Praying Mantis Enclosure

[Chamified]

Today my praying mantids shed for the fourth or fifth time and saw them trying to eat eachother so I divided them .Would these be good enclosures? And they've been eating crickets during their fourth shed f.y.i. Oh and by the way the sorta substraty things are oranges that have fell of the tree so I decided to use them. Any suggestions would be great I am using them as feeders for my Jacksons variety.
~Thanks

 

[Lancecham]

Looks like you have the Chinese Mantis which can and will eat their cage mates. They can be kept individually in those containers. Instead of the sticks, try a small branch with leaves. More space to crawl around on and they would be able to drink easier from the water on the leaves when you mist it.

 

[laurie]

You seem to be doing well with your mantis. Wow 4 sheds, who knew.

I did well with mine also. The day they hatched they went into five cages and were well "cared for" by my chams. I must be on the lazy side.

 

[xanthoman]

those are great enclosures for a single mantis, might be a tad on the moist side though, try to avoid the larger size droplets. i would be careful about setting them in a window, plastic or glass enclosures that small, can overheat real easily. good idea to check your container temps with a digital therm every once in a while. i wouldnt leave any cricks that size in their container overnight. if you are going to use them as feeders, it would pay to raise them to a substantial size. an adult xanth can easily blaze through 50 or more 1" mantis in a afternoon, and all your work is gone. so it would pay to raise them to 1-1/2-2", then you could just feed a mantis or two a day for weeks. above 2'' they could concievably be hazardous, mantis also love smaller dubia (work best when they are placed on their back). great substrate choice, perfect amount of furnishing, just be careful when handling your containers, the skewers can shift and smalller mantis are easily injured. all in all, i would say youre doing a pretty good job. if it were me, once i had them sexed, i would set aside at least 4 or 5 of the nicest pairs for breeding or trading purposes. a great place for supplies and basic info is http://www.mantisplace.com/ , if you really want in depth mantis info, the place to go for all things mantid (in depth care, sexing etc.) is; http://mantidforum.net/ its pertty much identical to cf, but its mostly mantid. several cf members are members there as well. thats not to say, that we dont all love a good mantis thread here at cf, especially ones with good pics, new ideas, or local finds. ditto lance cham on the branch thing, and lauries too much of a sweetheart, i know if she kept them mantids for more than a couple of days, they would all turn into pets, and she would have to buy another 50 cages. jmo

 

[Chamified]

Thank you all for the advice I have just cut a little stem from the bottom of my schefflera* if thats how you spell it anymore advice I need thanks again.