Benayla
Well-known member
I've loved Praying Mantises for a long time, and recently I got a hold of three Hierodula Membranacea to start with. Unfortunately, two of them ended up dead.
One of them molted while I was sleeping, since I had no idea that was coming the crickets were still there, and I woke up to poor BenSha's mutilated remains at the bottom of his cage. Then, far more recently, Karku, who was doing wonderfully before, suddenly stopped moving almost completely, then next thing I know she's dead. The Humidity and Temperature in Karku's cage were both fine, she had molted three days before, she had plenty of food there (She wouldn't eat the crickets that walked by her in her last days). I have no idea what happened to her, so naturally I'm really upset about it. I sprayed enough water in her cage too, so....
So now that I'm down to one, in order to breed this Species like I wanted to I already have a backup site to get my next Hierodula Membranecea Mantis. The only problem is, I can't make heads or tails of my last Mantis's Gender. Fluffy has roughly six dots on the top of his/her tail, but since he/she stays at the top of the cage it's difficult to count the segments. Here's my Deviant Art folder for my Mantises, check the posts that refer to Fluffy, and if identifying Fluffy's gender is possible that would really be appreciated.
Which leads me to my next inquiry, all three of them tended to stay at the top of the cage (Karku would occasionally crawl down). After Karku died my best friend advised me to get a bigger terrarium. So how big should it be? Since each Mantis needs its own Terrarium that adds to the price, not that it matters. I'm thinking that if my next Mantis does the same thing I'll order a bigger Terrarium from Amazon.
Next up, I've been wondering if there's a way to curb their cannibalistic nature (But maybe that's a stupid question) because after Fluffy's Nymphs hatch I'll have to watch god knows how many of them, maybe it's ridiculous, but I really really don't want to see sibling cannibalism. I've read that they're "Not as cannibalistic" right out of the Ootheca as they are when they get older. Should I keep the egg cases in the terrariums I have now or a bigger one? I guess I should give them as much space as possible. Also, I've read that in some species the females guard the Ootheca, so if they don't, will she react anyway if I try to remove it long after she laid it??
Lastly, I'm also heavily considering getting some Hierodula Majuscula Mantises as well (Either an Ootheca or maybe a male and female pair) And the owner of the website I'm getting my next Hierodula Membranacea from tells me that both Species require the same care. But....Since H. Majuscula originates from the Australian Rain Forest, wouldn't it need more humidity??
One of them molted while I was sleeping, since I had no idea that was coming the crickets were still there, and I woke up to poor BenSha's mutilated remains at the bottom of his cage. Then, far more recently, Karku, who was doing wonderfully before, suddenly stopped moving almost completely, then next thing I know she's dead. The Humidity and Temperature in Karku's cage were both fine, she had molted three days before, she had plenty of food there (She wouldn't eat the crickets that walked by her in her last days). I have no idea what happened to her, so naturally I'm really upset about it. I sprayed enough water in her cage too, so....
So now that I'm down to one, in order to breed this Species like I wanted to I already have a backup site to get my next Hierodula Membranecea Mantis. The only problem is, I can't make heads or tails of my last Mantis's Gender. Fluffy has roughly six dots on the top of his/her tail, but since he/she stays at the top of the cage it's difficult to count the segments. Here's my Deviant Art folder for my Mantises, check the posts that refer to Fluffy, and if identifying Fluffy's gender is possible that would really be appreciated.
Which leads me to my next inquiry, all three of them tended to stay at the top of the cage (Karku would occasionally crawl down). After Karku died my best friend advised me to get a bigger terrarium. So how big should it be? Since each Mantis needs its own Terrarium that adds to the price, not that it matters. I'm thinking that if my next Mantis does the same thing I'll order a bigger Terrarium from Amazon.
Next up, I've been wondering if there's a way to curb their cannibalistic nature (But maybe that's a stupid question) because after Fluffy's Nymphs hatch I'll have to watch god knows how many of them, maybe it's ridiculous, but I really really don't want to see sibling cannibalism. I've read that they're "Not as cannibalistic" right out of the Ootheca as they are when they get older. Should I keep the egg cases in the terrariums I have now or a bigger one? I guess I should give them as much space as possible. Also, I've read that in some species the females guard the Ootheca, so if they don't, will she react anyway if I try to remove it long after she laid it??
Lastly, I'm also heavily considering getting some Hierodula Majuscula Mantises as well (Either an Ootheca or maybe a male and female pair) And the owner of the website I'm getting my next Hierodula Membranacea from tells me that both Species require the same care. But....Since H. Majuscula originates from the Australian Rain Forest, wouldn't it need more humidity??
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. Never was a fan of crickets in general, for some reason they bother me but they're nasty little guys if you leave them with pet unsupervised. As for your other questions I'm sure other members would be able to answer the questions with a lot more information than I'd be able to offer you. Either way glad you found us here as there's some great mantid lovers here.
