Praying Mantis

Scuzi

Scuzi

Scuzi

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I remember a couple of years ago quite a few members from here all bought praying mantids on an impulse. They looked like quite cool pets and I want to get one. I remember that most people who bought them got them from a website that provided an entire kit for something like £35.

Anyone know the site? I've been looking on the net and fancy either an african or a thai one, they look quite cool :D
 
I've still got some videos that people posted of them eating crickets and spiders :D . Looks very cool. I'd be tempted to get one if they're that cheap! Can't imagine they make much noise or makes much mess!
 
Woah, i remember playing around a lot with this in Nigeria on my Grand dad's farm.....cool. Me and my friend always get them to fight and feed other live insect to them.....**memories comes flooding back**!

I might get one, possibly the giant asian one. :cool:
 
for a beginner i would recommend Sphodromantis lineola on the mantis forums from rob byatt (ive dealt with him) ,he will also have giant asians in a few weeks but remember that hatchlings are very small and need to be fed fruit flys,hatchlings also have a tendency to drop dead on you for no reason,so unless you are going to buy half a dozen and keep them in styrene cups till they reach L2/3 its better for a beginner to buy one at L3+ in size, the above is a basic african mantis,females grow to about 75mm and full grown will take adult crickets,wasps,bees and those big hairy spiders you find in the bath easily.
 
erm ,how have you paid £35 ? the tank you need is only 3.99 and the mantis 9.99 ,that mantis needs no heat mat etc (not sure what kit you have paid for) :confused:
anyhow, i guess its an easy (but expensive) way for a first time keeper, any questions you have let me know, ive been keeping-breeding when possible -different species for about 4 yrs now.
 
pugster said:
erm ,how have you paid £35 ? the tank you need is only 3.99 and the mantis 9.99 ,that mantis needs no heat mat etc (not sure what kit you have paid for) :confused:
anyhow, i guess its an easy (but expensive) way for a first time keeper, any questions you have let me know, ive been keeping-breeding when possible -different species for about 4 yrs now.
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I didn't get a heat mat but the postage was £12 as it weighed over 2Kg so the mantis, tank, vermiculite, and temp & humidity gauges came to £20 something.

I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions! How often do you feed yours?
 
Depends on size etc, at nymph stage L2/3/4 etc you can feed them about every other day, the mantis will stop eating and drop it when it gets full,most giant species like the one you have purchased will also pace about the tank looking for food when hungry,full grown females that are egg bound will eat just about anytime,dont pay any attention to the humidity gauge ,just spray then mantis every 3 days or so,they get most of the moisture they need from the food they eat and are prone to fungal infections which kill them thro over misting the tank,i would encourage you to handle it when ever possible,it will eat right out of your hand when used to you, i have never had a mantis bite me (sometimes it looks like they are going to but they are just after the moisture/salts on your hand),when it is going to shed it will stop eating and pay no attention to the food,the size change after each shed is impressive,last shed at usually L6/7 it will get its wings,females dont fly much (if at all) and are usually twice the size of a male,the males wings extent over its abdomen where the females do not,males will fly like a sparrow :p ,both will give threat displays by extending arms and showing wings when scared.
 
Nice one :D I'm told I can feed them houseflys, spiders, bees, wasps, ants and about any other household insect I find. Is it best to get a box of crickets as well though?
I didn't know they could bite! I doubt they could do much damage though. When handling them do they just sit on your hand? I wouldn't want it to jump off or fly away with me having to try to catch it again.

Thanks for the advice :)
 
yup, no open windows or theres a good chance it will leg it when you arent looking, theres a pic of one of my bark mantis in this
thread giving a threat display.
nymphs are prone to jumping about ,yeah feed stuff outta garden to give a varied diet (plus you can watch wasp vs mantis :p ) keep crickets as a backup for winter when there aint many bugs about or when you cant catch anything, full grown female giants will also eat locust (from small to fully grown depending on size of mantis) ,tbh they will eat just about anything crawling, ive even waved a piece of mince meat at one of mine and it ate that,aint tried mcdonalds or kentucy tho :D
 
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I got the mantis today, it's quite a cool little thing, it just hangs off the roof of the tank :D
I ordered some crickets to feed it but they haven't arrived yet. I cant find any flies or anything around the house although I did throw a couple of ants into the tank. I don't think it seen them though.

How long can I leave it without feeding it? Are there any other alternatives until the crickets arrive?
 
how big is it? tbh i wouldnt bother with ants unless its a hatchling only a few mm long ,let me know the size and i'll try and recommend something,aslong as it moves they will usually go for it, when pushed for food ive even fed them suitably sized worms in the past,maggots from a fishing shop are also good for young mantis-3/5mm- (just ask for a handfull tho),make sure you order the right size crickets for the size of the mantis,ive had a small mantis in the past holding onto a full sized cricket and riding it like a bronco tho i wouldnt advise this as crickets can and will bite,no point looking for a young mantis and finding a large fat cricket.

*they can usually go for a few weeks at a time without food
 
I think it's quite young, about 3-4cm long. I did think that the crickets would be too big considering the size of the mantis. So I'm OK to leave it without a feed for a few days if I can't find anything?

Ta.
 
Moths? If you can't find a moth at this time of year by leaving the light on and the window open, you must live in the South Pole!

I used to feed my mantids moths and they love them. Try a woodlouse, it's quite funny. The mantis will strike it, take a bite and fling it away. For whatever reason, they really don't like them!
 
danza said:
Moths? If you can't find a moth at this time of year by leaving the light on and the window open, you must live in the South Pole!

I used to feed my mantids moths and they love them. Try a woodlouse, it's quite funny. The mantis will strike it, take a bite and fling it away. For whatever reason, they really don't like them!
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The windows are open and the lights are on, all I have to do is wait :D

Is it possible to keep two mantids in the same container or is it a bad idea? I get the feeling they're the sort of thing that would fight with each other.
 
The windows are open and the lights are on, all I have to do is wait
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Good stuff!

Is it possible to keep two mantids in the same container or is it a bad idea? I get the feeling they're the sort of thing that would fight with each other.
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Well, it's a good idea in that one of them won't need to be fed for a bit longer. :D

What's your mantis' tank set out like? It's a good idea to have a couple of twigs diagonally leading up to the roof, or even some plastic plants. It needs something to hang off when it moults. If the mantis sheds its skin on the bottom of the tank, it will most likely be badly deformed with a twisted thorax/legs or dead.

Mantis talk takes me back to the good old days, when I used to keep many species of cockroach and millipede. Oh what fun trying to stop them from escaping!
 
Scuzi said:
Is it possible to keep two mantids in the same container or is it a bad idea? I get the feeling they're the sort of thing that would fight with each other.
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Don't females eat the males after they mate?
 
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