UVB lighting

[DeadInTheBasement]

is UVB bad for mantids..or have any effect on them at all? :mellow:

 

[Rick]

Won't hurt them.

 

[Moosashi]

i think my bulb is UVA over their cups, is that ok for them?

 

[Rick]

Should be.

 

[asdsdf]

They live in the sunlight don't they? :mellow:

 

[Moosashi]

that's what I figured!

 

[Borya]

They live in the sunlight don't they? :mellow:

Of course they do!

They like sunlight very very much. As for mantids being raised in captivity, each time they have an opportunity to take a sunbath they spread on a surface immediately and stay still for even a few hours with a look of pleasure on their faces .

Also I noticed, that M. religiosa being raised in autumn-winter period, with a lack of sunlight, look weaker than those who grew at summertime. They are less colourful too.

 

[Birdfly]

All diurnal creatures will bask in sun light whether it be to warm up or for other more important reasons, even some nocturnal creatures will sun bathe when the opertunity arises.

I always use reptile based tubes for my mantids and summer time the lucky ones get the greenhouse, uv radiation does not penitrate glass,perspex etc very well but i believe just the light intensity helps.

It takes an awful lot of tubes to duplicate the lumens from the sun but just one tube has got to be better than none at all.