dubia goo

 

[hysteresis]

It will feed the little ones who are too big for FF. I got baby grasshoppers, those are smaller than the fat flies, they can try to eat that.

3 little mantids I fed with dubia goo

My R. megaeras 

 

[hysteresis]

Golden #1 that just molted took a couple cut up dubias and a couple cut up crickets today.

Her belly needed filling, as she hadn't eaten in a week.

She's sooooOoOooo sxxy.