New enclosure

[Savechanges]

I just purchased this zoo med mesh cage for my gongys. I have ghosts in it right now " testing it out" and one of then seems to have damages the pads on her toes from the Aluminum mesh. I hear metal can damage their feet and if this is true should I take the aluminum mesh out and re-line the cage with fiberglass mesh? Or should I just leave it and just make sure they have  plenty places to molt?

 

[GayJerk]

I haven't heard much about the aluminum mesh thing, but I also might be concerned with humidity as well. Maybe if you lined the inside again with a material of choice it would solve both problems. 

 

[CosbyArt]

@Savechanges Yes, aluminum mesh is a very hard material on mantids and other small pets. The problem is the aluminum mesh is simply woven together, and when a mantids foot is placed on the individual mesh strands it moves freely. That leads to trapped tarsi and other parts that become pinched in the aluminum mesh which get broken/torn off, and I would advise against it anymore from my experiences.

As your mesh cage is the aluminum mesh you can simply replace it for the best results. Likely it uses a standard window mesh spline to hold the mesh in place, see the video here on replacing it. The other option is to overlay the fiberglass mesh on the aluminum mesh and hot glue it into place, but that will only solve some of the possible problems (as they can still get caught in the aluminum) and will not have the clean look or easily repairable.

 

[Boeseph]

Hi @CosbyArt! I'm preparing a terrarium (there's a picture in my introduction post that I posted today) for my mantids that I plan on getting in the next month or so. I currently have a terrarium with an aluminum mesh top, so I'll be looking into doing this for my setup after reading what you said. Is there a fiberglass mesh brand that you recommend?