praying mantis

[rayman45]

i want one
what are the requirements
and any1 evey keep one?

[walls]

I had one for quite a long time. I kept it in a ten gallon tank and fed it crickets and various bugs I caught outside. It really was an interesting pet.

I live in the country and find them all the time on my house and in my yard. If you are interested let me know and I can catch one for you and overnight it.

BUT, its a little early in the year yet. :)

[neoprodigy]

i had one last year... wild caught from the back yard... eats crickets and super worms...

[piranha45]

are they active, move around much, or are they just sticks for most of the day?

[rayman45]

ok i got a spare 5g and 20g

how was the setup?

just all plants no beding?
heaters etc.?
can 2 be put together?

ok when you start to find them let me know
def. will take one
b/c there hard to find here in nyc

zach

[walls]

I had dirt from my yard as a substrate and a couple of pothos and some sticks. No heater, mine did fine at room temp. I would not reccommend more than one the smaller/weaker of the two will end up as dinner for the the other.
If you use live plants like pothos or phil. make sure you have a "plant light" so the plants get enough lite.
Remind me some time in May and I will snag a small/meium one for ya!

[buddah101]

I have kept both Devils mares and Praying Mantis's and they are pretty vicious tward bugs but not too aggro twards humans. Just make sure to feed the crickets and such and keep the temp about the same as out doors on a nice sunny day and you will be fine!

[rayman45]

ok im so happy

cant wait

[joc38]

you can find them in your yard most of the time especially if you have a flower garden.I use to keep tarantulas and there's a guy named Kelly Swift that has a website called Swift'sinverts.com or swiftinverts.com and he has some really nice mantids on his site.

[guppy]

$2 for an egg case of asian p. mantis thru almost any seed catalogues. They sell them as organic pest control and ea. will hatch out 100-200 1/8" babies that get 2-3".

[Gamble]

Dont they bite? Can they be held? I've always been fascinated with these fellas, just have'nt found the :lipsseale to hold one yet... :cry:

[guesswho2005]

No requirements. Many garden shops sell them as pest control. You take the egg pod and put it in the garden and they hatch when the temp is right. You will have around 20 or so just let the ones loose you dont want. I was never lucky enough to keep more then one. Females are the large ones and they eat the males after well you know.

[clrio]

$2 for an egg case of asian p. mantis thru almost any seed catalogues. They sell them as organic pest control and ea. will hatch out 100-200 1/8" babies that get 2-3".
I knew someone who once found a mantis egg case. They brought it in their house (sans container) and shortly thereafter, had a slight infestation. What a disaster....Proper containment is crucial!

[Filthy Sanchez]

I live in Ca. where they've past new laws on importing them. Up until last year it was easy to get them but now difficult. If you need I have a connection who can get almost any kind you want. My choice the giant Malaysian Dead Leaf up to 6" maybe a little bigger and actually stays on the bottom of the tank looking like a dead leaf. I had a giant green african 6" long, put it in a breeder tank, 1/2 the height of a regular tank. She hung from the screen and ate everything I put in the tank, substrate was a cut piece of turf so no prey could burrow. She was full of eggs and a veracious eater. Ate mice, goldfish, worms, mealworms, crickets, a huge paper wasp, the biggest black widow I've ever seen, a small scorpion, bees, waxworms, and a 3" blue centipede I caught. Thing is they live a year, year and a half tops. Great pets though.

[ShadowVengance]

When i was little around 10, i had a praying mantis i caught from the yard.

He was really good, I kept him for a few weeks, He didnt have a tank, I kept him in my room, he just wandered around.

It ate flies, only thing was, I had to clean its crap up from around the place lol. <- that is the reason i let it go free. :)

It was fun, I heard you can train them to do things like follow you, I got it to follow my hand around the room, it was fun. Never bit me of anything, sometimes a few pinches as it climbed.
It was still fairly young though, with weak claws.

I had caught a few since then, and just played around with them for a while before letting them go.

good luck :)

[lophius]

I used to keep and breed African Green Mantis (one of my favourites for size, looks and personality), fantastic guys ... very handelable too !!

Used to feed, waxworms, crickets, maggots and the odd spider.

I kept them in various containers from large sandwich boxes to a fully planted 30" x 18" x 12" terrarium .. very nice.

Carl

[Opiate]

oh guys....my mate has praying mantis in tank and omfg! there huge! i'll try get sum pics of them soon!!!

[softturtle]

I get flower mantids (don't know the scientific name) somtimes. I see a few different strains of them at the shows around here. They are usually pink and look like... well... a flower.

[guppy]

Flower mantids and leaf mantids are ultra cool.

[softturtle]

Yes they are. I love how the flower mantids always hang of the top of their enclosure. Its like gravity doesn't effect these alien creatures.

[Fish_are_fishfood]

There are so many praying mantis around my house but never thought of keeping them as pets. I always love those lil guys, it feels so cool when you let them walk on your hand or arm.

[benzjamin13]

I saw a documentary on them. I was amazed that some of them can eat mice, birds, and I even saw it eating a 8"(?) corn snake :eek:

[Filthy Sanchez]

Saw that one, snake got away but that was still cool. I'll try to find that link, to the guy who gets them as well as what species are cool. Giant Green Africans, Giant Indian, and Giant Malaysian Dead Leafs are my favorite. Flower mantids are small but look so cool.

[guppy]

I have seen wild ones eat tree frogs and a skink.

[monsterfishkeeper]

man there tough

[monsterfishkeeper]

one stuck my with his spears

[thefishofdoom]

ive seen them eat humming birds

[dapike1979]

i want one
what are the requirements
and any1 evey keep one?

I use to breed them for a farmer in ontario to get rid of a locust problem!!
I think they are very ecxiting to watch hunt there prey!
Any Question's pm me!! I could post pic's of there othecas and 1000 baby's!!
Mic :headbang2
Chines Mantid!

[dapike1979]

[You will have around 20
Way more then 20 more like up to 500 in one otheca!! :thumbsup:

[dapike1979]

A few Mantis pics! :headbang2

[gomezladdams]

There was a big one(8-10") on my car years ago thought I would keep him for a pet reached out toward him and he grabbed my hand with his forelegs and bit me on the finger!I decided not to keep him :grinno:

[Filthy Sanchez]

As promised a link to purchase mantids....

http://statequarters.20m.com/prayingmantis.html

[guppy]

Sweet link, thanks.

[dapike1979]

To bad all mantids but the chines mantid are illegal in Canada!! :cry:

[Filthy Sanchez]

Weird thing in California, many species are illegal too purchase at pet stores now, yet you can go to a garden center and buy egg sacs of those very same species, because thay fall under organic pest control laws.

[yaboystan]

anyone know if wild mantises live around nor cal?

[Filthy Sanchez]

More prevalent towards the deltsa in the sac area. I've caught a few wild mantids here, and I live in the bay area, near San Jose.

[yaboystan]

i live in san leandro ... i dont ever remember seeing one tho

[Filthy Sanchez]

i live in san leandro ... i dont ever remember seeing one tho

They're pretty rare down this way, up near Walnut Creek / Concord area they're more common. Really common near the likes of Brentwood etc. closer to the Delta.

[Ikhan Bettah]

sweet mantis pics

[Filthy Sanchez]

sweet mantis pics

Check out the ones in the photo lounge.

[HurricaneForce76]

Man- I love mantids, there soo sick. There one of the arthropods that dont really gross me out. They morphology is just amazing, it meets thier individual niches soo well, its practically rediculous. Im going to have to buy one in the future, there just that awesome :). Thanks for the pics and links,
~76

[SiestaSkyy]

dont they die every season?

[Filthy Sanchez]

Yeah, that kinda sucks. They live 12-18 months. At the end they go into what is called "death throws". They just start struggling to hold onto anything and move ingeneral, it looks as if they're suffering (and they very well could be) just a natural order to life. That which begins eventually ends.