GreenOasis
Well-known member
I needed to find a solution to the "small nymphs mismolting in winter problem", and just happened to find these cool "greenhouse trays" while looking for springtail culturing supplies.
I thought I would give it a try & couldn't be happier with the results. I've had 32 L1/L2 Idolos in here for a few days now and haven't lost a single one to mismolts (whereas before I was losing a few a day, now I see a few successfully molted each day!)
Some info about the "nursery" (which hubby wants to call the "Biodome"), it is 20" x 10" x 9" tall (with dome in place). It has one large vent on the top and two smaller ones on either side, which are open/closable to adjust the humidity inside.
I have glued screening over the vent holes to prevent fly escape and the bottom of the tray is filled with vermiculite and distilled water (only the best for my babies!), and I also added some sphagnum moss to the top of the perlite to give the "ground nymphs" something better to climb on than bare perlite. One thing I did not add before putting the nymphs in was a feeding port at the top, but that is easily fixed as soon as I can trust not to let a bunch of flies loose in the house by cutting on it!
I have put the enclosure about 6" away from a 60 watt bulb, and the nymphs are comfortable roaming the entire enclosure...many enjoy sitting right under the light and some prefer to go to the "moister" shaded side for molting purposes. So far, with two vents partially open, the humidity on the illuminated side is sitting at about 75-80%, and the temp on that side is near or slightly over 100 degrees, ranging to 85-90 degrees on the "shady" side (with a MUCH higher humidity, about 90-95%).
I would like to offer these things for sale as a "kit", but I wanted to get some feedback first to make sure it's worth ordering a bunch first.
I'm thinking that this would be an awesome kit for incubating ooths of species that need high humidity, such as Idolos (young nymphs), Orchids, Flower species, Chinese, Hierodula, Ghosts & Sphodromantis. This thing is HUGE, so it will hold a LOT of nymphs (the space within is roughly 1.5x bigger than a net cube). Also, I would not glue ooths in this, per se, because the humidity would probably cause the glue to let loose fairly quickly anyway, but possibly use the "European method" of stringing up ooths with a bit of thread from the foliage.
If I offer it as a kit, this is what would be included:
Bottom Tray
Humidity Dome
Perlite (enough to provide a deep substrate for the bottom - about 2 qts)
Sphagnum Moss (about a sandwich baggie...it doesn't need much)
Plastic foliage (already attached)
POSSIBLY a hygrometer/thermometer, if I can find a reasonable price on them!
Thinking of around $30-35 for the kit (not including the guages, since I don't know if I will be able to find them wholesale)...though, the shipping will be a little pricey because it needs an over-sized box to ship in, but if going by Priority, it probably won't cost much more than $15. I'll know more when I start shipping them!
Lemme know what y'all think & if you'd be interested in buying such a new-fangled contraption! :cowboy: (No, not saying "WILL you buy?", just IF you would buy...you know, if you won the lottery or something! )
-Carey Kurtz-
www.mantispets.com
I thought I would give it a try & couldn't be happier with the results. I've had 32 L1/L2 Idolos in here for a few days now and haven't lost a single one to mismolts (whereas before I was losing a few a day, now I see a few successfully molted each day!)
Some info about the "nursery" (which hubby wants to call the "Biodome"), it is 20" x 10" x 9" tall (with dome in place). It has one large vent on the top and two smaller ones on either side, which are open/closable to adjust the humidity inside.
I have glued screening over the vent holes to prevent fly escape and the bottom of the tray is filled with vermiculite and distilled water (only the best for my babies!), and I also added some sphagnum moss to the top of the perlite to give the "ground nymphs" something better to climb on than bare perlite. One thing I did not add before putting the nymphs in was a feeding port at the top, but that is easily fixed as soon as I can trust not to let a bunch of flies loose in the house by cutting on it!
I have put the enclosure about 6" away from a 60 watt bulb, and the nymphs are comfortable roaming the entire enclosure...many enjoy sitting right under the light and some prefer to go to the "moister" shaded side for molting purposes. So far, with two vents partially open, the humidity on the illuminated side is sitting at about 75-80%, and the temp on that side is near or slightly over 100 degrees, ranging to 85-90 degrees on the "shady" side (with a MUCH higher humidity, about 90-95%).
I would like to offer these things for sale as a "kit", but I wanted to get some feedback first to make sure it's worth ordering a bunch first.
I'm thinking that this would be an awesome kit for incubating ooths of species that need high humidity, such as Idolos (young nymphs), Orchids, Flower species, Chinese, Hierodula, Ghosts & Sphodromantis. This thing is HUGE, so it will hold a LOT of nymphs (the space within is roughly 1.5x bigger than a net cube). Also, I would not glue ooths in this, per se, because the humidity would probably cause the glue to let loose fairly quickly anyway, but possibly use the "European method" of stringing up ooths with a bit of thread from the foliage.If I offer it as a kit, this is what would be included:
Bottom Tray
Humidity Dome
Perlite (enough to provide a deep substrate for the bottom - about 2 qts)
Sphagnum Moss (about a sandwich baggie...it doesn't need much)
Plastic foliage (already attached)
POSSIBLY a hygrometer/thermometer, if I can find a reasonable price on them!
Thinking of around $30-35 for the kit (not including the guages, since I don't know if I will be able to find them wholesale)...though, the shipping will be a little pricey because it needs an over-sized box to ship in, but if going by Priority, it probably won't cost much more than $15. I'll know more when I start shipping them!
Lemme know what y'all think & if you'd be interested in buying such a new-fangled contraption! :cowboy:
(No, not saying "WILL you buy?", just IF you would buy...you know, if you won the lottery or something! )-Carey Kurtz-
www.mantispets.com
