My T. Graminis died ?

[Geckospot]

I traded for a pair of T. Graminis on Saturday. They were doing fine. My female ate a pinhead cricket on Saturday and one yesterday. My male was more interested in escaping but ate half a cricket yesterday. Now he's dead. I have them separated in jars. I am not using any substrate. I have not misted them. They have some sticks to climb on. My house is 72-75 during the day and a little cooler at night. The female is fine. Am I caring for them improperly? I would like to continue to collect and keep mantids but I cant afford it if they're just going to die. If anyone can help me figure out why he died I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[Reeves]

How old was the male?

It could have simply been old age.

 

[Geckospot]

He is a wild caught adult so I dont know his age. I still have the female. Am I doing anything wrong? Do I need higher temps or humidity?

 

[Peekaboo]

From what you described, the mantis seemed very active. I'm not sure old age would have been the cause of death, since they usually slow down before death.

Where were their enclosures kept? If got too much sun it may have done him in. Otherwise, I'm not sure what could have killed him.

 

[Geckospot]

I am keeping them on top of my bearded dragon rack. The temps couldn't be above the mid seventies. My blinds are always shut so there was no direct sunlight exposure.

 

[yen_saw]

All adult wildcaught male grass mantis seems to have short life after capture. All my male die in less than a month. So i believed either they don't do well in captivity or have a far shorter adult life than female. All my wild caught female grass mantis are doing well and been aggressive for the pass 2 months. Male grass mantis look perfectly fine a day before dying.

Geckospot, try to keep them warmer around 80-85F, misting is not required if you feed them regularly. The female lay ootheca once every 4-5 days if fed regularly.

 

[Geckospot]

How often should I feed her? Should I put her on a heating pad?

 

[yen_saw]

You can feed her every other day with a small crix, so 3-4 times a week is fine. Grass mantis female are aggressive but do not let any crix left alive.

I have never use a heating pad so i don't know. I keep all my mantis in a small store room with a heating light (Not direct on mantis cages - the 10 gal tank below the light bulb has some shades for my Brunneria Borealis that like warm temp) that set to run for 4 hours everyday and a fluorescent light that runs 16 hour a day are good enough to keep the room warm.