Praying Mantids

[demonmagus]

Does anyone here keep these guys? if so, any pics of your set up or any info at all would be great, I am interested in a chinese mantis or a dead leaf mantis, not sure atm. Can anyone give me a good set up idea?

thanks

 

[OohFeeshy]

I don't have one yet, waiting to see what Father Xmas brings... But care is generally easy. There are plenty of sites around if you need more info. Something 1ft cubed in size is good for pretty much all species. Provide plenty of plants for cover, food should be according to size of mantid but things like fruit flies, small crickets etc. normally are fine. A small heat mat is probably a good idea, but again, check out specific info as some are rom cooler regions.

 

[demonmagus]

ok, awesome, done that, but how do I measure humidity?

 

[demonmagus]

forgot to add, you say a 1ft cube, but is that a 1ft cube fish tank, or one of those fancy (and expensive!) net things?

 

[OohFeeshy]

All mesh is good if you can get it, if not, a mesh top should be fine. General size guidelines say 'twice as wide and three times as tall as the mantid, but not much larger than that. If the tank is too large the mantid will have a hard time finding its prey.' so if you get a small nymph you'll have to start in a smaller container anyway.

Chinese mantids should be fine at room temp, whereas dead leaf mantids should be slightly warmer. The latter is quite small so a 1ft cube might be too large, but can generally be kept together.

 

[happyannie]

I had a chinese mantid caught in the wild this past fall just before she laid her egg sac and died. Someone gave it to me. I had her in a critter keeper box but I would have let her go again if it wasn't so close to when she was going to die. I have her egg sac in safe keeping in the critter box in my garage. It has to be in cold weather or I'll be swamped with babies and no place to release them after they grow out!
I fed her little bitty soft-shelled crickets that I got at the petshop. The person who gave her to me had this little gel-pack water thingie in there with her... Not sure if the reptile section might have something like that. The little crickets would come up to drink from that. Somebody told me to get a mist bottle and mist water in there for her. She'd turn back up toward the top and drink the drops that formed on the plastic mesh top of the critter keeper box. I could see where you wouldn't want to flood them out with water but just give a bit each day particularly if your house is dry with the heat being on.
There were wood chips in the bottom which the crickets liked to hide in--and some sticks with leaves on them that the crickets crawled on and used for camoflage. I'd put in slices of apple, white potato or sweet potato for them to eat. The food would bring them up so the mantid could catch them. I put in about 6 crickets or so at a time. She snarfed them up pretty quick.
She was a beautiful animal and I feel honored to have had her presence in the household. I question how humane it is to have a wild creature confined like this tho.....
I might get her egg sac hatched out in the house in early spring and then let her children go in the garden. I feel like I've been entrusted with something special with that egg sac since she died giving birth to it. Hope I'm up to the task of all that!!

 

[moray]

Hi I've got an African Mantis (Sphodromantis lineo) lovely creature, my first mantid (great beginners mantid by the way), got a few more of the ame species coming tomorrow, can't wait, they are brilliant bugs, I'll see what I can do about a pic later.