Advice on African mantids

[kevinr]

I'm getting one of these little guys on tuesday (Oct 24th 06) and am looking for some advice.

I have the following setup for it:

plastic tank (12"x8"x10")
coconut hust substrate
fake aquarium plant
8 watt heat matt

I've been told that i need to spray the tank about twice a week to keep the humidity up.

Any advice on these critters would be appricated, such as feeding, lifespan etc.

Thanks

 

[Snipes]

I am not sure if they require a heat matt. If a species does not REQUIRE high heat to survive, and can do well at room temp, leave out a heat mat. Things can overheat in there. I am not an expert in mantids by any means i should add though, so i dont know enought to advise on the other things. Also, what species are you getting?

 

[kevinr]

The heat mat was bought as a 'just in case'. The house can get very cold on a night time, so if anything, it would only get used at night during the winter.

I'm not 100% sure on what species it is, I was talking to the shop keeper and she said that an african species was the better one to start with, and she would order me one. I left it in her capable hands to sort me out.

Once I'm more able with them, i will start looking at other species.

 

[Jwonni]

I had a mat with mine was on all the time i think it did not affect temp much at all but was for my peace of mind as i beleive africa to be hotter than my room

the size home is fine mine was in a 12x12x12 but that was plenty big enough she really only used the back wall and the roof only ever saw her on her plant once and that was when she shed

lifespan i had mine for around 9 months i think and she came to me as "medium" whatever that would be (think she had 1 or 2 sheds with me

she ate pretty much anything never tried her with somehthing the same size or bigger but she ate things up to half her size but usually fed her around a quarter of her size, just aimed for something she could comfortably hold in her arms

my setup was the home as above, some sort of soil stuff (it was bought from faunology.com something like jungle soil) she had a fairly small real plant, a large branch from one corner to the other and i think that is it

Here is a pic before i got the branch in, just incase your interested have done via link as i think the pic is reaally big and didn't wanna mess the thread up

http://www.miamihost.net/ims/u/Jwonni/Car/Aut_6104.jpg

And another of her all grown up (taken with a better camera so this one is big

http://www.miamihost.net/ims/u/Jwonni/again/mantid_eggs4.JPG



Edit * also i sprayed every day some day a couple of times although everyone says they dont need that much but she did go a much nicer green once she shed with me which i still beleive was due to higher humidity, also with the entire top being mesh and the other air gaps all over it was well airiated(SP)

 

[kevinr]

great pics..and thanks for the info, it's been a great help

 

[kevinr]

well, it arrived today, it's a little over an inch, but very fesity. I think the container it came in had another mantid in as it had the dried up, shrivelled remains of another in there.

I'll try and get some pics up as soon as possible, but I only have a mobile to do it off, and he's quite small.


Edit: The container it came in had the initials 'HG' written on it, so I assume it could be a Hierodula grandis

 

[Jesse607]

Well as you probably know, Hierodula grandis is not from Africa, and it is probably actually Hierodula membranacea (even if labeled H. grandis). The dried up remains are probably the remnants of the mantids last molt, not another mantid. Be sure your mantid can easily grip the top of its container so that it will not fall during its next molt (if it decides to molt from the top, which is most often the case). Most mantids will do ok as long as it does not get below 16 or 17 degrees Celsius, and if it does, they will still live, but will not grow or be very active.

 

[kevinr]

Hi Jezzy,

actually, I did not know that, so thatnks for the heads up

although the species you suggest it to be is asian, though the pics that I found all look like it..so guess I will just need to get the pics up later today