# Praying Mantids



## ZoeHale

Hello! I'm still rather new to the forum.
I just thought I'd start a thread about my other obsession, praying mantids.
I currently have 11, one of my tiny ones died yesterday 
I have 2 species, nothing fancy like other mantis-keepers.
My 2 species are Stagmomantis limbata (Arizona or Bordered Mantis) and Miomantis paykullii (Egyptian Mantis).
I'm still not quite sure of all the genders, you have to count the segments of the abdomen and I lose count quite a bit. Dyslexia, you see.
Anyhoo. If you have any questions about mantids, feel free to ask me! 
And of course, pictures.


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## Kiko

So cool!
They are very pretty. I found one once, scared the crud outta me at first.
I used to have pet stick bugs lol, but those are cooler.


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## AvaAdoreSmashing

How long do yours live in captivity? They're very unique. Love them. I've seen a few around my house before.
Heres a really old crappy photo of one I saw a few years back out by my pool


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## ZoeHale

It really depends on the species. Generally in captivity mantids will actually live LONGER, because it is a controlled environment and they don't have to fight off predators. Some live to 9 months, others make it to over a year.


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## Kinsey

I've had them live past a year before

They are such lovely creatures. They always tip their heads when you talk. All of mine had such personalities. Although they were just garden mantids, they were stunning.

I'm tempted to share Syrius' story. He was an amazing one.


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## ZoeHale

Is it hard to believe that the mantis in both of those pictures is the same girl?
Her name is Skwisgaar. 
She's my diva mantis.


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## ZoeHale

New pics! One of my S limbatas molted to L4 today, he's huuuuge! And beautiful. And a boy.


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## Kinsey

What a lovely boy. He's georgous.


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## ZoeHale

Kinsey said:


> What a lovely boy. He's georgous.


Thank you! He thinks he's all that.


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## Kinsey

Don't they always xD

Okay, I have to talk about Syrius now.

Syrius was the most extraordinary mantis I ever knew. I found him, on our porch living in a fake plant. He was blind in one eye, large and tan, and the ruined eye swirled with every color imaginable. I reached out to hold him and he lashed at my hands. He was the only mantis I have ever handled to actually draw blood on multiple people. It took a lot of work for him to warm up to handling, and he only let me near him. I tried to keep him confined but he never ate, so I returned him to his plastic plant home, and he stayed there for his entire life. He killed everything, spiders, hornets, anything. He survived mating, as he was very old and it was very late in the year for a male. His biggest accomplishment was the black widow, by far. This is a story who's proof has slipped away, but that I am fairly sure is true.

Syrius, before I found him, traveled more than he did in his age. Around the other side of the garage, we had a black widow. Regularly I found huge mantids dead in her web. She was a monster, and the daughter of my own pet. One day I went to see how she was doing, and she was mending a giant hole in her web, and she look livid. A week later I found Syrius. We think his eye was the cause of that spider.



He got older and the seasons readied to turn. I moved him indoors, for it would have been so cold outside for him. After two days, he looked sick. He just stared from his huge cage at me. He hadn't touched the meals I gave him, not even when pre killed and smeared across his claws (method to feed ill mantids). He wanted to go home. so, in the afternoon of the last warm day I returned him to where he came from. Two hours later he had passed on. I think age took him, but he was a lovely creture.


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## ZoeHale

I experimented with giving some of my bigger mantids crickets to see if they can take'em instead of like a million fruit flies.
And I got some really good pics of one of my babies eating. Tadah!























































I'd say the experiment is a success, eh?


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## Alexc844

Yummy! Looks like he enjoyed his cricket.


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## Kinsey

Heh. That's all my larger ones get. They love crickets.

Mantis- OMNOMNOMNOM.


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## Lea

I've always liked praying mantises (so now I see here that "mantids" is the correct way to say it?). Never thought of keeping them as pets, sounds like an interesting hobby. Do you breed them, catch them, or buy them? How much work is involved? 

I remember one time I was just watching one that was sitting in a bush, when suddenly it reached out and grabbed a bee out the air, and just ripped it in half and started eating it. That was an amazing sight. A few years ago I went out on the screened-in porch and there were dozens of little babies all over the screens. They were so cute.


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## Kinsey

I've had captured, but buying them is the only way to get exotic species.

Breeding is quite possible, but there are tons of babies in each sac and it's quite a lot of work. I tend to just release any accicental babies from my females if they come in pregnant.

The mantid needs an environment suited to the species. For example, the flower mantid does well in a more exotic, blooming habitat, while the more common one's need the sazme type as they came from. You have to buy or breed food for them, and I always hand feed. It's not a huge deal-they are certainly wonderful.


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## ZoeHale

Well actually, sometime this week I'm getting a shipment of a new (to the US and other parts of North America) species of mantis from Singapore. Mind, they CAN NOT be released into the wild. The hobby is a rather under-the-table kind of hobby, but if like a cop comes to your house and sees you have an exotic mantis, I doubt they'd haul you off. 

Anyhoo. Back to what I was saying. I'm getting the species Deroplatys lobata. The guy I'm getting them from is hoping that I can breed them and distribute them across the US.

You don't HAVE to buy food. I do get crix and flies for mine, but I breed my own flies so that was a one-time buy. Also, whenever I see a bug outside I whip out a small deli cup (I keep'em in my bag at all times) and catch it for my mantids. Also, they like honey on toothpicks for treats.


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## Lea

Here's a big one I found it on the same porch. I used to see lots of different kinds when I lived there. Anyone recognize this species? I think it was about 4-5 inches long.


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## ZoeHale

Ah, yes! A beautiful adult specimen of the _Stagmomantis carolina_, Carolina Mantis.
I'm thinking that's also a male. 
Beautiful find!


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## Kinsey

Yeah mine are all the common species for the area, I wouldn't breed if they were exotics-too risky. Extra exotic babies have to be frozen. :'(


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## ZoeHale

What do you mean by the extra exotics have to be frozen?


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## Kinsey

If by chance you were to breed exotics, even accidently, some of the babies have to be frozen since they cannot be released and a thousand homes are hard to come by.


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## ZoeHale

Well.. Actually, there's a whole community for that. 
People will pay astounding amounts of money for exotic nymphs.
I bought all of mine.
And only one species of the 3 can be released.
So please, don't freeze your nymphs!
Send them to me!


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## Ellimac

I saw this picture on Google the other day... I loved it, I just thought I would show it to you. =3


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## ZoeHale

That's actually M religiosa's threat pose.
That is one p.o.'d mantis!


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## wagz77

I always used to watch them when i was little. Have never kept them as pets, however, i think now i want to. What all would i need? And how big of a cage? And i'd like to breed them and release the babies, if this is possible. Any advice?


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## ZoeHale

Well first, before you do that, you'd have to make sure that the species you have is legal to be released in your country. There's a whole bunch of laws against that.

If you wanna start keeping mantids, I highly suggest visiting mantisplace.com, Rebecca is one of the leading suppliers in mantids and mantid-keeping products.
Also, you should join mantidforum.net, there's a whole bunch of very experienced keepers and breeders.

I will edit this post later, I'll tell you the basic. I actually gotta run to get crickets, it's feeding day.


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## Lea

@ZoeHale: I was looking at that site, and the one marked Stagmomantis carolina that you identified in my picture, looked a whole lot different to me. But the one marked Giant Asian mantis looked a lot more like my picture. Could that be? 

I have to say, some of those species are craaaaaazy-looking!


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## lilangel

very neat.

Is there like a website of info what to keep them in and feed and how to?

I am guessing to buy them you go to mantisplace.com ?


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## lilangel

or are we allowed them in Canada?


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## ZoeHale

@Lea: No, that's definitely an S carolina. Gian Asians are indiginous (sp?) to China and Malaysia, and Indonesia. Not North America. 

@Lilangel: Mantidforum.net has alot of stickies on care and also a classifieds section where people will sell certain species that they have a surplus of. For alot cheaper than Rebecca has on mantisplace! The reason why her prices are so high is because she constantly has all these species and breeds them year round. 
And I have no idea what the laws are in Canada.


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## wynny

Wow, I never knew anyone who kept mantises, or any other insect, as a pet. What do you do with them? Can they play or anything?


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## Capistrono

Are they hard to care for? They certainly are cute and it's tempting not to consider getting some. =]


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## ZoeHale

@Wynny: They don't exactly play, but I pretend they're being affectionate when they wave their raptoral arms, wanting to go higher.

@Capistrono: No, they're not hard at all. A spray of water twice a day, and 2 crickets a week.


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## margar

Mantids are so beautiful! They're a little creepy in the wild because they can be so huge. I' always grossed out at he thought of accidentally stepping on one or squishing one *shudders*
But they are fascinating to look at and very... alien-like and exotic!


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## Capistrono

Where do you get mantids? A lot of sites are telling me to catch my own but I don't even know if there are any around where I live.

Well, it seems you've gotten me hooked. They really are cute and seem like it's be cool to have one or two.
Just to clarify, you need to house them separately, correct?


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## ZoeHale

Capistrono, where do you live? If you give me a general idea I may be able to tell you what species live in your area. Also, if you don't wanna mess with catching your own, there's a website I also belong to, mantidforum.net/forums

Once you become a member, first you should post an introductory post in the "Introduce Yourself" part, then start looking in the "Mantids For Sale/Wanted" and send PMs to the members who've posted ads. Then it's pretty self-explanitory from there!

Yep, you need to keep them seperated. I had a semi-communal group of mantids that I thought were doing fine, I had crickets in their enclosure perpetually, then I heard sort of a scuffling sound, and went over, and holy crap! A female was eating a male.


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## Capistrono

I live in southern Ohio.

I'll definitely find some time to get on that forum in the next few days. Thanks!


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## noMoreFaith

i'm thinking of getting one too...but why is it against the law to keep them in some countries??


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## flox

I guess because they're pretty efficient predators and could do some serious damage to the local ecosystem and insect life if they were to get loose and survive in a non-native habitat. Is generally the reason most animals that are banned are banned.


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## ZoeHale

Flox, you are absolutely right.

noMoreFaith, I don't know what the laws are in Greece.


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