New hobbyist

[kwright]

Hey there! My husband and I recently started trying to raise praying mantids as pets. We live in Washington state. We had two chinese mantis oothecas, of which one didn't hatch and none of the nymphs lived from the other. Right now we have a wild caught European mantis which is doing really well as we learn and build a better terrarium for it a little at a time. It molted successfully but I'm not sure it's instar at this time although it has wing buds. I'm pretty sure it's a boy. We were all excited, as our chinese nymphs died during their first molts.

The european is fed a steady diet of dubia roaches every 2-3 days and a misted cage every 3-4 days. I'm excited to start learning more about these guys and raise them to be happy and healthy.

 

[Synapze]

Welcome! Very pretty specimen.

 

[kwright]

Thank you! I was going to post a picture of the terrarium, but it's been disassembled at the moment for cleaning. It's pretty sparse though since we aren't really sure what's good or what's enough.

 

[Aristalochia]

Hi kwright, welcome to the wonderfull world of mantids.

I've read that eggsacs/oothecae of chinese(and most temperate species) do not survive well unless they were exposed to cold, so it may not have been your fault. 

I personally have also noticed problems with too much moisture/poor air circulation especially in those nice 32 oz deli cups with special lid. Many nymphs just drop dead and many will vomit on the walls/lid prior to dropping like flies in these setups if you keep it too moist

As for your terrarium there are many lovely examples on here to browse for ideas. There's also a fantastic guide for housing mantids written by CosbyArt:





I wish you the best of luck with your Mantis religiosa

 

[Rick]

Welcome

 

[Ocelotbren]

Welcome and good luck! As long as you follow the basic principles in the post Aristalochia mentioned, you can get pretty creative with the enclosure design, which is fun.

 

[MantisGirl13]

Welcome to the forum!

- MantisGirl13

 

[Mantis Lady]

welcome