CoolMantid
Well-known member
Are Mantis Cups Good for Holding Humidity, if so where can I buy some...... preferbaly a website. I can use terrariums but I dont have a lot of room
Mantis Cups
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PhilinYuma
Well-known member
There are a lot of sites that sell 32oz deli cups. I have always bought mine with lids at the bulk rate from Mantisplace.
A 32 oz cup is a micro environment and manintaining high humidity needs careful management. If you only want to increase the ambient humidity by about20-30%RH over ambient, you can squirt water with a spray bottle into the paper lining on the bottom of the cup. Each squirt, of mine at least, delivers about 1cc of water. As the hours pass and the water evaporates through the lid, the humidity returns to normal room RH for the next 19 hours or so until you squirt it again.
Too much water can make water droplets large enough to drown small nymphs. In a poorly ventillated pot itcan create a stagnant area of high humidity at the bottom of the pot that encourages mold and may kill your mantis. Normally, though, at this low level of humidification, the moisturre will evaporate through a cloth lid, though not necessaril from a solid store-bought lid with a few pin holes in it.
If anyone is interested, Ill tell you how to make a high humidity cup which is very easy to maintain without disturbing the mantids and which has adequate circulation, but this should answer yr basic question.
lunarstorm
Well-known member
PhilinYuma
Well-known member
kova
A high humidity pot is easy to build, but I strongly suggest that you know what temp and relative humidity you are aiming for and have a good, small thermometer/hygrometer to measure your results. I always use the Caliber III which is available at Amazon for around $25. It will fit into a 320z pot so you can get a very precise idea of what you are achieving.
To build one pot, you need two 32oz pots, a plastic sponge disc for the bottom like the kind sold at Mantisplace, an aluminum and a cloth lid and some fine window screening or equivalent.
The cups that I use have a 15mm rim around the outside circumference of the bottom of the cup, enclosing a disc 65mm in diameter. Cut out the central disc and fill it with a plastic screen disc hot glued in place on the inside. This is cup A
Place cup A inside cup B and cut a 25mm (yep, that's an inch) square through the walls of both cups about 25mm above the bottom of the outside cup B.Glue more screen over the square hole on the outer side of cup B and you are nearly finished.
Squeeze the spnge disk under water to load it with about 30ccs (yep, that's a fluid ounce) of water. and place it in the bottom of cup B. Place cup A over it and rotate it so that the two holes match, cover it with an aluminum lid and you are set.
Using a hygrometer, you can vary the humidity by changing the size of the bottom ventillation hole by rotating cup A inside B to change the size of the hole and by using an aluminum or cloth lid. You can also increase airflow over the top of a set of pots by directing a small fan, a 12V computer fan works well, so that it blows over the top of the lids. best of all, you can refresh the sponge simply by removing pot A from pot B and the mantis is not disturbed. Keep an eye open for mold and bleach out the sponge (it usually turns light btown for me!) as required.
Have fun!
A high humidity pot is easy to build, but I strongly suggest that you know what temp and relative humidity you are aiming for and have a good, small thermometer/hygrometer to measure your results. I always use the Caliber III which is available at Amazon for around $25. It will fit into a 320z pot so you can get a very precise idea of what you are achieving.
To build one pot, you need two 32oz pots, a plastic sponge disc for the bottom like the kind sold at Mantisplace, an aluminum and a cloth lid and some fine window screening or equivalent.
The cups that I use have a 15mm rim around the outside circumference of the bottom of the cup, enclosing a disc 65mm in diameter. Cut out the central disc and fill it with a plastic screen disc hot glued in place on the inside. This is cup A
Place cup A inside cup B and cut a 25mm (yep, that's an inch) square through the walls of both cups about 25mm above the bottom of the outside cup B.Glue more screen over the square hole on the outer side of cup B and you are nearly finished.
Squeeze the spnge disk under water to load it with about 30ccs (yep, that's a fluid ounce) of water. and place it in the bottom of cup B. Place cup A over it and rotate it so that the two holes match, cover it with an aluminum lid and you are set.
Using a hygrometer, you can vary the humidity by changing the size of the bottom ventillation hole by rotating cup A inside B to change the size of the hole and by using an aluminum or cloth lid. You can also increase airflow over the top of a set of pots by directing a small fan, a 12V computer fan works well, so that it blows over the top of the lids. best of all, you can refresh the sponge simply by removing pot A from pot B and the mantis is not disturbed. Keep an eye open for mold and bleach out the sponge (it usually turns light btown for me!) as required.
Have fun!
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ShieldMantid1997
Well-known member
yeah, cause that was confusing! Sounds very clever though!
