Most indispensable tool/device for keeping mantids?

[cloud jaguar]

Sure we all have an arsenal of odd and interesting looking tools and devices which are helpful in the keeping of mantids; some are necessary and some are luxuries - and perhaps some just look weird and have no practical purpose at all.

I was thinking about what the most indispensable of these is and I have settled upon this: 11" foreceps. The reason is i really dislike touching turds and dead bugs and slimy skins and other nasty bits which accumulate. The 'biohazards ' kind of creep me out so i really like the old tongs. Perhaps the best use of them for me is to walk around outside at dusk and grab spiders (which i especially hate) from the comfort of their webs and pop them into the 32 oz mantid pots!

What do you think is the most indespensable tool or device for mantid keeping and why?

 

[bassist]

Deli cups I use them to catch bugs outside I just close the lid and cup over the insect/arachnid and done have it easy to catch lots of food like wasps, bees, and other insects that can sting/bite if they get loose. I also keep all of my mantids in them along with other bugs such as some spiders I don't want to use as mantis food.

 

[hibiscusmile]

yea forceps! gotta be it an I totally agree with you on the use. Also next in line would be the bamboo skewers, awesome for moving most mantis!

 

[Emile.Wilson]

forceps and deli cups hard choice to chose one of them

 

[[email protected]]

My test tube i used it for fruit flies so easy to get them out of those pots and in to the mantis container but just before i left it fell and shattered, so now i am out my most indispensable tool!!!! :angry:

 

[charleyandbecky]

My most-used tool is actually a little cardboard cup with a lid. I used it to "prepare" food. I select the food and put it in this cardboard cup while opening the enclosures. That way, I already have the food selected and ready to go once the enclosure opens. I'm quite sure my mantids love seeing their "room service tray." I also use it outside to catch insects, and take it with me every time I go to the mailbox in case I spot a mantis. Silly little item, I know...but I use it just about more than anything.

Rebecca

 

[yen_saw]

Go tweezers!

 

[a1_collection]

I use BioQuip's fine point swiss style forceps and many sizes of the regular ones. I have curved ones also. For emergency molt situations i have a pair of fine point dissecting scissors and teasing needle to cut the old skin away from the mantid. I use these tools also to set insects in my collection.

 

[revmdn]

I like my hands best. ^_^

 

[Zephyr]

Forceps or tweezers. Absolute necessity for any animal enthusiast.

 

[yeatzee]

A cage :lol:

 

[PhilinYuma]

I like my hands best. ^_^

Me too! Especially right thumb and index finger. Great for: Pulling out the feeding hole bung and placing in yr palm. Picking up squirmy crix and stunned flies, picking up nymphs when I don't want to play the finger game and I've misplaced my paintbrush (again). Removing frass (I also misplace my forceps). Misting pots. Prying open pot lids. Not holding bees.

The best thing is that I almost never misplace them. :lol:

Yen: It looks as though you have enough stuff there to perform brain surgery!

 

[Katnapper]

Yep, forceps are definitely indispensable to me too!

12x12 Net cages - I don't know what I'd do without them!

Water spray bottles - I use every day.

Chopsticks - Essential mantis wrangling tool (especially nymphs).

Vacuum cleaner - Sucks up all the dry "stuff" in the bug room that I don't want to touch (dead flies of all types, cricket pieces, wings, legs, poo, etc.

OK... I know you said "one" essential item. Sorry... I need them all!!! :lol:

Edit: Had to mention... great topic/thread!

 

[d17oug18]

ill go with deli cups and bamboo sticks, or for that matter(any cage). i have one for every small pet i own =P

 

[lil jay]

I like my hands best. ^_^

yh just use your hands lol

 

[revmdn]

After changing poopy diapers, I'm really not scared of touching "gross" stuff anymore.

 

[Rick]

Deli cups or the long tweezers.

 

[yen_saw]

Yen: It looks as though you have enough stuff there to perform brain surgery!

:lol: actually i just like to keep extra so it is easier to find one if i need it "urgently". My bugroom is very untidy sometimes :mellow: and this most indispensable tool always seems to elude me when i need them the most :lol:

 

[Katnapper]

After changing poopy diapers, I'm really not scared of touching "gross" stuff anymore.

Martin, I've changed a few poopy diapers in my time, and I'm still scared!

:lol: actually i just like to keep extra so it is easier to find one if i need it "urgently". My bugroom is very untidy sometimes :mellow: and this most indispensable tool always seems to elude me when i need them the most :lol:

I agree and have the same problem, Yen. I have 3 pairs of the long forceps and one shorter (like a large tweezers), and they're always moving about everywhere. I do notice I "find" one or two when I go to lay another pair down in the same place though sometimes! :lol: