vivarium for millipedes and ghost mantids

[Ecooper]

Hi all,

I have a large all glass vivarium: 3 ft tall x 3 ft tall x 1.5 ft deep with sliding glass doors. It can hold substrate or water to a depth of about 10 inches and is well ventilated via 2 perforated aluminum panels. Lighting consists of 4 daylight compact florescent bulbs and two 75w spot lights which also heat the enclosure. At night there is lighting and heat provided by two 75w red spotlights.

I originally set the vivarium up back in 2002 with rich substrate and lots of branches and plants for a pair of grandis day geckos. Thhe geckos thrived and bred like crazy. They finally died a couple of years ago. Since then I've been using it as a mini warm room for a variety of tubs of arthropods.

I'm now thinking of setting it up as a vivarium for both giant millepeds and ghost mantids. So it would have about 8 inches of peat moss/ground coconut/oak leaves for the 'pedes, with lots of branches and leafy plants for the mantids to hang out on.

Seems to me this could work out really nice.

Any thoughts or comments? Can anyone see how this wouldn't work nicely?

Cheers,

EC

 

[Vinegaroonie]

Millipedes release bad substances that would severely stress or maybe even kill the mantids not trying to be a downer, just warning you from personal experience. I would pick one of them.

 

[Paradoxica]

I don't know anything about millipedes, but I really like the idea of keeping a ground dwelling insect on the floor of a terrarium for a tree dwelling insect. maybe you could find some interesting Isopods or something?

 

[Ecooper]

Millipedes release bad substances that would severely stress or maybe even kill the mantids not trying to be a downer, just warning you from personal experience. I would pick one of them.

Some millipedes release noxious secretions if they are stressed. The mantids would mostly stay on the branches and there should be no conflict between them and the 'pedes. I doubt they would even come in contact with each other.

 

[kunturman]

Eccoper,

Keeping giant African millipedes and Ghost mantids will work just fine.

Besides offering dry Oak leaves, twigs, and logs as a substrate to your millies add some branches for your mantids to climb. I noticed that even 12" long millies love to climb small branches and eat the bark. Be careful about feeding to many adult live crickets, they can hide well in the substrate, and before you know it you will have an infestation. Crickets in great numbers are cleaners of many things including mantids. The same goes with isopods, if their numbers are more than you can feed they will eat any soft body creature...including mantids.Giant African Millipedes are just untouchable. I do not mix G A millies with Isopods, since they will get to the food quicker than the slow moving millipedes.

Light: I only use one single 18" florescent, which is on only during the daytime. If condensation forms an ex-PC fan is installed on the hood.

Good Luck

 

[Ecooper]

Thanks amamantodea! My main concern about this proposed set-up is getting food to the mantids. Crickets aren't much for climbing branches and I understand that ghost mantids tend to sit and wait for prey to come to them. I have an established group of millipedes but haven't kept these mantids yet (I have a bunch on the way).

Cheers,

EC