Need help with an idea

[manmantis]

I have been collecting mantises as a hobby for a while but i was recently aproached by parent who loved the idea of mantises as pets for her kids. She had two boys 8 and 10 and liked the mantis for a couple of reasons. 1. They eat bugs (kids can do alot worse than spend summer trying to fill a jar of bugs) and 2. even if you take great care of your mantis, it is a short commitment (9 months max.) She wanted some nymphs and i have a few ooths incubating (giant chinese, carolina, european) that might just be perfect for a young enthusiast.

here are my questions: Does anyone think mantis care is too hard for a child that age and why? do you think it's possible to create an easy kit for kids and their parents? How? What species lend themselves most to easy care ?(im in Colorado)

Any other comments would be appreciated. I would like to help two little kids become nature enthusiasts and maybe make a pass time out of making these kits for education. any comment is appreciated.

 

[Rick]

I think with some supervision/help it is a good idea. Little nymphs would be difficult for a child. Many of the large to medium species are easy.

 

[revmdn]

I know Target stores sell a kit for keeping mantids, with one of these cube net cages. I'm not saying that I would get one of those, but just like Rick said could be done with your knowledge and a little supervision. My five year old is helping me with mine. It really makes her focus and she loves it.

 

[Katnapper]

I think with some supervision/help it is a good idea. Little nymphs would be difficult for a child. Many of the large to medium species are easy.

I agree. My 9 year old son (turns 10 Feb. 1st) would have trouble feeding fruit flies to nymphs. Heck, even us adults sometimes have troubles with escapees and such. And an adult would definitely have to help and oversee making up new cultures. They would have to have help and education in knowing how much and how often to feed, and selecting and upgrading appropriate container sizes too. Caring for the adults might be a little easier, but they would still need help. I know my son isn't nearly as good at catching wild food for them as I am. He can eventually catch a few, but isn't great at it. And he tires of the job easily.

I think it's a great idea. But it would also require adult supervision and help (in some cases with the parent/s doing most of the work). I've tried to instill a love of nature and all animals in my son. I thought my mantis keeping would help in that... and it likely does to some degree. But it's too much "work" for him. He'd rather be doing something else than helping me catch bugs or mist. And he doesn't care for any of the insects "jumping on him." He's less interested in them than I would like... but I know the experience will enrich him in the future (whether he likes it or not! :angry: ) lol.

 

[The_Asa]

Backing up Katnapper and Rick :lol: it depends on the children involved in question. Some kids simply dislike bugs. And the parent, no matter how enthusiastic the child in question is, will invariably have to do some form of work. However, the parent just might get caught up in them as well I think it's a good idea, though you'll want to provide them with plenty of nymphs if you plan to give them as hatchlings.

 

[nasty bugger]

I think that one of the things I'd include with a kit would be pictures of insects and whatnot to avoid, dangerous stuff, excluding charlie manson <_<

I don't have too much of a problem with escapee's, I just let them go, unless there's a bunch. I tap the contents to the bottom of the ff container, then pour some into the mantis enclosure. I've put a small piece of apple in the mantis enclosure with the ff's lately, so the ff's don't die so fast. Mine are getting too large for FF's now though.

Edit: I would have a problem with roaches running around my house though, if that were the feeder, but amazingly enough, I've started viewing them as food for the mantis' instead of gross creatures, lately.

Are you the 'mantisman' on ebay?

 

[PhilinYuma]

I have been collecting mantises as a hobby for a while but i was recently aproached by parent who loved the idea of mantises as pets for her kids. She had two boys 8 and 10 and liked the mantis for a couple of reasons. 1. They eat bugs (kids can do alot worse than spend summer trying to fill a jar of bugs) and 2. even if you take great care of your mantis, it is a short commitment (9 months max.) She wanted some nymphs and i have a few ooths incubating (giant chinese, carolina, european) that might just be perfect for a young enthusiast. here are my questions: Does anyone think mantis care is too hard for a child that age and why? do you think it's possible to create an easy kit for kids and their parents? How? What species lend themselves most to easy care ?(im in Colorado)

Any other comments would be appreciated. I would like to help two little kids become nature enthusiasts and maybe make a pass time out of making these kits for education. any comment is appreciated.

I'm going to give a thumbs down on this one, for the following reasons:

Mom's reasons for choosing mantises, that they die quickly and that the children will enjoy collecting their prey, are, to put it mildly, strange. It seems that she has no experience with these creatures, and it is unclear whether or not the children know or like these creatures.

When I was the age of these children, I was keeping stick insects. Just stick them on a bunch of bramble, and you're set. The regular routine of misting and feeding live prey on a daily basis, which is essential to this hobby, is most certainly too much for young kids.

Kids who do become enamored of insects , usually do so independently of their parents; "being different" is part of the attraction. I could never get my kids very excited about insects, including mantises, when they were young. It was to them, "Dad's thing." (I hope that you are one of the exceptions to this, Arkanis!)

Certainly, F1-2 nymphs seem to be out of the question. Children are not going to be turned on to the hobby by sweeping up tiny corpses every day.

Frankly, from the description of the ooths that you have available and the fact that you have posted this so soon after joining, it occurred to me, like nasty bugger, that you were the Ebay guy and that you were working up a sales pitch to expand your business. There's certainly no harm in that, and there has to be at least as high a chance of success for children keeping the critters as with "sea monkey" cultures or queenless "ant farms".

If I am correct, and you are working up a marketing strategy, here are some thoughts.

I assume that you would be selling wild-caught ooths, and there is always a problem when selling these that you can't guarantee their fertility or even predict when they will hatch, so this may not be the way to go. Any of your three species should be easy to maintain as adults, since they all occur in the US.

At the moment, some folks are selling "mantis habitats" without the mantis. I doubt if they are a big seller.

You could offer certificates with the kit and send a live adult on request. Practice sending these to friends in different parts of the country to see how successful you are at shipping them by Priority Mail. The usual practice is to guarantee live delivery with Express,but not with Priority.

Check out the cost of inexpensive plastic enclosures (Mantisplace would be an excellent place to start) find the wholesale cost of a kit, (make up several variations) and hawk them to local pet stores to see how they sell. Most pet store owners will not want to maintain live mantises, but you might want to include one for display and replace it at your cost. Selling them locally with a certificate might work.

Work up a two or three fold pamphlet, in color, on the basics of mantis care (you say that you have been "collecting" mantises. Have you been raising them in captivity? If not, you are in the right place to learn!), print it off locally, and place it in the enclosure. That's possibly the most important part of the pitch!

Finally, the attraction of mantids for young kids is that they look strange and fierce; their friends don't have any; they aren't slimy; they will perch on your finger, and they eat live prey and like, that's Really Gross!

Good luck!

 

[kamakiri]

While educational, giving or selling mantises to children is most often a death sentence for the specimens.

You should read the reviews online for such 'kit' products...look at the ones from frustrated parents who didn't realize what they were getting into.

Heck, I'm surprised at the amount of work *I* need to do

 

[nasty bugger]

I would think that people in places like New York City, that have massive roach problems, would probably not mind hatching an ooth and letting the friendly mantis' roam to eat the roaches. I also think that they'd have no idea what it will take to get the mantis' to that point of 'self-maintenance', and that may be a disappointment to them, but maybe not.

Warmth in a place like, during winter, that may not be adequate either, but who knows.

Ethically, I think I'd have to make sure the potential customers were aware that humidity and warmth and the initial 'baby care' that is needed to get the mantis' to the point of self sustainability were understood, and not just sell em.

I say this cause I bought my ooths from a garden section of a whole foods store, with no instructions or kit or anything, just a little paper tub with two ooths, and wasn't aware of the humidity requirements, and lost my first ooth births to drying up, and then found this site and did it right with the second ooth. On a limited budget, some folks wouldn't go the extra step, or wouldn't be able to, and would just lose sight of the goal possibly. Especially with budgeting in this tight economy.

Maybe include an address to this and any other mantis sites in your kit, for help.