Hello all,
Long time reptile keeper but recently developed an interest in mantids and tarantulas. I have been experimenting with building my own enclosures recently and had a place perfect in my living room for a tall but thin enclosure, which sounded like it would be ideal for mantids. Also, I have an open-air terrarium in my bedroom currently; after reading the care requirements it seems like general requiremnts are similar enough that they could be housed together, and if they are a communal species....
Obviously, I am new to mantids but I have been keeping snakes and other reptiles for a good 5 years now. I also like to do everything myself from scratch (as much as is reasonably possible anyway)...anyway, onto the questions:
1) Does anyone have experience or knowledge on aggression between species? From what I read the Ghost and Dead-Leaf are both communal; do they care if I mix the species as long as the individual species are all communal?
2) The location I am designing this enclosure for is roughly 24" long x 48" tall x 6" deep (i can push this to 8" if i HAVE to). It is not very deep, but it is quite tall and long so I am confident space is more than sufficient (I was hoping to house a pair of each or so, for roughly 4-6 total in that enclosure). 3x is the general rule it seems, and I figure if they are ~3" each, my specs are good. However, is the depth an issue? I am leaning towards mantids because it seemed that it would be ok as long as the height and width were substantial.
3) Attached is a photograph of my current open-air terrarium. The dimensions on this are 48" long x 30" tall x 8" deep. I hand mist it and it has a false bottom for drainage. If I was to properly close this off with screen (it is thoroughly sealed+secured inside so that he can't squeeze anywhere) would it be suitable? They can easily climb the back wall. It seems as if it would be, but I am primarily concerned about releasing their live food into this and having them damage my flora....is this why members here seem to dislike live plants?
4) Is there a feeder that will NOT harm my live plants inside the enclosure? I ask mainly in concern for my already completed terrarium, but this answer can also affect my plant choices for my up-and-coming project as well. While I know that I can freeze a bug before feeding so it doesn't move, I am under the impression that not 100% of insects will be eaten right away so there is a live bug other than your mantis inside your enclosure on most occasions...is this a wrong assumption?
5) Does a mantis need a *basking* spot, or will a heat strip suffice? I actually don't think I need either as I live in a very strange apt where two major hot water lines run directly underneath, so it is ALWAYS 70F+ in here even with the windows open all day in the winter...
Thanks for the replies! I will start a thread once I finish designing my new enclosure and hope for your feedback as well. If combining multiple communals together isn't a viable option, I may somehow partition it...
Long time reptile keeper but recently developed an interest in mantids and tarantulas. I have been experimenting with building my own enclosures recently and had a place perfect in my living room for a tall but thin enclosure, which sounded like it would be ideal for mantids. Also, I have an open-air terrarium in my bedroom currently; after reading the care requirements it seems like general requiremnts are similar enough that they could be housed together, and if they are a communal species....
Obviously, I am new to mantids but I have been keeping snakes and other reptiles for a good 5 years now. I also like to do everything myself from scratch (as much as is reasonably possible anyway)...anyway, onto the questions:
1) Does anyone have experience or knowledge on aggression between species? From what I read the Ghost and Dead-Leaf are both communal; do they care if I mix the species as long as the individual species are all communal?
2) The location I am designing this enclosure for is roughly 24" long x 48" tall x 6" deep (i can push this to 8" if i HAVE to). It is not very deep, but it is quite tall and long so I am confident space is more than sufficient (I was hoping to house a pair of each or so, for roughly 4-6 total in that enclosure). 3x is the general rule it seems, and I figure if they are ~3" each, my specs are good. However, is the depth an issue? I am leaning towards mantids because it seemed that it would be ok as long as the height and width were substantial.
3) Attached is a photograph of my current open-air terrarium. The dimensions on this are 48" long x 30" tall x 8" deep. I hand mist it and it has a false bottom for drainage. If I was to properly close this off with screen (it is thoroughly sealed+secured inside so that he can't squeeze anywhere) would it be suitable? They can easily climb the back wall. It seems as if it would be, but I am primarily concerned about releasing their live food into this and having them damage my flora....is this why members here seem to dislike live plants?
4) Is there a feeder that will NOT harm my live plants inside the enclosure? I ask mainly in concern for my already completed terrarium, but this answer can also affect my plant choices for my up-and-coming project as well. While I know that I can freeze a bug before feeding so it doesn't move, I am under the impression that not 100% of insects will be eaten right away so there is a live bug other than your mantis inside your enclosure on most occasions...is this a wrong assumption?
5) Does a mantis need a *basking* spot, or will a heat strip suffice? I actually don't think I need either as I live in a very strange apt where two major hot water lines run directly underneath, so it is ALWAYS 70F+ in here even with the windows open all day in the winter...
Thanks for the replies! I will start a thread once I finish designing my new enclosure and hope for your feedback as well. If combining multiple communals together isn't a viable option, I may somehow partition it...
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