Yen Saw - (US)

[PhilinYuma]

Yen Saw eats organic yellow soybeans, purchased from the Central Market in Austin, and if that is what makes him such a celebrated mantis breeder and all-round good guy, soybeans, here I come!

I ordered half a dozen Arizona unicorn nymphs from him at a more than reasonable price, and mentioned that this was the first species that I had purchased, in November, and that, no doubt due to my gross inexperience, they had all died quite suddenly at F5.

I got half a dozen lively, well fed nymphs, half of whom had molted in transit without ill effect, enough free budwings to have a good chance of raising a pair, and some good advice on not giving the unicorns too much humidity. The box was well packed, with a heat pack, and he had taken the extra measure of attaching paper toweling to the top and bottom of the bowl in which the unicorns were packed, to give them extra purchase. This was my first purchase from Yen. It certainly won't be my last.

I just looked up soybeans in my lentils cookbook and found a recipe called Soy Gevult, which uses sour cream and dried Chinese mushrooms with the soybeans. I have no idea what a "Gevult" is, but if it's a corruption of Gewalt, it can be called Soy Power! I think I'll try it out on Sunny first...

 

[revmdn]

Gevult sounds like a Yitish phrase.

 

[Apocanaut]

My transaction with Yen Saw was great. He sent me a couple extra of the species I ordered, plus 3 free budwings. Next time I want mantises I will go to him first, and would recommend him to anyone interested in buying mantises.

Calvin

 

[pohchunyee]

My purchase and trades has been extremely well with Yen. I got some Hestiasula brunneriana ooth from Yen and he send a few extra ooth and nymphs. I also traded 10 Arizona Unicorn and 10 whalbergii from Yen and they arrived to in excellent shape; very healthy. I will purchase from Yen in the near future!!

 

[pohchunyee]

Once again I got a few Hestiasula brunneriana from Yen. The package came in today and all of the are nice and huge (in great shape) Thanks again Yen!!

 

[revmdn]

I just had my first transaction with Yen. What can I say about Yen that hasn't been said already? He is a real pro. He even sent me two free mantids. He answered all my questions and then some. Super helpful, and nice. I fully recommend Yen to anyone who hasn't worked with before. If you have then you already know. Thank you very much Yen!

 

[Katnapper]

Another flawless transaction with Yen. Great communication, excellent packing/shipping, timely delivery, and some extras to boot... which are very much appreciated! Thank you Yen!

Becky Heacox

 

[PhilinYuma]

Well, I thought that at last (after 21 pages of monotonous praise) I would have something new to report about Yen. He sent out my order for 10 shield mantids on Monday. On Tuesday I got a note from him saying that the rest of his stock had started molting to L3 and that he feared the worst and would make up any losses, etc. Aha! I set up my sad little camera focused on a piece of red cloth and planned on piling up all the tiny, mutilated corpses and posting a pic on this thread.

Guess my disappointment when I opened the package, with the usual heat pack, today! It contained 16 2/3 oz plastic pots with clear tops so that I could inspect them without opening. Ten of the nymphs had molted, but Yen had cheated and meticulously glued a tiny patch of paper towel to the bottom of each pot to give the nymphs purchase. As a consequence, only one of the ten mismolted, hardly worth a pic, especially as I got 50% more than I ordered. The other four L2s were also fine as were one male and one female L4 (?) boxer, who were spry enough to go into their crazy antics as soon as I transferred them to their new pots.

So OK, you win this time Yen Saw, but I have a Plan. I'm going to keep on ordering and ordering mantids from you, and one day....

 

[ismart]

Once again my transaction with yen went very smoothley. Yen sent me some very awsome looking P. Wahlbergi nymphs! All came very well packed. No deaths, and he even through some extras! Thank-you yen!

I will be doing bussiness with him again.

Paul

 

[revmdn]

I also received some P. Wahlbergii from Yen and once again things went smooth as silk. He is an absolute credit to this hobby. He is great with communication, even after the transaction. You can't beat his pricing either. Even though I don't drink anymore I'd wish I could buy him a beer. Thanks Yen!

 

[bassist]

Got some P. Wahlbergii nymphs and Acromantis Formosana subadults and adults from Yen today packing was very nice with polyester and paper he threw in one extra formosana and about four Wahlbergii, One of the formosana mismolted (blame that on the delivery guy didn't even knock on my door just put a slip in the mail had to wait three or so hours to get it from the post office) another one was lucky to molt 100% fine, oh and a female laid an ooth Lol, Highly recommend buying from Yen great transaction will buy again.

 

[Hypoponera]

Just recieved another package of mantids from Yen. Got some of his Yersiniops from his trip to Tucson. Got a great deal and just couldn't force myself to say "no". All arrived in perfect condition as they were packed for the trip like a pro. Thanks again Yen!!

Mike

 

[Laemia]

Bought again from Yen and it was great as it always is! Quick and safe shipment, good communication, great prices, and an extra here and there. I would be shocked to see a negative about Yen.

 

[Zelthan]

Hi, I bought my very first ooth from Yen, excelent comunication, the best service, great price, If you want to buy an ooth really you should choose Yen, when I opened the parcel there was an extra ooth!!

Thank you Yen :lol:

 

[PhilinYuma]

At last!!

I got my monthly fix from Yen today, a Giant Asian ooth, at the usual low price and with the usual sound advice (probably worth what I paid for the ooth!) and immaculate packaging.

BUT

Part of the packing was obviously Spy Stuff. It consisted of (probably Top Secret) charts containing l&l grids for the plotting of a conflict between two naval fleets. One was designated Enemy Fleet and the other My Fleet. Could the latter be a code name for Malaysian Fleet? Even more remarkable was the fact that it contained coding for battleships, designated BBBB rather than the American convention of BB, so this was apparently Foreign Spy Stuff. Also, as Every American Schoolboy Knows, the last American battleship, the Missouri, was decommissioned in 1992, so does Yen know something that we don't?

Probably.

 

[MAN-TI]

thanks for the nice big ooths yen & the best packing i have had in a long time

 

[pohchunyee]

Getting mantis and ooth from Yen is just great. I purchase Yersinopsis (Grasshopper Mantis) 6 months ago, finally starting to hatch. I got another 10 C.gemmatus and H.brunnerriae from Yen. Awesome packing!!

 

[bassist]

Received a bunch of Giant Asian Mantis nymphs and C. Gemmatus nymphs from Yen today got quite a few extras no DOA though one is missing two of it's walking legs probably where eaten by the others. Appears a couple molted in transit as well no mismolts. As I said before definitely recommend buying from Yen.

 

[Kaddock]

Thanks Yen! My S. bicornis looks so amazing, and thanks for the free C. gemmatus! You rock!

 

[Emile.Wilson]

Just received my p.w ootheca, he answered my p.ms very quickly, was nicely packaged, and yen threw in 3 Pseudoharpax virescens ooths!!

Thanks Yen

-Emile