jessicones
Member
Hello everyone! I'm from Fort Worth Texas and I'm new to this forum. What brings me here is that I found a mantis nymph in my backyard and I want to keep it and love it and hug it and pet it and name it George.
I don't know what I want to name it, actually- because I can't seem to ID it at all. It is just so tiny I can't seem to make out many features. I can't see it's eye color, but it does have back legs like this:
The top of the abdomen/thorax and the back of the head are a darkish brown, while the rest of it seems a light tan or yellow. Sorry I can't get a pic, it's too small for my camera, haha.
I have never owned a mantis but I did have a tarantula so I am somewhat familiar to keeping creepy crawlies.
My current setup is a 10 gallon tank with some large sticks with little branches to climb and about a 1/2 inch of substrate (it's not like it's ever on the ground anyway, haha.) Primarily it hangs out on the mesh lid of the tank, so I lift it gently and dump about 5-7 of tiny flightless flies in there (about half it's size.) I was worried most would die and it would be a waste but man! I think it ate them all in like a day and a half!
I was feeding it maggots when I caught it the first day and it grew like 10 percent almost overnight without molting! So all the maggots (besides the first instar or so) went into pupae form and turned into flies in a few days so I had no choice but to put a few in there and it had no problem! I can't believe I doubted such a great predator!
I mist the tank daily just in case it decides it's gonna molt, since I don't know the species or age. Also, I have a porous towel over the lid so the flies can't get out but I hope it's not restricting oxygen to the mantis. Is that a bad idea? Do they absorb oxygen or do they have lungs? I read that some mantises are nocturnal, but this one was running around during the day so I don't know if I should keep my curtains open to simulate day and night or if that doesn't matter.
Sorry I'm so long winded! Any criticism or advice is appreciated!
I don't know what I want to name it, actually- because I can't seem to ID it at all. It is just so tiny I can't seem to make out many features. I can't see it's eye color, but it does have back legs like this:
The top of the abdomen/thorax and the back of the head are a darkish brown, while the rest of it seems a light tan or yellow. Sorry I can't get a pic, it's too small for my camera, haha.
I have never owned a mantis but I did have a tarantula so I am somewhat familiar to keeping creepy crawlies.
My current setup is a 10 gallon tank with some large sticks with little branches to climb and about a 1/2 inch of substrate (it's not like it's ever on the ground anyway, haha.) Primarily it hangs out on the mesh lid of the tank, so I lift it gently and dump about 5-7 of tiny flightless flies in there (about half it's size.) I was worried most would die and it would be a waste but man! I think it ate them all in like a day and a half!
I was feeding it maggots when I caught it the first day and it grew like 10 percent almost overnight without molting! So all the maggots (besides the first instar or so) went into pupae form and turned into flies in a few days so I had no choice but to put a few in there and it had no problem! I can't believe I doubted such a great predator!
I mist the tank daily just in case it decides it's gonna molt, since I don't know the species or age. Also, I have a porous towel over the lid so the flies can't get out but I hope it's not restricting oxygen to the mantis. Is that a bad idea? Do they absorb oxygen or do they have lungs? I read that some mantises are nocturnal, but this one was running around during the day so I don't know if I should keep my curtains open to simulate day and night or if that doesn't matter.
Sorry I'm so long winded! Any criticism or advice is appreciated!
