Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was just wondering.. are these legal to import? can you keep them in the US? and if so does anyone know of a reputable site to purchase them from?

oh.. and what is thier lifespan? sorry, so many newb questions..

I'd say 1 year under proper care. The great thing about having insects as pets, is that they are quite easy to breed. Though your original pet may die, if you order males and females, it is plausible to continue your original pets' bloodline for many generations. You can also do really cool things with their color (breeding like-colored mantises generally results in more vividly colored nymphs, as this process continues rare color patterns can appear).

From what I understand, it is illegal to import, own or release any non-approved wildlife from foreign countries. Buying insects from outside of the country (Thai Flower Mantis) requires a permit. Fortunately, our Postal Service isn't too keen on checking boxes labelled "Live Crickets", and for this reason it is quite easy to ship foreign mantises within America's borders. The problem arises when the mantis you want (Thai Flower Mantis) is not native to the U.S. and difficult to find from a breeder. Deshawn has an excellent website where many foreign mantises can be purchased (although i'm not sure of the legality of his site, the mantises are top quality and he's a really great guy). His link is:

http://www.mantiskingdom.com/

Enjoy your mantises!