# new praying mantis



## frankinthecity (May 25, 2009)

hello everyone!!

received my new praying mantis yesterday!!! my mother in law brought it to me from a store in her city 3 hours away (only place available in my area)

i was a bit anxious because she bought it friday morning, and only stoped by at my place sunday night, didnt know if it was still alive, she was willing to bring it to me, but not feed it, LOL

it was alive!! skinny, but alive, the abdoman was as big in diameter as the "neck". my mother in law told me they were feeding it with pinheads!!   come on its at least 2 inches big!! the guy was nice enough to give 3 before she leaves tho  

i decided to rehouse it right away, because it had no substrate and no bark, after that i gave it 1/2 inch cricket, it's just fascinating how it follow the pray with its head, its basically going for it, if the pray is a bit to far, it will get closer and nail it   

is there any danger of overfeeding?

Francois


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## skips (May 25, 2009)

I dont think you can really overfeed as in gold fish eating too much to the point of exploding.  I wouldnt worry about it.  I generally just feed mine a roach or two about a fifth it's body size once a day and mist since they drink the droplets off the side of the container.  They're fine.


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## agama (May 25, 2009)

i feed mine a strict diet for crickets


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## frankinthecity (May 25, 2009)

thanks guy!!

i looked up a few pictures on google image and they all have well rounded abdomen, i ll over-feed for a few days so it gets healthy :} :} 

i was so glad when it got is first cricket, usually it means it will survive and its doing fine  

its an amazing insect, it look so "human" when it look at you and turn its head!! crawl on your arm, very calm and docile, almost looks curious..

forgot to mention, its the chinese one, so it should become pretty big!!

Francois


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## frankinthecity (May 25, 2009)

here some more pics!!


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## skips (May 26, 2009)

agama said:


> i feed mine a strict diet for crickets


any reason you only feed crickets?  I'd think it'd be good to diversify what you feed.  Frank, that's the same species I have.  I've fed mine all they can eat every and they are just as big as yours.  Honestly I think they intentionally go a day at least without eating on their own.  I dont know why an ambush predator would need to eat that much.


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## zonbonzovi (May 26, 2009)

These guys are common, but underrated.  If you're in an area free from pesticides, they go gaga for spiders


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## joshuai (May 26, 2009)

keep it on green stuff and it will turn green as anadult. keep it on brown stuff it will be brown as adult. is it male or female?


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## frankinthecity (May 26, 2009)

wow i didnt know that i will try for sure, any suggestion for green stuff? it is on a piece of bark right now, so..brown stuff lol

to figure out if its a female or a male i have to count the amount of section right? 6 is female, more is male?

what does it change if its male or female?? for a spider i know, but for mantis i dont  

thanks guys

Francois


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## joshuai (May 26, 2009)

males stay prety small, and ya males have like 9 sections i think. and fake plants work for green


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## agama (May 26, 2009)

> any reason you only feed crickets? I'd think it'd be good to diversify what you feed. Frank, that's the same species I have. I've fed mine all they can eat every and they are just as big as yours. Honestly I think they intentionally go a day at least without eating on their own. I dont know why an ambush predator would need to eat that much.


i feed mine big crickets you buy at the pet shop...mine chewed a piece of his arm of for some reason do you know why...i kept crickets in there with her...she was lardge,i found her out side and she was pregnant,but the crickets attacked and killed her


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## The Spider Faery (May 27, 2009)

Looks like the mantis is going to be nice and full from now on with its new owner.  



> its an amazing insect, it look so "human" when it look at you and turn its head!! crawl on your arm, very calm and docile, almost looks curious..


I know what you mean.  They seem to have the ability to 'connect' with you, like they have an intelligence beyond the usual insect, and they rarely, if ever, bite a human, even though they're practically a top preditor of the insect world.  Their hunting stealth is unmatched.  I swear if ever there was another planet where the top of the food chain was an insect, the dominant species would be the mantid. :worship:

The only downfall to keeping one as a pet is that they don't live long.



> mine chewed a piece of his arm of for some reason do you know why


I've read that they will chew parts of their body, such as the end of limb, if there is an infection.  It's a survival tactic it seems.


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## frankinthecity (May 28, 2009)

hey does the segment thing works even when they are immature?


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## joshuai (May 29, 2009)

yes!
..........


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## frankinthecity (May 29, 2009)

thanks again lol

hey is the part in red 1 segment?


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## joshuai (May 30, 2009)

yes and thats a female. theayr kinda like cockroaches as far as sexing. the last segment(tail) is kinda like split and piramid shaped in femalesand  a males is like a clam it opens up and down. ya know what i mean


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## joshuai (May 30, 2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYp_Xi4AtAQ

you can kinda see it in this video


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## frankinthecity (Jun 4, 2009)

hello, my mantisjust molted yesterday!! it almost doubled its size!!!! i will post pictures shortly


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## frankinthecity (Jun 15, 2009)

hey i didnt which to post so i post them all!!
we can even see the begining of the wings growing

*





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when you click on thumbnail, and it brings you to imageshack site, click again on the picture , the resolution will be a bit better!

Francois


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## mantisboy137 (Mar 21, 2013)

where did your mom buy it where do she live! pleas respond!


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