Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When I arrived home today I, I did my usual chameleon care and then went to go watch/feed my new mantids. I noticed that there were a few white ones in there and I thought "Oh cool! Some of them have shed!" Then I saw one, two, five white ones from from the top (tank is on the floor). The other egg case was hatching. It was just a mass of tiny folded up mantids. I snapped a few photos that don't really do it justice. About 120 hatched out of that one. Bringing my total baby mantids count to about -190. Hatching only lasted about an hour and they were all out and walking around.

Wow, that is WAY cool! What is that holding the egg case? I'm thinking of getting some mantids, both as a treat for Frasier but also to include in our "traveling zoo" for our presentations to kids. Do you have a lot of experience raising them?

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Julie Williams
www.baskingwonders.com

I hatched some mantids out two years ago. I wanted to use them as a food source but had a hard time finding them food. They died after about one week. Any suggestions or experiences you could provide would make me considering ordering some in the future. Did you keep all the mantids in a glass tank?

Jim

This is my first time raising mantis but so far it's going great. I feed them flightless fruit flies and pin head crickets. I'm keeping them in a 10 gallon and 30 gallon tanks. Sand and bed a beast on the bottom. A few plants and sticks for perches. Lightly misted once a day for humidity and drinking water (they will also drink from dishes). 50 watt light for warmth (not needed I've read but they seem to really like it). I'd like to be able to keep each is own container but I just don't have the space. Oh, I attached the cases with garden training wire. They just resting in the loop.