Lucky the L2 Idolomantis diabolica nymph photos

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MantidBro

MantidBro

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Hey, just thought I'd share some photos I took of the Idolomantis I received yesterday. I had bought 5 but only 1 made the trip. So I named him/her Lucky.

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There is no lid. The lid is netting I'd cut from a butterfly net and stuck over the top with an elastic band. Good for molting and ventilation. Since this photo I'd also tired a piece of rope to the middle of the net, so it's hanging down.

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I love this species. I'm really going to keep an eye on him/her to ensure that he/she molts properly. I've bought so many spikes (maggots), thinking I'd have 5. So I won't be running out any time soon. I keep them in the fridge to slow them down and keep them living longer. I only let a few maggots pupate and emerge as flies at a time. This little one's eaten 2 Blue Bottle flies already. Amazing how they can do that at such a young stage.

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So sensitive to the smallest thing touching them, it's amazing how well they can feel. He/she kept raising his/her foot because of the tiniest piece of dust. I could sense the irritation.

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Lou said:
I haven't worked with them .....yet ;)
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haha i worked with them last year, didnt do so well, crickets are a huge no no. teying again this year now that ive had more mantid experience. :p

 
So cute! Good luck - Idolos are amazing beyond belief, but I feel I need a bit more experience before I feel comfortable enough to try them out.

 
PlayingMantis said:
So cute! Good luck - Idolos are amazing beyond belief, but I feel I need a bit more experience before I feel comfortable enough to try them out.
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thank you! i have good feelings about it this time. i know more now, about mantids in general, and this species. i have 3 years experience at this point. i didnt try them out until my second year but they got sick off crickets, were puking, then died. i avoid crickets 100% now and havent had problems with any of my mantids dying early since.

 
MantidBro said:
thank you! i have good feelings about it this time. i know more now, about mantids in general, and this species. i have 3 years experience at this point. i didnt try them out until my second year but they got sick off crickets, were puking, then died. i avoid crickets 100% now and havent had problems with any of my mantids dying early since.
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Awesome! I'm sure Lucky will do well for you, he/she is definitely a fighter, I can tell. :) Sorry to hear about the ones that died from crickets. I learned the lesson the hard way after feeding my ghost some crickets from the pet store - and to think, ghosts are supposed to be tough. Anyways, good luck! Idolos are my dream mantids, I guess they will be my long term goal in this hobby. :)

 
PlayingMantis said:
Awesome! I'm sure Lucky will do well for you, he/she is definitely a fighter, I can tell. :) Sorry to hear about the ones that died from crickets. I learned the lesson the hard way after feeding my ghost some crickets from the pet store - and to think, ghosts are supposed to be tough. Anyways, good luck! Idolos are my dream mantids, I guess they will be my long term goal in this hobby. :)
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i think lucky is lucky and will do well! :p haha i think the littlw ones a fighter too :p thanks, im sorry about your ghost. i even had a tenodera sinensis die just after eating a cricket from a new batch id bought. she stopped eating after that cricket and became slow and deranged and died. and she had just become an adult so it wasnt age. thanks! haha i think i will always get idolos whenever they are available, i could live owning just this species for the rest of my life, they are awesome

 
Just a quick thought about the crickets,because I've used crickets for years and used to breed my own (I may start to again).When you get them from the pet store did you feed them out right away?The reason I ask is you should wait a day or two before you feed them out this way you can gut load the crickets with something nutritious(and flush out the in their gut),because the crickets in the pet store eat potatoes,dead crickets, and that gel crystals which are garbage.I feed them chicken layer pellets pulverized (to a fine powder)and zucchini or squash for nutrition and hydration and rarely lose any crickets.Also there was a time when the cricket farms were getting hammered by a cricket virus which wiped out many cricket suppliers.I don't know if it was in that same time frame or not,but just some food for thought.

 
Lou said:
Just a quick thought about the crickets,because I've used crickets for years and used to breed my own (I may start to again).When you get them from the pet store did you feed them out right away?The reason I ask is you should wait a day or two before you feed them out this way you can gut load the crickets with something nutritious(and flush out the ###### in their gut),because the crickets in the pet store eat potatoes,dead crickets, and that gel ###### crystals which are garbage.I feed them chicken layer pellets pulverized (to a fine powder)and zucchini or squash for nutrition and hydration and rarely lose any crickets.Also there was a time when the cricket farms were getting hammered by a cricket virus which wiped out many cricket suppliers.I don't know if it was in that same time frame or not,but just some food for thought.
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thanks for the info, i still am totally against crickets though, even when you gut load them they stink so bad, either its their feces or one dies then taints all the others with bad bacteria, i dont wanna risk it, maybe if they were housed seperately itd be better. that is good advice though none the less

 
No problem,I just thought I'd share.I raise a box of 1000 in a ten gallon tank and don't lose them.They shouldn't die or smell bad.

If I don't change out the squash after a couple of days the vegetable can smell some,but I try to keep up on it.If they die off on you they will die and smell bad.I used to have that happen years ago when I used the water crystals which I will never use again.I haven't had that problem since.

 
Lou said:
No problem,I just thought I'd share.I raise a box of 1000 in a ten gallon tank and don't lose them.They shouldn't die or smell bad.

If I don't change out the squash after a couple of days the vegetable can smell some,but I try to keep up on it.If they die off on you they will die and smell bad.I used to have that happen years ago when I used the water crystals which I will never use again.I haven't had that problem since.
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when i have crickets i give them a container with coconut fiber and cypress mulch, with lettuce amd cricket calcium, and i give them a misting, what is the cause of the deaths do you think, i dont have a dying problem with the pinhead crickets but with the adults or sub adults for some reason

 

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