When people leave mantid hobby

[MantidLord]

Unfortunately, I'm going to take a break from the hobby soon. Going off to college and won't have the time (or room?) to take care of mantids. Of course I'll still be interested in the hobby, as I'll be dealing with insects in my major.

 

[PhilinYuma]

Yeah, it's sad that six out of the eleven original posters are gone and another is seen all too rarely.

Perhaps those of us who continue to keep mantids year after year and talk about them on this forum, despite the recent hike in the monthly membership fee, are a little crazed,

but it's less costly than maintaining a yacht and less dangerous than joining the Palestine Liberation Movement, so I think that I'll hang on.

@KrissimKlaw: Don't leave us! You always write great posts and your avatar has always been the best one on the forum! And who else would have the class to call us a guild?

 

[warpdrive]

OMG, I've been around for about 6 months...how much monthly dues do I owe? :blink:

Harry

 

[lion]

My interest kinda comes and goes with the amount of flies I can get. Sad stuff :blink:

 

[Krissim Klaw]

It was that for me.

I'd kept the "common" praying mantis species in North America for several years in high school, but when I went to college (and into the dorms) I wasn't allowed to bring such things with me. Wonder why my roommates refused.... :lol:

I was in a dorm too, no pets allowed, and I still brought my mantids with me. The roommates had to deal not that they seemed to mind much.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

@KrissimKlaw: Don't leave us! You always write great posts and your avatar has always been the best one on the forum! And who else would have the class to call us a guild?

Lol, don't worry I'm not planning to up and leave anytime soon. Even when I do leave it isn't like I'm going to have a big going away party and scurry off forever. It is more of a slow fad in and out depending if there is enough interesting things being posted to keep my attention. So no pressure, but you better keep me entertained if you want me to stay active. And of course we are a guild, have you not seen the great skill in which fellow members tend to their clawed babies, build cages, insect traps, and complex systems to streamline mantis care? Also,thank you very much for the compliment on my avatar art.

 

[sporeworld]

I like to travel, and can't find a reliable bug-sitter. So, I try to be bug-free before I go adventuring. Luckily (through this forum) I've made connections with people (especially local) that can benefit from my "mass extinctions". i think KitKat's "Bring Beer" post was further evidence of that. And how to manage the outcome of massive breeding.

Also, I get kind of finicky. I didn't like the hetero's like some other here did, or my Dead Leaf's. Also, while I LOVED my Gongy's, at about 30 adults it just becomes a burden. Another 30 pop out of an ooth or two, and you just wanna put em ALL up for adoption. For me, there's a breaking point - and I think it's based on volume. 30 Gongy's needed more space than 30 Idolos, because they were so restless. They'd crawl right over each other - even when molting (or KICK each other, as illustrated on KitKat's recent "Green Gongy?" video). But 60 Ghosts were fine (although, even that got to be a little old).

So, I took a few months off, but was still obsessive on the forum. So, probably not a good example of someone leaving the hobby.

 

[MantidLord]

I was in a dorm too, no pets allowed, and I still brought my mantids with me. The roommates had to deal not that they seemed to mind much.

I'm gonna ask the people at cornell if I can keep my pet tarantula. That would be better than having no pet arthropods at all.

 

[mantisboy]

Well I'm definitely in the category of being a seasonal Mantis keeper. Like so many things this is one hobby which is seasonal and which I would like to keep as inexpensive as possible. All my Mantids are wild and their food sources for the most part are caught not purchased. Because of this I always have the option of releasing them back into the wild. This is especially true when it comes to males after they have provided stud services.

It really is an investment in time, adult Mantids should be removed from their housings daily or at least every other day, watered, and their housing should be cleaned on a regular schedule. There is an attachment factor which leads many of us to resort to having special care Mantids, mostly elder care patients. Late in the season when food sources are gone, feeder bugs (crickets) must be purchased, and ooths prepared for diapause.

I am not a collector by any means, I like to consider myself more of an enthusiast.

 

[nebrakacinese]

Health problems had me out a few months but when it's in your blood it's in your blood I'm back

 

[dgerndt]

I don't think I'll ever leave the mantis hobby. No matter what everyone says, mantids are cheap and easy-to-care-for pets. 30 crickets = $3.00, deli cups = free, enclosure decorations = free, heat lamp = $7.00, spray bottle = $1.00, mantis = free to $20. CHEAP. As for care, it really doesn't take that much time. Spray their enclosure through the lid one or two times a day. Feed every other day or so (depending on the mantis). Change their enclosure once a week. Plus, you can leave for a few days and your bugs will be fine. They don't NEED to eat and drink every single day. Just put a few extra bugs in there for them to eat and they'll be fine. I'm just a broke college student and I can take care of them.

Anyway, I want to make mantids my career. So even if I don't keep any as pets later in life, I'll hopefully be keeping them at my job. I've always loved them, and I'm sure I always will.

 

[Katnapper]

Time and attention to address critical family issues were the proverbial straws for me since last year. Haven't given up interest or hope... just tending to the most important things necessary for me to move forward in a positive direction in life. I may not have any mantids right now... but they've never truly left me. One of these days.....

 

[kitkat39]

LOL.. I'm barely reading through this and couldn't stop laughing at Sporeworld's post.. lol! So true!

Well, the last time I'd kept any mantids was way back in like 1998 or 1999? I only had access to Chinese at that point and had kept them for years before I'd even let them go. I wasn't much of a breeder either. I'd just get an ooth from the Nursery Store and end up with 2 or 3 of them by the time they were adult. There wasn't so much information around that I could even find on them so I didn't even know what was a male or what was a female because I kept them all together and watch them eat each other until I only had like a couple left that I was able to manage. They'd just eventually die. Some laid blank ooths while others didn't.

So what do I do when I get bored of a certain exotic animal? Why I get into OTHER exotic animals of course! DUH! ;-) Unlike my other pets, mantids and insects in general don't smell so bad. My last pet obsession dealt with reptiles - mainly geckos, bearded dragons, and some chameleons. My interest in Mantids started up and got pursued all over again when I was at a park getting my butt kicked and saw what I think was a Stagmomantis Limbata running around on a bench some time back in 2008 and brought it home. I've got soooooooo much more resources and species to pick from NOW than I ever did!

 

[PhilinYuma]

Time and attention to address critical family issues were the proverbial straws for me since last year. Haven't given up interest or hope... just tending to the most important things necessary for me to move forward in a positive direction in life. I may not have any mantids right now... but they've never truly left me. One of these days.....

Becky, dear friend and "once and future" trading partner, when you do decide to come back to us, know that there will be plenty of free mantids awaiting you!

And yes, I owe you an Email. Manana!