new to the world of mantises

[womantis]

hi there,

we (my daughter and i) are totally new to the mantis world.

we just hatched our first set of ooths that we ordered from an organic gardening site. from what i understand, they should be the chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) since they are available commercially. the cool moments was when we were bringing some of the nymphs and an ooth to my mom's for her garden and the ooth began hatching right in front of us during the drive. pulled over and took a video!

most have molted once and we've released the majority to the garden. we are feeding them wingless drosphila melanogaster and keeping the habitats humid. when do we need to "graduate" to the next feeder insect - any suggestions as to what is the best next feeder for them. (best = good for the mantis, easy for us to keep)

lastly, we would love to have another variety of mantis and welcome any suggestions on a species which is both easy to care for and legal in california.

looking forward to hearing and learning from folks here!

shira

 

[maybon]

hi there,

we (my daughter and i) are totally new to the mantis world.

we just hatched our first set of ooths that we ordered from an organic gardening site. from what i understand, they should be the chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) since they are available commercially. the cool moments was when we were bringing some of the nymphs and an ooth to my mom's for her garden and the ooth began hatching right in front of us during the drive. pulled over and took a video!

most have molted once and we've released the majority to the garden. we are feeding them wingless drosphila melanogaster and keeping the habitats humid. when do we need to "graduate" to the next feeder insect - any suggestions as to what is the best next feeder for them. (best = good for the mantis, easy for us to keep)

lastly, we would love to have another variety of mantis and welcome any suggestions on a species which is both easy to care for and legal in california.

looking forward to hearing and learning from folks here!

shira

Welcome from Australia

That is very cool indeed, I would love to see an ootheca hatch myself. As for when to feed them the next step up, it is really just based on the size of the mantis. If it can grab and hold the prey it will eat it. Small crickets and roaches are a good step up.

Here is a pretty basic guide to follow (an instar is just the next moult)

1st instar: fruit flies

2nd instar: fruit flies

3rd instar: fruit flies and house flies or small crickets or small roaches

4th instar: house flies and small crickets or small roaches

5th instar: same feeder insects as 4th instar, but slightly larger

6th instar: same but larger

7th instar: same

8th instar: adult crickets, blue bottle flies and roaches (variety is good)

 

[Rick]

Welcome to the world of mantids. As far as feeding goes once it appears the fruit flies are too small go up to houseflies or small crickets.

 

[hibiscusmile]

hello and welcome, I have heard and seen on tv live births of babies being born in cars! yours though is a first!

 

[agent A]

Welcome!! Hydei ffs and hf r good for young tenodera

 

[Mvalenz]

Hello and welcome. I haven't checked yet but I hope you post the video of the babies being born.

 

[dlemmings]

Welcome from southern cal... Orange County

bigger fruit flies are available: Hydei...otherwise wild caught flies work fine, or if you have alot of nymphs your better off using house fly and as soon as possible Blue bottles...buy from Mantisplace or Mantis pets...Rebecca is a forum member...her web page is

http://mantisplace.com/feederinsects.html

also Carey's website is mantispets, but she is taking a break for a while this month

 

[womantis]

wow thank you all - appreciate the warm welcome and the good information and links. i'll post the video of the ooth hatching, i thought it was super cool since we just got started with mantises.

shira