bravado
Member
Hello everyone. I am looking to raise a mantis of my own.
I have looked at numerous care sheets and read up on the comparative difficulty in rearing different mantis species. I have cared for many animals: dogs, chameleons, frogs, and many more. I had a pet black widow when I was in first grade that I found in a water meter that I kept for about a year before releasing it into the wild soon after it produced an egg sack. I bred cornsnakes with my father since I can remember. I understand cornsnakes are easy to maintain and probably not as good a comparison to a mantis as a black widow or chameleon in terms of rearing I only intend to illustrate the likelihood that I can probably maintain a more advanced species of mantis if I could maintain 50+ hatchlings at a time when I was in middle school.
That being said the heaviest factor for me in trying to select a first mantis has been aesthetics and availability.
The mantis species I find most appealing are Idolomantis Diabolica, the violin mantis, the ghost mantis, and the orchid mantis. With that in mind what other species should I take a look at?
I live in the U.S. I understand that laws are in place in order to keep negligent would be exotic pet owners from disrupting domestic ecosystems. I'm not a negligent anything. I won't get tired of my mantis and set it free. I have no regard for these laws and my only consideration for them comes in the form of how I can get around them in order to acquire the animal I would most like to care for.
I like the idea of a mantis that has fairly aggressive eating habits but more importantly I'm looking for a variety that is fairly easy to handle outside of its enclosure (if I could take it for a walk [barring run-ins with potential prey] that would be great). I imagine that there is a tradeoff between how easy a mantis is to handle and how aggressive it eats. I care more about it being easy to handle so I can show it to kids when I do demonstrations at area schools. For this reason I think I would prefer a larger mantis.
If I had to assign weights to the attributes I care about in choosing a mantis they would be as follows:
Aesthetics - 30%
Ease in Maintaning - 20%
Ease in Handling - 20%
2"+ in length - 10%
Aggressive Eating Habits - 10%
Overall Cost - 10%
I look forward to hearing what you guys think! I welcome any suggestions or advice you may have.
Thanks!
I have looked at numerous care sheets and read up on the comparative difficulty in rearing different mantis species. I have cared for many animals: dogs, chameleons, frogs, and many more. I had a pet black widow when I was in first grade that I found in a water meter that I kept for about a year before releasing it into the wild soon after it produced an egg sack. I bred cornsnakes with my father since I can remember. I understand cornsnakes are easy to maintain and probably not as good a comparison to a mantis as a black widow or chameleon in terms of rearing I only intend to illustrate the likelihood that I can probably maintain a more advanced species of mantis if I could maintain 50+ hatchlings at a time when I was in middle school.
That being said the heaviest factor for me in trying to select a first mantis has been aesthetics and availability.
The mantis species I find most appealing are Idolomantis Diabolica, the violin mantis, the ghost mantis, and the orchid mantis. With that in mind what other species should I take a look at?
I live in the U.S. I understand that laws are in place in order to keep negligent would be exotic pet owners from disrupting domestic ecosystems. I'm not a negligent anything. I won't get tired of my mantis and set it free. I have no regard for these laws and my only consideration for them comes in the form of how I can get around them in order to acquire the animal I would most like to care for.
I like the idea of a mantis that has fairly aggressive eating habits but more importantly I'm looking for a variety that is fairly easy to handle outside of its enclosure (if I could take it for a walk [barring run-ins with potential prey] that would be great). I imagine that there is a tradeoff between how easy a mantis is to handle and how aggressive it eats. I care more about it being easy to handle so I can show it to kids when I do demonstrations at area schools. For this reason I think I would prefer a larger mantis.
If I had to assign weights to the attributes I care about in choosing a mantis they would be as follows:
Aesthetics - 30%
Ease in Maintaning - 20%
Ease in Handling - 20%
2"+ in length - 10%
Aggressive Eating Habits - 10%
Overall Cost - 10%
I look forward to hearing what you guys think! I welcome any suggestions or advice you may have.
Thanks!
