Alright, lemme lay out the story here.
A month or two ago, I was awoken by a sharp, stinging pain on my shoulder, just above my armpit. I batted at the area as a reflex. Looked at the time. 2:30am. What was that?! I turned on the light and saw the culprit on my bed: a yellow sac spider, Cheiracanthium mildei. I cleaned and iced the bite and, on a whim, decided to keep the spider. Why not? I put it in a little plastic jar and fed it carpet beetles, which it seemed to like (ignored a sow bug I threw in there).
Ok why is this relevant?
Well, two nights ago, I check on my little yellow sac spider and see that she's got company: a small mantis. I can see the molt still stuck to the side of the jar. Where this mantis came from, how it got into the jar, and why are and always will be deep mysteries to me. But it seemed like a cooler pet that the spider that bit me, so I let the spider go and moved the mantis to a larger and cleaner glass jar. I threw a few sticks in there for him to hang on (I think it's a male) but he seems to prefer the glass sides or the underside of the lid. I caught a leafhopper which he immediately grabbed and devoured. It was fun to watch, so I went outside to find him some dessert. Another leafhopper, a leafhopper nymph, some little gnats, a small moth or two, a tiny beetle--he hasn't touched any of them. Could it be that he's not hungry anymore? But it's been hours...
So I've included some pictures of the jar I've got him in now. I'd like to get some dirt, or pebbles to sprinkle in there also at some point. The white thing is a little wad of tissue paper soaked in water to maintain some humidity. Is this about right? What kind of housing should I make for him?
The penny is for scale. What I did was, I cut a big opening in the lid and taped one ply of tissue paper over it. When I have time, I plan on doing a neater job with a dremel, and using some kind of mesh like panty hoes or some such instead of tissue paper.
sorry about the grubby finger prints :blush: There he is, licking his claw or whatever it is that mantids do. I assume this is a religiosa because of my location (southeastern NY, suburbs of New York City).
Who knows what he's up to. I wish he'd eat some more. I thought mantids are supposed to eat voraciously at this stage in their lives. Maybe the prey I brought for him are too big? Almost all of the little bugs I put in there are still alive, but most of them aren't moving much anymore. Will he only eat something that moves?
I'd like to raise this guy. I read they can live for a year. Any info/pointers are much appreciated!
-Tomato
A month or two ago, I was awoken by a sharp, stinging pain on my shoulder, just above my armpit. I batted at the area as a reflex. Looked at the time. 2:30am. What was that?! I turned on the light and saw the culprit on my bed: a yellow sac spider, Cheiracanthium mildei. I cleaned and iced the bite and, on a whim, decided to keep the spider. Why not? I put it in a little plastic jar and fed it carpet beetles, which it seemed to like (ignored a sow bug I threw in there).
Ok why is this relevant?
Well, two nights ago, I check on my little yellow sac spider and see that she's got company: a small mantis. I can see the molt still stuck to the side of the jar. Where this mantis came from, how it got into the jar, and why are and always will be deep mysteries to me. But it seemed like a cooler pet that the spider that bit me, so I let the spider go and moved the mantis to a larger and cleaner glass jar. I threw a few sticks in there for him to hang on (I think it's a male) but he seems to prefer the glass sides or the underside of the lid. I caught a leafhopper which he immediately grabbed and devoured. It was fun to watch, so I went outside to find him some dessert. Another leafhopper, a leafhopper nymph, some little gnats, a small moth or two, a tiny beetle--he hasn't touched any of them. Could it be that he's not hungry anymore? But it's been hours...
So I've included some pictures of the jar I've got him in now. I'd like to get some dirt, or pebbles to sprinkle in there also at some point. The white thing is a little wad of tissue paper soaked in water to maintain some humidity. Is this about right? What kind of housing should I make for him?
The penny is for scale. What I did was, I cut a big opening in the lid and taped one ply of tissue paper over it. When I have time, I plan on doing a neater job with a dremel, and using some kind of mesh like panty hoes or some such instead of tissue paper.
sorry about the grubby finger prints :blush: There he is, licking his claw or whatever it is that mantids do. I assume this is a religiosa because of my location (southeastern NY, suburbs of New York City).
Who knows what he's up to. I wish he'd eat some more. I thought mantids are supposed to eat voraciously at this stage in their lives. Maybe the prey I brought for him are too big? Almost all of the little bugs I put in there are still alive, but most of them aren't moving much anymore. Will he only eat something that moves?
I'd like to raise this guy. I read they can live for a year. Any info/pointers are much appreciated!
-Tomato
