Mantis obsession :)

[MantisRCool]

Hello there. I didn't post here much but I just wanna let u guys know how is my collection going. I started with 2 Sphodromantis lineola last november I think and now I've got like 38 mantids... Lineolas, P. Laticollis, ghosts, Deroplatys desiccata and Truncata, Popa's, S. viridis, Rhomboder basalis, miomantis, Decimiana tesselata (sp?), pair of Hierodula majuscula and 1 Idolo. I mated lineolas and laticollis and just had a hatch of laties yesterday! I became totally obsessed and love the mantids different personalities and most of them friendliness to me  most of them aren't afraid and recognize me and come out for a walk or a treat. I will post pics when I figure out how  

My fav are P. Laticollis they are so beautiful with their blue eyes, also very friendly and agressive towards food. They used to jump from hand to hand when smaller and now the male flies from hand to hand (girl is busy eating and producing oothecas lol). They mated on my hand she wouldn't have it otherwise lol she is special. 

Also I fell in love with death leave species their looks are amazing and I love how they crumple to pretend they are a leaf lol... Although they became quite friendly and come out to walk on me.  

Paradoxas I find kinda boring they are cute but dont do much, I prefer popa spurcas actually, very glad to have them. Love how they pretend to be sticks that's so cute! 

Anyways I hope everything will go well with my lovelies I had only 1 death (bad molt for 1 desiccata) and 2 of C. Gemmatus (1 was old I think cause I bought an adult male and the girl was sick from subadult when I bought her) and 1 injury by female to my poor boy of amazing green colour (she's a racist lol)

well anyways I could do all this thanks to this forum and also help from the breeders I bought from and I really hope everything will go well further on. I really enjoy mantids I never knew I could love insects because here most of the native insecs are like annoying kinds like wasps and ticks and misquitos so I always hated those and then boom I found these amazing insects like mantids and stick insects  and I can have them as pets no walks or smell or noise or such.

Whew what a rant let me check how to post pics 

 

[MantisRCool]

Okay can't find the how to post pics  so if anyone could give me a link?

 

[CosbyArt]

Glad to see you got the mantid collecting bug, it hits us all sooner or later. Sometimes people join, try a mantid or two, and move on to other things - nice to see you are still at it. Sounds like you have your hands full with so many species. I'm curious what is your main feeders (roaches, crickets, bottle flies)?

Regarding pictures there is no link to follow. To upload you can simply drag your images to your post as you type, over the section that says Drag files here to attach, or choose files... or click the choose files... to bring up a browser window to select your photos. That is all there is to it, give it a try - the only downside is it has a limited amount of space and you will have to delete old photos to make room eventually for new ones.

The other photo option is to upload to a site like Photobucket. You will need a free account, then upload your files, and select the image using their menu and click the Direct photo link to copy it. Then come to the forum and simply paste it in, and the forum will take the link and show the photo.

 

[MantisRCool]

Thank u a lot for the answer ! Cant't imagine how anyone would stop with the mantis lol! I' m going to stop with stick insects cause they ars too much hasdle but mantis... No wAy! I have my hands full indeed! i mostly feed fruit flies to small mantids then crickets mealworms and for the big ones or preggos roaches and locutst. If I have luck with house flies I feed those but hard to get here and even harder to get them hatch. I hope they will for my single idolo lol. She still eats fruitflies (fortunately they are pretty big fron this lady I buy them fron) but I think she would apreciate bigger. 

I can see it wont take many photos well there are some

 

[MantisRCool]

I will have to start a fcb site lol

 

[dmina]

nice collection you have there... and yes.. they are additive!

 

[LAME]

Awe.. you've got alot of little ones there. How old is the truncata?  I've just recently even noticed them and really like the wide shield they get. Really neat.

Love the idolo. Glad to see another member has one.  

 

[MantisRCool]

Awe.. you've got alot of little ones there. How old is the truncata?  I've just recently even noticed them and really like the wide shield they get. Really neat.

Love the idolo. Glad to see another member has one.  

Truncatas are like L4-5. They are so awesome that shield is amazing! Also love their eyes! Desiccata's too they look like sonething out of anime with those huge eyes

I hope the idolo will not die I know they are hard to raise and that sucks because they are so cool! Same goes with Choeradodis that is one of my dream mantis but they probably won't even get in to culture. 

 

[CosbyArt]

Thank u a lot for the answer ! Cant't imagine how anyone would stop with the mantis lol! I' m going to stop with stick insects cause they ars too much hasdle but mantis... No wAy! I have my hands full indeed! i mostly feed fruit flies to small mantids then crickets mealworms and for the big ones or preggos roaches and locutst. If I have luck with house flies I feed those but hard to get here and even harder to get them hatch. I hope they will for my single idolo lol. She still eats fruitflies (fortunately they are pretty big fron this lady I buy them fron) but I think she would apreciate bigger. 

I can see it wont take many photos well there are some

...

No problem, more than happy to help. Yeah it happens to many for various reasons, I have to admit I'm curious why though as they tend to disappear without warning. Others though keep at at for awhile, and some do seem to stay around so at least a few become regular's.

Nice to hear you do feed appropriate sized prey and even do the roaches (something I am banned from by my wife lol). Depending on your local temperature you can make a fly trap and capture flies yourself. Indeed in a pinch the larger Hydei fruit flies can get the smaller instars further along if there are no feeder alternatives, I've had to do it before as well.

Very nice photos, great to see someone's pets, and even yourself in one. I have to admit the Deroplatys desiccata is a favorite, I've had a few Deroplatys lobata females and they were great.

 

[Sarah K]

Regarding pictures there is no link to follow. To upload you can simply drag your images to your post as you type, over the section that says Drag files here to attach, or choose files... or click the choose files... to bring up a browser window to select your photos. That is all there is to it, give it a try - the only downside is it has a limited amount of space and you will have to delete old photos to make room eventually for new ones.

CosbyArt, are you saying that I have to delete pictures from previous posts, in order to have space for new posts?

 

[CosbyArt]

CosbyArt, are you saying that I have to delete pictures from previous posts, in order to have space for new posts?

Eventually when you run out of room you will have to delete old photos, or use a image host like Photobucket. On a post below the Drag files here to attach, or choose files... here on the forum it says Max total size ?? MB - ?? is the amount of room you have left.

Sadly deleting files seems really counterproductive. To delete any photos click your username at the very top-right side of the page, and then select My Attachments (should be the second option). On the page it will show your photos, upload date/time, and on the far right is the link where the photo was uploaded. Click the post link to the photo you want to delete (far right), then when the page loads click Edit and the photos will have be shown with a checkmark and a large X, click the large X to delete them.

I've looked for a faster way to do it, even searching Google, but haven't stumbled across anything yet.

 

[MantisRCool]

No problem, more than happy to help. Yeah it happens to many for various reasons, I have to admit I'm curious why though as they tend to disappear without warning. Others though keep at at for awhile, and some do seem to stay around so at least a few become regular's.

Nice to hear you do feed appropriate sized prey and even do the roaches (something I am banned from by my wife lol). Depending on your local temperature you can make a fly trap and capture flies yourself. Indeed in a pinch the larger Hydei fruit flies can get the smaller instars further along if there are no feeder alternatives, I've had to do it before as well.

Very nice photos, great to see someone's pets, and even yourself in one. I have to admit the Deroplatys desiccata is a favorite, I've had a few Deroplatys lobata females and they were great.

I an thinking of the fly trap but no idea where to put it I live in an appartment and don't have a balcony. Maybe I could put it like on a string out of a window or something  

I only use dubia roaches cause they don't run away (i have quite an issue with runaway crickets lol those little *******s hide behind the kitchen wall where we can't get them out and they make a lot of noise, pretty annoying sometimes they can be really loud). Dubia's are no hassle. Only when the mantis catches them they sometimes kick like crazy this one time the roach totally covered my mantis with the moss I have as substrate it was so funny  

yes Deroplatys species are super cool also I like when sometimes they crumple up pretending to be a dead leaf  

Also I love mantids that are very big and green  

and I hope I will get some chaetas cause they are huge and have these amazing pointy eyes! A bit like toxodera ( Toxodera beieri is like the most amazing looking mantis ever in my opinion!) 

i would also love to get my hands on Cilnia Humeralis but haven't seen anyone selling them here yet. Do u know if they are even in cultire?

I will put more pics if possible I put the one with my face because my mantis often like to climb on my face it's so cute lol

 

[MantisRCool]

Here are some more pics one is of my babies of Prohierodula Laticollis, then Hierodula majuscula eating a cocroach and Lineola boy when he was little

 

[CosbyArt]

I an thinking of the fly trap but no idea where to put it I live in an appartment and don't have a balcony. Maybe I could put it like on a string out of a window or something  

I only use dubia roaches cause they don't run away (i have quite an issue with runaway crickets lol those little *******s hide behind the kitchen wall where we can't get them out and they make a lot of noise, pretty annoying sometimes they can be really loud). Dubia's are no hassle. Only when the mantis catches them they sometimes kick like crazy this one time the roach totally covered my mantis with the moss I have as substrate it was so funny  

yes Deroplatys species are super cool also I like when sometimes they crumple up pretending to be a dead leaf  

Also I love mantids that are very big and green  

and I hope I will get some chaetas cause they are huge and have these amazing pointy eyes! A bit like toxodera ( Toxodera beieri is like the most amazing looking mantis ever in my opinion!) 

i would also love to get my hands on Cilnia Humeralis but haven't seen anyone selling them here yet. Do u know if they are even in cultire?

I will put more pics if possible I put the one with my face because my mantis often like to climb on my face it's so cute lol

Hmm that will limit your choices in placing the trap, but hanging it is a option (as long as you aren't many floors up you should still have luck with it). You could simply tie a loop of string around the lid area, or on each side of the lid itself. Then you could attach it to anything by your window such as a nail, screw, or hook (perhaps a old laundry line bracket or something). If it is a option you could also mount a plant hook bracket outside, or try one of those temporary hook strips (like the 3M Command strips) as it wouldn't be permanent and easily removes).

Yes it seems Dubia is the species of choice for feeders as they populate so easily, glad you got those. Wow that is crazy on feeding, I think feeding time would be even better with a show like that.

Chaetas are great, and getting more popular here on the forum lately too. I haven't heard of Cilnia Humeralis before, likely a species not available here in the US. I looked at the common overseas retailer BugsUK.com, but even they don't have that one listed. However if you have your heart set on the species give member Exo a message as he likely has it or can get it (he lives in Germany and seems to stock everything).

Ha, I gotta admit I have had some try climbing my face but I never let them. Perhaps I should give in. Nice photos, and that looks like plenty of babies, congrats.

 

[dmina]

Really cute pictures...You really have a nice collection... congrats on the babies... thanks for sharing!

 

[BringontheBugs]

Hmm that will limit your choices in placing the trap, but hanging it is a option (as long as you aren't many floors up you should still have luck with it). You could simply tie a loop of string around the lid area, or on each side of the lid itself. Then you could attach it to anything by your window such as a nail, screw, or hook (perhaps a old laundry line bracket or something). If it is a option you could also mount a plant hook bracket outside, or try one of those temporary hook strips (like the 3M Command strips) as it wouldn't be permanent and easily removes).

Yes it seems Dubia is the species of choice for feeders as they populate so easily, glad you got those. Wow that is crazy on feeding, I think feeding time would be even better with a show like that.

Chaetas are great, and getting more popular here on the forum lately too. I haven't heard of Cilnia Humeralis before, likely a species not available here in the US. I looked at the common overseas retailer BugsUK.com, but even they don't have that one listed. However if you have your heart set on the species give member Exo a message as he likely has it or can get it (he lives in Germany and seems to stock everything).

Ha, I gotta admit I have had some try climbing my face but I never let them. Perhaps I should give in. Nice photos, and that looks like plenty of babies, congrats.

Peter made a video of a cilnia humeralis he had in 2009, don't know if he was ever selling any though. Precarious has also had some. But, yeah they're pretty rare here in the US hobby.

 

[CosbyArt]

Peter made a video of a cilnia humeralis he had in 2009, don't know if he was ever selling any though. Precarious has also had some. But, yeah they're pretty rare here in the US hobby.

Thanks, glad to hear some were around. Seems one way or another about every species has found it's way here, but the problem tends to be limited stock or problems with the species in captivity so it is hard to say what will be the next new available species. It is great to try new species though, and I've been slacking myself lately on that.

 

[MantisRCool]

I really hope I can get my hands on the wide-arm beauties one day!  Now some more pics fron me ( lol my laticollis boy Sunny is tickling me) he also flew on my head lol. This is my truncata and desicata . Also Cosby u should try the mantis on face thing its really funny makes good photos and they enjoy it for sone reason! 

I am at the noment trying to find Cilnia in German websites would be good cause I'm in Europe but I dont speak German so my chances Are limited

 

[MantisRCool]

Another mantis on face pic lol