Using heat lights...

[Rick]

the original poster is in south wales, uk. the uk in general is colder than you lot in usa. also, uk room temperature is not exactly the same temperature as these insects would have in the wild. while it may be true that alot of species "do fine" at room temperature, what is wrong with wanting to offer something more close to their natural habitat? with some species (granted, not p.paradoxa) room temperature is far from fine. even if you disregard all that, you surely agree that they will grow faster at warmer temperatures. for some people this may be reason enough. also i have had some p.paradoxa that are very fussy and reluctant eaters, some specimens of this species sometimes refuse to eat for no apparent reason. warmer temperatures usually open up a mantids apetite, maybe this will be useful with this species?

I have kept these just fine at room temperature around 70. I prefer to use a space heater and heat an entire small room. IMO the heat lamp is a bad idea.

 

[mrblue]

What kind of set up are you talking about here? What wattage are the lamps and how big of a cage? You put the lamps directly on the screen cover or somwhere else? I've seen some diagrams and finished photos for mini lights on custom mantid cages that would be safe but a lot of work.

maybe we are talking about different things. my approach is pretty much the same as macro junkie. i use normal cheap desk lamps (£2.99 from argos, around $5 equivalent) usually with standard/spotlight 100W bulbs. for idolomantis which are together in a big container, i shine the lamp from above, pointing down into the container through the mesh top. the rest of my mantids are in small cups or tubs and are all on a shelf, where i have another lamp just shining onto the shelf. its no work more than switching the lamps on when i wake up and off when i go to bed. all the mantids get a quick spray just after i turn the lights off. the only time i had bulbs actually inside the container was a few years back when i kept 6 g.gongylodes in a big apogee, had a bulb hanging from the top of the cage.