praying mantis
- Thread starter rayman45
- Start date
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.
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!guppy said:
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.
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
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
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
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
oh guys....my mate has praying mantis in tank and omfg! there huge! i'll try get sum pics of them soon!!!
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.
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.
