Mantis questions

[Poecilotheria]

Hi, I was thinking of getting one. Never had one and know nothing about them. Are they easy to keep or alot of maintinece?
Thanks,
Steve

 

[chuck]

im about to get my first as well, give them a lot of ventilation, a place to hang from - at least double its length b/c they molt upside down, they like to eat, dont need an added heat source,

everything i read and was told, i dont think theyre high maintineced, but ill find out soon :}

 

[Wade]

I'd say they are fairly high matinence compared to tarantulas, scorpions, myriapods and most other popular invertebrates. They are to the invertebrate hobby what true chameleons are to the reptile hobby. IME they are very sensitive to poor air quality, so they require better ventilation than do most. The also have very short life spans, most live considerably less than a year from egg to death from old age. The only way to keep them long-term is to start breeding them, and then you have to maintain cultures of fruit flies to feed the often tiny nymphs. Some species are prone to molting defects.

I'm honestly not trying to turn you off of them, but they are a bit more labor intensive, especially if you're rearing babies.

A good book on the subject is "Praying Mantids: Keeping Aliens" by O. McMonigal and A. Lasebny available from ElytraandAntenna@angelfire.com and BioQuip. Lots of great husbandry info!

Wade

 

[Steven]

but they are a bit more labor intensive, especially if you're rearing babies.

indeed, when they are just born you can put them together but after the secind molt or something you've got to raise them apart, wich means like 80 littles containers who you have to feed and spray.

but then again, the're just to intresting to not have them around

 

[Valael]

Can't you just do it Tarantula style for a bit? Only the strong survive and let them feed off each other?



(I don't own any Mantids, I was just curious.)

 

[Steven]

Can't you just do it Tarantula style for a bit? Only the strong survive and let them feed off each other?

yeah, off course,... but depends an what species you're willing to breed, by example: Sphodromantis species can hetch about 100-200 nimfs, so ther you've got plenty. Paradoxa hetch only 10-20 nimfs, so you better raise them all,....

this is my point of view, but,.. hey it's up to you

 

[silver_arctic1]

I personally LOVE mantids. I started out with 3 and ended up with hundreds within a couple months. They're very unique creatures and never fail to fascinate. True, they require a bit of extra care, but once you raise them to maturity, you get a deep sense of accomplishment. But yeah, they don't live very long...but I can't stand long term projects so mantids are perfect for me.

If you have further questions, you can have a look at my caresheets at "http://www.geocities.com/totalmantis". I have about 14 species caresheets in all...some parts are repetitive, but only because the care is the same.

And I also have some for sale just in case you'd like to get some from a specialized breeder.

Take care,
Evan

 

[chuck]

are moths a good stable diet for #9 mantids?
my 9 is about the size of a quater (US 25 cent coin), should i expect it to live longer or get bigger?
i can already tell its going to be a bitch to feed. what doesnt eat crickets????????? looks like i gotta get a culture of wax worms together soon so they can morph into moths

 

[silver_arctic1]

Moths are a perfect stable diet for that species. They can eat crickets also, I've seen mine throw away half a moth only to eat a whole cricket later on. It's just for variety, some people say that if you stuff your mantids with only crickets, they can die...I haven't tested this out myself though...for the obvious reason.

A good way to catch moths (other than the culture method) is to place a blacklight out on your porch at night and wait for a couple hours. Check back periodically and there's almost always going to be a sizeable moth(s) flying around. And they get dazed or confused by the light so catching them is very easy.

Unless your mantis has a full set of wings with the infamous spiral 9 on it, it'll molt some more. Once it gets its wings though, it'll be a mature adult and will live for several months longer depending on the sex. Males will live about 3 months while females can last for 5-6 months with care. The issue now is overfeeding. Feed your mantis sparingly to lengthen its lifespan. One feeding every 2-3 days is sufficient. Some may get picky as adults, but switch out different food each time and you should have no problem. Or you can actually force-feed them, just injure the moth/cricket and place the exposed juices in the mantid's mouth and keep doing it until it grabs the food for itself.

Good luck!
Evan

 

[chuck]

im in love, she (hopefully) just took the moth from my tweezers. i love their walk, looks like theyre dancing, i guess thats to trick prey into thinking its just a leaf or flower blowing in the wind?

mine doesnt have the wings yet. i was watching her walk on the top of the kritter keeper, found out they cant walk on smooth surfaces, but i also noticed that like a flake of skin came off. maybe it was a dry booger that flew across and into the tank when i exhaled thru my nose, doubtful, so what is that flake?

 

[silver_arctic1]

They're awesome aren't they? Yup, they sway back and forth as they walk to mimic the flower/plant they live on. In fact, this species is able to change its color somewhat to match a particular flower color. They can turn yellow, red, pink, or a more intense green. It takes a molt or two before the color shows up on the mantis. One of mine accidentally turned red-orange when I used a reddish substrate.

I dunno about the flaky thing, it's probably some dirt or something...nothing to worry about.

Oh, another thing about feeding...they sometime must be motivated. A limp moth wont catch their attention, but if you hold the moth by one of the wings and make it beat its other wings frantically, the mantis will snatch it up with no further persuasion. You can try a similar process with crickets, I used to tie the cricket's leg with some strings and dangle it in front of the mantis...but it could be somewhat hard to tie the string on so you can just dangle it with the tweezers instead.

Take care,
Evan

 

[chuck]

they make a mess, wings and legs on the dirt below. they eat pretty fast too. a big difference from my Ts

 

[silver_arctic1]

Yup, a hungry mantis will make a quick meal of its prey. Don't forget to remove any leftovers!

Take care,
Evan