praying mantis

[Vicious_Fish]

I use to catch them in the sping and I would keep one on a hibiscus plant next to a window. As long as you keep them well fed they usually won't stray. Spray the plant everyday so the mantis can drink the water drops off the plant leaves and that's about it.

 

[LextacySC]

Guppy hit the nail right on the head. They are very cool and interesting pets but they have ravenous appetites and will eat other individuals living with them. Best to keep them separated unless you are trying to breed them.

lol even if you can get them to breed say goodbye to the male. It's just not right

 

[Vicious_Fish]

lol even if you can get them to breed say goodbye to the male. It's just not right

Oh I never bothered breeding them. They are very abundant in the feilds around where I grew up. The ones I caught were Chinese Mantids (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis). I use to catch a nice sized female and keep her well fed on moths, grasshoppers, crickets, & spiders. The females are the bigger of the two and can get 1/2 a foot long!

 

[cambo01]

lol even if you can get them to breed say goodbye to the male. It's just not right

it aint a bad way to go tho

 

[cambo01]

the mantis house i plan to build





will this work??

 

[ermgravy]

i managed to keep to thai greens together for 9 months, the smaller rowdier one decapitated the larger one in the end thou.... i kept them in a large clear plastic storage box, 2x2x2 just drilled the lid for air holes, ran a desk light and had plants and wood/branches aranged for them, sprayed twice a day, feed lots of grass hoppers daily, about, 10-12 so 5-6 each and that was that....

 

[cambo01]

thats allot of grasshoppers!!!

its sumthin i allways have in stock tho so just means less for the archers

 

[CTU2fan]

Yep they eat a lot. If you have insects around for the archers you should be fine. Like Vicious I've kept them on a houseplant with success but you might get the odd flier. The ones we found were 90% of the time the Chinese mantid, though I would see the occasional European (green, shorter, chunkier, shorter wings). Never kept one of those though.

 

[cambo01]

there the ones ive got (when they hatch) just think they look cool

bit worried about having up to 400 appear tho

 

[ermgravy]

leave em in one space, have 10 in a couple of days....