new design

[hortus]

heres a design for a cage i came up with

im gonna build a 2 x 2 x 4 for nymphs and small mantids and a 4 x 4 x 6 for larger ones (might go 4 x 4 x 8 )

but the inner dividers are removable so if i lose a mantid or 2 then it becomes a conveniant cricket storage place

also theres an empty area behind the main cells , its required so the hinges on the lids will work right but its also probably a decent place to stiuck a small heating pad for the mantids that like it hot... but i was considering building a heating pad area into the bottom on the cage so ill prolly put a picture or something behind there.

the entire setiup is goint o be mounted to the wall like a shelf (it saves space and makes it easily veiwable)

but here look at it and if ou guys have any questions or concerns post away i want to head off any problems before i start building

 

[Ian]

as discuessed last night man, thats gunna looks sweet

Cheer,

Ian

 

[Lan]

that looks cool! i like your blueprints. gotta post pix of it when you finish building it!

 

[Jackson]

What wood are you using and what are you using for ventilation?

Just curious.

 

[hortus]

almost all of it is going to be acrylic (or plexiglass for the prototype) only wood will be the square wooden dowels that im useing as supports

i may use a pinhead drill to create vents on the back and top

 

[Jackson]

sounds good, i'd love to see pictures of the building of it.

Any idea of costs and when it should be finished?

 

[Jesse]

Be sure to put some kind of screen or mesh on the top (glue it onto the acrylic top) so the mantids have a surface which is easy for them to grip, otherwise you are going to have some stressed out mantids.

 

[hortus]

cost depends on materials and how many cells i make

plexi glass is cheap but sucks

lucite is a little better but not much

acrylic is exspensize but worth it

and glass is simply out of the question too hard to work with

ima do my prototype for the nymphs in plexiglassand probably do about 20 cells but at 2 x 2 x 4 thats oinly 40 inches long, just over 3 feet

for as thin as i want the sheeting it probably wont be over 20 bucks unless they charge extra for cutting it the square doels are cheap and probably wont need to worry bout sealing them on the nymph cage the rest is just drilling and screwing

i dont know the prices so i cant make an accurate guess

it will prolly average 50 cents per cell or maybe a dollar

 

[infinity]

one thing that you could consider... having a mesh (say 2mm or so) about an inch from the bottom... this would allow all the frass to fall through AND make cleaning easier... - maybe have a little drawer or something so it's easily removed?

Would be a lot more work and a lot more fiddly but I think it would be worth it...

p.s. great plans so far though

 

[hortus]

nah that last thing would be too much work and im afraid fruit flies would be able to hide down there or escape

 

[hortus]

oh ive also moddified my design to save money

ima do everythign but the front in plexi and the front will be acrylic

ill have to order online cause only place semi local that even deals with acryllic said i can only buy it in 4 x 8 foot sheets at 180 some bucks

if i ever get that hardcore into breeding them ill just use mesh cages i can get fine mesh

but this is for looks

at 4 ft by 8 ft id have to know like a whole poop load of people that wanted cages

besides i dont have tools to cut it myself

at least not strait