Looking to get into mantids

[Thrillhouse]

The giant Asian is a whopper and comes in awesome colors, and is easy to find in the pet trade.

Mantis are voracious predators and will eat anything they think they can wrestle into their raptors. It's not that they're cannibals, it's that to them everything is food. It's best not to keep any species together, even the reportedly "communal" ones. Some are more skittish of larger prey, like the ghosts, which people say are communal. I still think it's best not to.

 

[shutout2000]

It's really to bad they are not communal. So, is there a chance when breeding them they would kill eachother?

 

[Thrillhouse]

Because the sexual dimorphism in mantids mean the female is bigger than the male, and in some species like orchids, it's extreme. There's always a chance the female will chow down on the male.

That could mean after copulation. During copulation. Or even before.

If you're breeding don't get too attached to the males.

 

[Mantis Army]

They are awesome to watch/ study an looking in design. A nearly perfect predator. Hence an army of them is my goal lol. 3 as indoor pets. Roughly 1000 to be unleashed in my yard an immediate area to engage an destroy enemy insects with out u.n or nato interference an no roes lol. Victory through superior numbers an an wave upon wave if needed to overwhelm enemies of this yard lol. Currently 10 ootheca in cool storage standing by. Chinese an carolina mantis. Perhaps overkill yet I feel it's going to get my point across.

 

[TheSanguineSaint]

I too am looking into mantids but they seem to be hard to get in Ontario Canada. There are a few places you can get the home grown species but only in summer. I have been having trouble finding anything else even information on what is allowed in Canada. Any suggestions on stick/leaf bugs would be welcomed as well....please be kind I am new to this and have checked local by laws etc with no luck and am not sure where else to go. Thanks in advance to any of you out there that can help or make suggestions. I have been keeping tarantula for over 8 years and adore them but am looking into expanding my buggy collection lol. Thanks

 

[KevinsWither]

Hmmm, I do that they are illegal, even the natives (ironically) . I can pm you for info.

 

[TheSanguineSaint]

Hmmm, I do that they are illegal, even the natives (ironically) . I can pm you for info.

How ridiculous! but thank you. Home depot sells them in summer and one dealer will sell egg sacs and adults and juveniles but they were sold out in a week this year and are almost sold out for the 2018 season. Yuck! Thanks though. Take care

 

[KevinsWither]

I was mentioning that for the phasmids, but with the mantids the only one is the eygptian pygmy mantis officially.

 

[MatisIsLoveMantisIsLyf]

its the most straight forward insect you can care for that i know, i learned everything by myself mostly, just watch some online guides.

 

[Andrea82]

its the most straight forward insect you can care for that i know, i learned everything by myself mostly, just watch some online guides.

That depends on species.
An H.membranacea is easy as pie, but an I.diabolica is a lot of work and fine tuning.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Definitely get a mantis, you will love owning one. It just sucks they live so short of a life.

 

[MatisIsLoveMantisIsLyf]

a suggestion from an owner, dont buy too many (over 2) if you get easily tired or pets, or you own too many. Some times mantids will be a pain in the butt, because they wont see their food, sometimes they'll catch it mid air, i always get bored of my mantids after they lay their ooths, cause there's nothing new that's going to happen wwith them, most of the times they just live for about 1 month after mating, so yeah, it sucks that they live so short.

 

[shutout2000]

a suggestion from an owner, dont buy too many (over 2) if you get easily tired or pets, or you own too many. Some times mantids will be a pain in the butt, because they wont see their food, sometimes they'll catch it mid air, i always get bored of my mantids after they lay their ooths, cause there's nothing new that's going to happen wwith them, most of the times they just live for about 1 month after mating, so yeah, it sucks that they live so short.

Funny post to see from someone with a username like that.

 

[MatisIsLoveMantisIsLyf]

Yes.

 

[Johnny Q]

IMO all Mantis are difficult to keep. Crazy expensive and time consuming for something so fragile and short lived. I highly recommend raising local species before even considering anything exotic. Tenodera sinensis and Tenodera angustipennis are both good starter species that get very large.

 

[Andrea82]

IMO all Mantis are difficult to keep. Crazy expensive and time consuming for something so fragile and short lived. I highly recommend raising local species before even considering anything exotic. Tenodera sinensis and Tenodera angustipennis are both good starter species that get very large.

H.membranacea is even easier than T.sinensis. T.sinensis has a propensity for having trouble with the last molt from what I've gathered. Ferocious hunters though. I had one pinching my finger with two raptors and starting to eat my finger because she mistook it for food