Praying Mantises??

[Chamified]

How do I keep my praying mantises alive? I have about 10 of them, I feed them fruit flies and have wet paper towels on the bottom in a 48 ounce clear bin with wire mesh on the top for air. Any tips on keeping them alive because Ive already lost a few and I need them for variety for my Jacksons.

 

[Chamified]

Anybody?!?!?

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Sounds like you are doing the right thing by seprerating them. If they are adults they can eat crix. Up the size of the prey.

 

[Chamified]

Then why are they dieng?!?!?!?!?

 

[Lizardlover]

You need to mist them or they will not drink. Thats all I can conclude....any other husbandry details you can think of?

 

[Chamified]

thats what it looks like along with my ooths which havent hatched yet for about a month

 

[dodolah]

You do not have enough climbing material for them.
Exelcior is good for this.
Without enough climbing material, they cannot shed properly..

here is what a proper setup for mantis nymphs -check the mantis nursery pics:
http://www.mantisplace.com/mantisnursery.html

And, the wet paper towel at the bottom is unnecessary, imo.. sometimes, they could get tangled on the water and drown.
Mist them at least once a day.

Does the fruit fly medium have mold in it?
does the medium have calcium in it?

Later when you feed them cricket, do be careful because crickets can sometimes fight back and eat the mantis. Also, do not gutload the crix with carrot. I heard carrot is poisonous for mantis.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Not to thread jack but i bought three ooths. two im doing the paper bag deal in a critter keeper. I put the other on an azalea plant in my moms yard. no she dosnt use pesticides. she has loads of aphids eating her azaleas. do you think they will remain there? I want to have a costant supply through the summer.

 

[dodolah]

Not to thread jack but i bought three ooths. two im doing the paper bag deal in a critter keeper. I put the other on an azalea plant in my moms yard. no she dosnt use pesticides. she has loads of aphids eating her azaleas. do you think they will remain there? I want to have a costant supply through the summer.

for the one got released outside the garden is hard to say because mantis do travel far, and the worst of all they tend to attract birds. Last time I spread 80 outside.. and within 2 - 3 days I could not find a single one of them... But, i did see couple of crows, robin, and pigeon hanging out in the garden snacking on them.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Ok well i hung it up underneath an overhang of bushes im hoping they will have enough cover. Thanks for the info. Have you ever used a tote to raise them in. I was thinking of making about 15 chambers. And puting about 8-10 per chamber.

 

[Chamified]

Thanks I almost threw my away!

 

[Chamified]

I feed my crickets cricket crack and a little recipe myself which works great.

 

[xanthoman]

You need to mist them or they will not drink. Thats all I can conclude....any other husbandry details you can think of?

lizard lover is right , just because there is wet paper towel does not mean they will drink from it , you need to actually mist them ever so carefully,so there is just the tiniest spritz. there shouldnt be any droplets larger than a grain of table salt, if there are any full size droplets, your mantis can drown in them. jmo

 

[AReptile]

You do not have enough climbing material for them.
Later when you feed them cricket, do be careful because crickets can sometimes fight back and eat the mantis. Also, do not gutload the crix with carrot. I heard carrot is poisonous for mantis.

Really? That's interesting, but I'm wondering how crickets are able to fight back when I've seen videos of some mantises eating vertebrate animals 0_o

 

[dodolah]

Really? That's interesting, but I'm wondering how crickets are able to fight back when I've seen videos of some mantises eating vertebrate animals 0_o

the same way they bite chameleons at night.
I have couple of mantises died by crickets.
You want safe feeder, use flies. they don't bite back

 

[xanthoman]

the same way they bite chameleons at night.
I have couple of mantises died by crickets.
You want safe feeder, use flies. they don't bite back

baby mantis are very wary of any feeders that are too big or potentially a threat, if you put even the tiniest spider in with them, even one they could probably easily kill and eat, they dont touch it, but they dont hesitate to eat a ff or pinhead that is bigger. somebody mentioned aphids, 2+week old mantis love aphids

 

[Chamified]

this is my updated tank sorta thingy

 

[Chamified]

just put a little pinhead and more flies

 

[Chamified]

is my newest update good i mist everyday?

 

[FiReBaNaNa]

thread jackin here, um whats the paper bag thing