when you go on vacation, what do you do with your mantis?

[Lalapink]

beside having someone else look after your mantis. what else do you do to keep your mantis alive when you are away for vacation? I am planning on an oversea vacation. It will take about 2 to 2.5 weeks. I wonder if I can still keep my mantis alive while I am away. Maybe I can leave enough blue bottle flies pupae in their enclosure? 

I like to have mantis but I need to travel every year to another continent to visit my family and it usually takes 2 to 3 weeks. I hope I can still keep mantis alive when I am away for that long. otherwise I have to wait for my mantis to pass away before I go on vacation and I can't breed mantis. 

 

[Jaywo]

I actually hire a mantid sitter. Is that weird?

 

[Lalapink]

I actually hire a mantid sitter. Is that weird?

I would love to work as mantis sitter. But it may cost too much money for me to hire one. How much did you pay ? 

 

[MantisGirl13]

@Lalapink Do you have a neighbor kid (or adult) that you would trust to come and feed/spray your mantis every few days while you are gone? 

- MantisGirl13

 

[cmiquel]

I am new to having a pet mantis, but If I had to leave for an extended period of time I would leave my mantis with a pet store and hire someone there to properly look after her.

A small pet store would do the deed.  I leave my dog with her trainer for boarding, care, and training. 

 

[Jaywo]

I would love to work as mantis sitter. But it may cost too much money for me to hire one. How much did you pay ? 

It is my friend and he takes care of all my creatures but I pay him.

 

[Mantis Lady]

I took mine with me on vacation.  But in your case I would look for a friend to take care of your mantis in your vacation.

 

[hibiscusmile]

My son wants me to go to Disneyland with them. I don't c how I can go.  Five days is a long time to have some one take care of my bunch. 

 

[MantisGirl13]

Well, what species and instars do you have? Could you risk leaving them without care? Maybe have someone stop in a few times to spray and feed?

- MantisGirl13 

 

[hibiscusmile]

To many to list and all diff ages. Naw, most people I know dont like bugs.

 

[Teamonger]

I get my well trained friends to drop in every 3 days or so to take care of my vast zoo of creatures which includes mantises. I write up detailed directions in the form of a check list so they can just go down it and check each item off as they do it. That way its a no brainer. I also make sure to make up little food containers for all the animals if at all possible so my more squeamish friends do not have to touch insects just dump em in. That might be a bit harder with flies but maybe not with pupa.

I think the biggest risk of leaving insects alone for too long is dehydration as its easy enough to make sure there are enough pupa or whatever for while you are away. A humidifier helps with molting issues but isn't going to replace spraying them so they can drink if needed. (It is also crazy dry where I live so this might not be as big an issue for others?)