Texas Panther Man
New Member
I was looking on mastisplace.com and was going to buy some ooths. What kind are easiest to raise? Do they require cetain temps to hatch? I know you put the ooth sac in a paper bag.
Mantis question
- Thread starter Texas Panther Man
- Start date
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Should i put the bag in a deli cup with some screen over it. I dont want three hundred mantis nymphs in my bedroom. lol I think i can put em in my cabinet under my bathroom sink. Its warm there. Do they need light?
ColorCham427
Avid Member
Do you want these as feeders or pets?
Don't put them in a plastic bag. Keep them in the 32 oz. cup they arrive in, once they hatch transport them to a large screened cage.
They will eat eachother unless you split them up into small groups. 3 mantids per container is best.
They need food all the time, unless you want one brother eating another brother! lol
Don't put them in a plastic bag. Keep them in the 32 oz. cup they arrive in, once they hatch transport them to a large screened cage.
They will eat eachother unless you split them up into small groups. 3 mantids per container is best.
They need food all the time, unless you want one brother eating another brother! lol
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Was gonna use em as feeders. I read you put in paper bag not plastic. But deli cups are alot easier option to keep em from escapiing. I will split them into groups of 4-5. I only have the one cham right now so i dont care if a little cann goes on. I might try to keep a few to adult stage to see if i could get em to breed. I'd kinda dig seeing the f eat the male after the deed.
xanthoman
Avid Member
chinese / euro mantis
all you need is a small lunch bag with the top folded over 2or3x and a piece of tape so you can look in, but you probably wont need too, one day you"ll come home and there will probably a few hanging out on the top of the bag, you look inside and there will be like a hundred or two. after they hatch i put them in a 20 g with a screen top. the stray ones are always easy to round up, they always head for the window. start them with melongaster, mist lightly 2 or 3x a day. if this is your first time you will be lucky to keep many alive to adulthood unless you really work at it. be careful when misting, mantis nymphs drown easier than crickets jmo
all you need is a small lunch bag with the top folded over 2or3x and a piece of tape so you can look in, but you probably wont need too, one day you"ll come home and there will probably a few hanging out on the top of the bag, you look inside and there will be like a hundred or two. after they hatch i put them in a 20 g with a screen top. the stray ones are always easy to round up, they always head for the window. start them with melongaster, mist lightly 2 or 3x a day. if this is your first time you will be lucky to keep many alive to adulthood unless you really work at it. be careful when misting, mantis nymphs drown easier than crickets jmo
CNorton
Avid Member
Deli cups are good. Use the cloth lids or the foam lids to keep the fruit flies from escaping. Fruit flies are a must for feeding the baby mantis unless you have a large supply of aphids.
If you want to try and raise a few to a decent size, you'll need a cup per mantis since they will eat each other. My wife thought I was going crazy when I came home with 50 deli cups.
Mantisplace.com has tons of good information and I also have some helpful links in this thread. I hope this helps!!!
If you want to try and raise a few to a decent size, you'll need a cup per mantis since they will eat each other. My wife thought I was going crazy when I came home with 50 deli cups.
Mantisplace.com has tons of good information and I also have some helpful links in this thread. I hope this helps!!!
bugboy
Established Member
i used to get the ooths that were enclosed in the netting to hang from a bush. instead i used an old cylindrical oatmeal container and cut 2 small squares out so i could see inside. used some mesh to cover the squares and then attached the netting with the ooth to the removable lid. after that i just waited till they hatched and then shook em out.
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Thanks C norton i will check out that thread. U too bugboy. I might wait til march to try to hatch these out. I was going to order some ooths. they are pretty cheap. But i guess the expense comes when its feeding time.
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Oh yeah how much should i feed each baby mantid? Like 1-2 ff a day or every other day at first.
Texas Panther Man
New Member
My backyard is all pool and cement. But my mom has a very lush backyard its heavily planted with tropicals and pothos. I think I might hatch some out in her yard and see if i can have an ongoing supply. She doesn't spray and she wants some to control the aphids on her plants. I think I will give her two ooths to let hatch in her yard.
bugboy
Established Member
ive been trying to keep them around my yard for years; they just dont want to!!! your mom will probably see them around for a few weeks, but it seems that after that they just disappear without a trace. everything is always trying to eat them or they get blown away; ive never had an adult in my yard (that i saw at least). at least one has stayed in my yard and survived and i know this because last summer i had some babies in my garden without putting out any ooths. i knew this only happened because the summer before last i was getting a little aggrevated with all the birds eating the mantids so i threw 4 ooths worth of mantids in my yard. and like i said even with all of that i didnt have any adults last long enough or if 1 or 2 lived i didnt see them.
give it a try though, they'll eradicate the aphids and maybe you wont have as high a disappearance ratio that i had.
give it a try though, they'll eradicate the aphids and maybe you wont have as high a disappearance ratio that i had.
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Yeah im going to order 5-6 sacs and im going to give her 4 of em. If i wanted to stagger the hatchings i can store them in the fridge right? I think if i stagger it out throughout the spring and summer i'll have a better chance of having an on going supply. Im just worried the birds might get a bunch of them maybe i should just get like 10 sacs and put 2 out at a time. They are cheap and they cant hurt the plants. All the tree frogs and geckos out here will be loving her yard! lol
Motherlode Chameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
I used to harvest wild mantises once in a while from my families back yard and would find the mantises in our Rose bushes. They seemed to prefer places that had insect around yet areas where the could retreat to as well. I would see them during the day although elusive however they would climb up to the houses porch lights at night to feed on moths and other insects that were attracted by the lights and is the place to find them with least effort.
Mine were Chinese mantises.
Mine were Chinese mantises.
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Wow thanx for the tip. I used to use the old sheet and black light to attract moths yrs ago. I guess if i did that i might be able to catch both moth/mantis.
She doesn't spray and her yard has plenty of aphids to feed on.
She doesn't spray and her yard has plenty of aphids to feed on.
Motherlode Chameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
Go with plants that are flowering plants they attract large amounts of both flies, moths and bees and the mantises grow fast.
I hear that the bee pollen is extremely good to feed to chameleons and gut loading mantises with pollen is ideal.
I hear that the bee pollen is extremely good to feed to chameleons and gut loading mantises with pollen is ideal.
Texas Panther Man
New Member
Can i get bee pollen in the groc store? Ive been wanting to mix it in with my other gutload items. Do i have to go to gnc or something?
Motherlode Chameleon
Chameleon Enthusiast
If I recall correctly from an old CIN artical be pollen fro the store should be OK.
