Around 2 weeks ago, I bought a subadult Giant Asian mantis from a local reptile store, along with a 3 gallon terrarium, some substrate, and somethings for him to climb on. In the following days, he would refuse to eat anything that I put in front of him, but other than that he looked healthy. Fast forward a few more days, and he got really weak and died. I kept his enclosure at around room temp (73-77f), and I sprayed his enclosure once a day. Following his death, I went back to the same store to buy another one, this time an African Twig mantis hoping for a better outcome. I changed her tank around a little and increased the temp (75-80) and was only able to mist her once. She followed the same fate as the other and refused to eat, got really weak, and died. Before I buy another one, I want to make sure that I am not doing anything wrong. As far as I know, the enclosure is good. I used zilla jungle mix substrate, a small succulent. For the first Asian Mantis, I used wood I bought from the pet store for him to climb on, for the Twig Mantis, I used twigs and tree bark I found from outside.Any help would be great because it sucks having two mantis die in a week and a half.
Mantis Keeps Dying
- Thread starter KCastro3
- Start date
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MantisGirl13
Well-known member
Were the mantids adults when you bought them? It sounds like you're doing things correctly. Are you using any chemical in or around the enclosure? How's the ventilation? What was the petstore feeding them? Did you use untreated tap water to mist them?
- MantisGirl13
- MantisGirl13
maybe its just the change in housing, what were they in?
Mantidfinatic13
Well-known member
U can go to the store maybe around everyday if possible and keep an eye out on ONE individual (best if its in a display tank so it wont get sold).If it stays alive and doesn’t die, ask them how they care for them. Make sure you do not feed them anything harmful like crickets .if thats what the pet shop is feeding their mantises, that could be a possible reason they are dying so quickly. If thats the case, simply buy them from somewhere else.
Krissim Klaw
Well-known member
Did they eat anything while in your care? Nymphs typically only refuse food right before a shedding, making me question if they were sick prior to you getting them. A photo of your enclosure would also help.
