# praying mantis in the near future



## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

So some of you might know I have a terrarium up and ready for a critter. Some said a small lizard/gecko and others said a spider. Well I decided what I want to get in my small terrarium. a Orchid Mantis! perfect setup for one and everything. Though I will be waiting until next summer or when I start my second job. depending on how eager I want one. 

Here is the tank I set up.









anyone have a mantis and what I would have to look out for? I have read up on them so many times. I will read more into them again later.


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## Lilypad (Oct 15, 2014)

Awesome! I'm on the lookout for an orchid mantid. I'm hoping to get one within the next month. Truly beautiful creatures.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

oh yes. I looked into them and found out that a store called Twin City reptiles sells them in Saint Paul MN. I will be calling them someday to see when they have them in the store.


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

oh gods. I'm NOT telling my husband that these exist or he'll want one.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Hahahahaha! they are cool looking alien bugs.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I remember catching wild ones and scaring my teachers with them in grade school.


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## MikeG14 (May 31, 2014)

Wait! Your are keeping a praying mantis as a pet? That's the coolest thing I've ever heard! The thought never even occurred to me...

I saw this baby or juvenile over the summer and wanted to keep him as a pet but had no idea how to go about it. I just watched him for a while and let him go on his way. Later that day the lawn guys came to cut the lawn, hopefully he made it out of there.

It would be so neat to do a terrarium using model railroad buildings. 









It could be just like that old movie, The Deadly Mantis.


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## ryry2012 (Mar 31, 2015)

If you like reptiles, tarantulas and such, you should go to a reptile show. There will be one in MN in May.
http://coldbloodedexpos.com/mn-reptile-show/

We went to one in Los Angeles area back in August. It was a lot of fun. There were tons of cool reptiles and even juvenile praying mantis!


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Sadist said:


> I remember catching wild ones and scaring my teachers with them in grade school.


me too! now I don't see a lot around anymore near me. 



MikeG14 said:


> Wait! Your are keeping a praying mantis as a pet? That's the coolest thing I've ever heard! The thought never even occurred to me...
> 
> I saw this baby or juvenile over the summer and wanted to keep him as a pet but had no idea how to go about it. I just watched him for a while and let him go on his way. Later that day the lawn guys came to cut the lawn, hopefully he made it out of there.
> 
> ...


Yup! by next year I should have one in that tank =D
oh that setup would be very cool!



ryry2012 said:


> If you like reptiles, tarantulas and such, you should go to a reptile show. There will be one in MN in May.
> http://coldbloodedexpos.com/mn-reptile-show/
> 
> We went to one in Los Angeles area back in August. It was a lot of fun. There were tons of cool reptiles and even juvenile praying mantis!


Oh yes I have been there before. have not been there for a long while. I shall go sometime next year.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I've seen a few here. My daughter found one in the grass and thought it was a leaf (it was a large one with leaf-camo wings). She picked it up, and it pinched her. I couldn't tell if she'd injured it or not, but I told her what it was and why it attacked and to leave it alone. I've seen some tiny 1 inch tall ones, too. I haven't seen any in between.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

oh LUCKY! never seen one of those before in the wild. only the standard green ones here in Minnesota. Well you gotta get hurt to learn and understand to leave things alone. haha


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Poor thing, she thought it was a leaf! I've seen several of those big ones around here, just not within her reach before.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Yeah, but at least it got to pinch her. They are fragile things.


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

That is a cool looking insect how long do they live?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdfGCscTMak


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Oh wow, I've never seen an orchid mantis! It's gorgeous!


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

Reading up on them it seems that they live to be about a year, maybe longer if the conditions are right and you don't feed them a lot. 

http://www.keepinginsects.com/praying-mantis/faq/


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## Xavion (Jan 19, 2015)

I've kept many individuals of praying mantids hundreds of times! My most recent mantis was Geoffry, a _tenodera sinensis_. Mantids are somewhat of an obsession of mine, as you can probably tell.

They usually don't live very long, only a year from nymph to death, maybe just over.

Mantids usually appreciate high levels of humidity, and the *require* humidity when molting. 

I *would not* ever get a mantis as a nymph/baby, as they are *extremely difficult* to keep alive into the adult stage! If anything, I'd order it as a sub adult! I've kept hundreds of individuals, of several different species, and I cannot stress this enough! Order your mantis as a sub adult!

Mantids only eat living food, and they hunt by movement. Your mantis will need plenty of space, as mantids will usually fly around in their habitat. Keep in mind, though, that the larger container, the more food you'll need to feed it, as mantids hunt by sight, and are very near sighted!

Keep your mantis warm - 65 to 73 degrees (Temperatures slightly different, depending on the species), but don't overheat!

The only breeder I'm aware of is: http://www.moonlightmantids.com/#!praying-mantids/c17oz. He has an entire business and many different species of mantids.

He seems to only be selling nymphs at the moment, but you could probably ask him to give you a sub-adult if you'd like.

Oh! One more thing! The mantis spends most of it's life in it's adult stage, 5-6 months.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

wow thanks for the info Xavion I will know who to ask questions when I do get one. And I figured the little ones would be extra hard to care for. I will read up a lot of these dudes until next summer. 

My only fear is getting it too humid for them. I have fake plants and now I had to change the grass cause white fussy mold started to grow and killed it all. I will see about trying out grass again next year. Right now I have fake moss. what kind of bottom do you use for yours? and lighting?


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## Xavion (Jan 19, 2015)

Tree said:


> wow thanks for the info Xavion I will know who to ask questions when I do get one. And I figured the little ones would be extra hard to care for. I will read up a lot of these dudes until next summer.
> 
> My only fear is getting it too humid for them. I have fake plants and now I had to change the grass cause white fussy mold started to grow and killed it all. I will see about trying out grass again next year. Right now I have fake moss. what kind of bottom do you use for yours? and lighting?



Well, there's a lot of opinions on what works and what doesn't. I have used coconut fiber, but sand works as well. Mold is the issue, here.

In potting soil, mulch, or dirt, I can almost guarantee you that there is going to be mold spores within the substrate. The reason for this being is that not only is dirt, potting soil, and mulch the perfect habitat for spores to lay dormant, but they're organic. Mold can grow on ANY organic material what so ever! Wood, dirt, anything. So long as there's the slightest amount of moisture, there'll be mold.

There are a few simple ways to combat mold, though.

If you're going to have plants in the habitat, you can lay down an inch-deep layer of potting soil, and then on top of that, an inch-deep layer of sand. Plant the roots of your plant in the potting soil layer, and cover it up with sand.

This lowers your chances of getting mold by like 90 percent.

The reason for this is, well, sand isn't an organic material, and that means *sand can't mold*. By placing the layer of sand, you're basically trapping all the mold spore beneath the sand! 

The plants can't live off of just sand, so you need the potting soil layer.

However, because you are going to have an orchid mantis, sand isn't the most aesthetically pleasing of environments.

Do you want a natural theme? Maybe something a bit more green than just sand? It's a bit more complicated, but works as effectively.

First, you need to find living moss. There are many types of mosses, I know. What I'm talking about is _*Fern Moss*_. Fern moss is a type of moss that, when observed up close, looks like many, many small ferns.

Example:









Take this fern moss, and propagate it. Farm tons of it. Don't harvest all of your moss from outdoors, as you can totally destroy microecosystems if you remove too much moss from the outdoor-world. Just farm your moss, like a happy little gardener. Moss will actually have shallow roots, so do not break off the dirt that the moss is attached to. 

Take your fern moss, and cover every exposed area of dirt where there are not plants growing. Make a carpet of moss. Just have tons of moss, darnit. 

Moss and mold are both very, very similar in the way they reproduce. Moss will make spores, just like mold makes spores. Keep in mind that moss won't infest your home, unlike mold. 

The moss will actually compete with and eradicate nearly all of the mold!!! You'll have a beautiful terrarium and totally prevent mold!

Grass will definitely _not_ aid you in the prevention of mold. Keep that in mind.

Remember to clean up the body parts of your mantid's prey, because if you leave grasshopper wings and cricket legs on the habitat floor, *you'll have a mold problem no matter what*. Mantids are easy pets, but you still need to clean up after them.

As for lighting, I don't use anything special. A normal florescent aquarium bulb works well, so long as it doesn't generate _too much_ heat. A little heat is fine, but _not much_! In the winter months, just get a very, very mild under-tank heating pad, just to keep the temperature from dropping too low. Insects, just like fish, are ectothermic, so low temperatures will change their body temperature. The Orchid Mantis is a tropical species, which means that it'll prefer warmer temperatures.

All my advice is from years of pure experience and research, but keep in mind that the mantis-hobby community isn't that large, and everyone does something differently. There isn't an official rulebook as of yet, mantids aren't a difficult insect - just highly specialised in design.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

thanks again. I will have to think about this a little more on what I want the tank to look like. 

good to know about the lighting. and Yeah I was thinking about just getting a heating pad under the tank.

Well I am glad you are here and commented. you gave me a lot of helpful advice!


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## Xavion (Jan 19, 2015)

Tree said:


> thanks again. I will have to think about this a little more on what I want the tank to look like.
> 
> good to know about the lighting. and Yeah I was thinking about just getting a heating pad under the tank.
> 
> Well I am glad you are here and commented. you gave me a lot of helpful advice!


You're quite welcome! You'll have a ton of fun with your mantis!


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I like the look of moss, too. We have a lot growing in our back yard. I'm so excited about your mantis!


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

I will! the exciting part it watching it eat and taking photos of it.

Yeah I might go for moss but again need to watch out for the mold. I will be sure to take lots and lots of photos of her/him when I get it. though I heard females live longer so I might ask for a female.


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## DangerousAngel (Mar 26, 2015)

I just looked one up, they're beautiful! I love the set up you've come up with too!


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

aren't they amazing!? and thanks so much!


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## bandit1994 (Sep 24, 2015)

I have had praying mantis for a few year I have had one form hatch till death I live for two years it cautch me I didn't catch it they r ez to care for as said before they r messy eaters like some fish they can be handfuls but the real fun is when they learn u wont hurt them and they let u hold them I had one that was like some bettas I know it had to be right there in ur biz r it would not eat that day funny right till ur girl walks in and goes to hug u and flips out over the mantis on u


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## Xavion (Jan 19, 2015)

bandit1994 said:


> I have had praying mantis for a few year I have had one form hatch till death I live for two years it cautch me I didn't catch it they r ez to care for as said before they r messy eaters like some fish they can be handfuls but the real fun is when they learn u wont hurt them and they let u hold them I had one that was like some bettas I know it had to be right there in ur biz r it would not eat that day funny right till ur girl walks in and goes to hug u and flips out over the mantis on u


Can you rephrase that? I can't understand a thing you just said :|


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