a few questions

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Welsh_Barnie

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ive been looking at an african

whats the life expectancy and how fast they grow,

another thing is prices, ive seen them ranging from £2.50 - £15, now thats quite a price difference, what should i be looking at paying

and keeping live food

what live food last the longest

and how does the L rating work

 
the L system is an extra L for every time it sheds and there are 2 views on this some say anewly hatched mantis is L1 but others say it goes through a change straight away as hatching and is considered L2. i think most people will just call a hatched L1 and after a shed L2 and so on

The price thing is likely due to age/size a newly hatched nymph and you are likely looking at a couple of pound as they get older they tend to be sold for more so the £15 is likely to be an adult female in my opinion it all depends what you want

Food again depends on the size of the mantis when newly hatched best bet is probably flightless fruitflies and maybe hatchling crickets, then move up to bigger crickets but still small or curly wing flies, then even bigger crickets and proper flies that you may get down the fishing tackle shop. These can all be added to with any harmless insects you can find (houseflies/moths/butterflies and so on)

Not sure how fast they grow i got mine one shed from adult and she is now an adult so i have not seen how they grow but i think average lifespans of a mantis is a little short of a year.

 
price wise, I can almost guarentee from a reliable supplier or breeder, you will not find a young african mantis for over £15. Online that is. Pet shops are a different matter ;)

Cheers,

Ian

 
yeah i paid £3.25 which was for a medium nymph although it was only one shed from an adult so it should have been the next price up which would have been £4.25

and where i got it from adults were £10

 
Almost all mantids can be cared for in the same manner. Look at the different caresheets on the web and read some of the existing threads on this site and most or all of your questions should be answered.

 
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