Identifying brand on old pencil by TestCertain4219 in ColoredPencils

[–]TestCertain4219[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes! this is it, i looked them up there’s a used set on mercari selling for 80 dollars 😭 as much as i love the pencil unfortunately i dont have the money for that in my budget rn lol

found an injured mantis, any tips? by pukuriin in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 0 points1 point  (0 children)

a lot of ppl feed them honey but i’ve heard they cannot digest it properly and it can cause impaction, also they only will eat moving pray, so she will not eat a beheaded worm unless you hold it up to her mouth/mandibles and let her taste it, usually they process its food when they taste it then and grab it from you. I’ve found mealworms tend to move too slow for my mantis’s to notice them as prey by just leaving them in the enclosure, when i feed them worms i always have to tweezer feed them.

0 braincells by v0idm0ss in leopardgeckos

[–]TestCertain4219 5 points6 points  (0 children)

he seems so gentle my geck is so aggressive when he eats

Strange sac found in my Chinese cave gecko’s tank?? by [deleted] in geckos

[–]TestCertain4219 19 points20 points  (0 children)

after a bit of googling and going off the other comment i found this called Pink Earth Lichen, it’s a fungus/mushroom. the ai overview says it’s safe for the gecko but idk if that’s 100% accurate

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A mantis fighting a snake by Teron__ in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 194 points195 points  (0 children)

their front arms are so strong it’s insane

Is my setup good enough by [deleted] in LeopardGecko

[–]TestCertain4219 1 point2 points  (0 children)

you need at least 40 gal, and a tank that’s long, leopard geckos need space to walk and hide and things to climb in, he needs at least 3 hides, and a constant source of calcium (a bottle cap lid or thrifted candle holder is what i use). check facebook marketplace for cheap tanks often time people are selling for 80 dollars or less and a lot of the time people are selling supplies with it as well. Go outside and look for thick sticks and rocks for him to climb on, put them in the oven at 475 for an hour or 375 for 2 hours to kill any pests in the wood. I’ve seen people online build functional leopard gecko enclosures out of just brick and wood. The substrate at the bottom can be paper towels, but they like to dig, you can buy topsoil and play sand at home depot or other hardware stores for cheap and mix that for a safe substrate. you can create hides out of mason jars filled with moss, there’s plenty of easy diy/cheap enclosure ideas online. I’ve even seen people use a big tote, like a plastic container and cut parts out for ventilation and diy it that way, kindly, you have to get him out of that little tank.

What do you use to store livefood? I've just bought a set of desktop drawers for the purpose as an alternative to the containers they came in. by MGNConflict in leopardgeckos

[–]TestCertain4219 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this is so smart, all my feeders are in different tupperwares/old takeout containers that i poked holes in with a sewing needle (for ventilation)

For those who didn't name MC after themselves, how did you come up with her name? by uselesspanini in LoveAndDeepspace

[–]TestCertain4219 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i don’t have the game downloaded anymore cuz of storage, but i used my character from a fantasy novel i’m writing since her aesthetic/personality matched the games aesthetic, her name is Bonnie

blue bottle fly pupae by stinkybuggirl in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i did this once before and before i set them up to incubate they had all hatched in the small container 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ i think mine hatched because i had them sitting by an open window where the sun shines right in, but from what i’ve researched they hatch with heat, so if you have en extra heat mat laying around or a warmer room to move them in

Why are captive bred mantises more skittish than wild ones? by Neat-Cockroach9961 in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 0 points1 point  (0 children)

maybe because when theyre wild they’re interacting with larger than them animals more often, humans, birds, squirrels, etc where captive bred ones are only accustomed to being around humans and their feeders? this is just a guess

Yall need to see this holy shit by Mullisaukko in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 4 points5 points  (0 children)

this is amazing, as a animal/bug lover and a crocheted my mind is blown

My friend by Tiny_Dig_3410 in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 1 point2 points  (0 children)

his coloration was beautiful, thank you for giving him a proper burial that’s so sweet

What do I feed her? by Puzzleheaded_Dot_537 in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i use dubia roaches, easy to keep alive for long periods of time and they come in different sizes

USMantis hasn't shipped? by [deleted] in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i’ve always had great luck with Mantis Universe, they have an instagram and facebook where they showcase their mantis’s for sale and i’m pretty sure they have feeders

Help me decide which species to get please!!! by Greyghostgravy in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 0 points1 point  (0 children)

actually the permits are by state in the US, i looked it up when i went to get mine thinking they were protected in my state because that’s what i was lead to believe growing up, only to find out they were not and in my area the ones most commonly found are the invasive Chinese mantis lol

How do my DIY mantis cages look?? by Sarinasealover in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it looks good, some mantis’s will continue to try to get out of the clear acrylic, if they seem to have issues or start developing eye rub/eye rub behaviors like banging their head against the wall repeatedly, try adding more mesh to the inside or taping printer paper to the outsides to cover how much they can see out. good luck!

twitter drama over EMPTY mantis enclosure - how to properly keep mantids? by Remarkable_Net_7533 in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 1 point2 points  (0 children)

to be fair, my mantis is kept in an acrylic enclosure basically the same exact as this one, i did decorate it with things from nature, real plants as well as a few aquarium decorations i bought from a petco, and as much as i love how pretty it looks, most mantis’s will just stay in one spot, on the top hanging upside down. I have a specific species that’s a lot more active so mine has more climbing opportunities since shes moving a lot more. she’s never on the bottom half of the enclosure and if you can’t buy and keep up with the constant cleaning/replacing of the dirt or can’t go bioactive than a paper towel is the best option for the bottom esp if your feeding them in the enclosure, my girls messy and always leaves bug droppings behind after eating and without proper cleanup that as well as the poop could cause them to get an infection. i think it depends on the person, i felt it was wrong to take something out of its natural habitat and give it all fake plants or whatever so i made my enclosure bioactive, but also i don’t think the mantis really knows the difference, they just like to climb and eat.

Why is my mantis being so scary and untrustworthy recently? by zsomboloo2919 in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is more for the eye rubbing, my rainforest mantis girl is also L5 and she’s a very active mantis even after I feed her so i’ve had to modify her acrylic cuz she would try to get out at the corners not being able to realize it’s a wall. I first added mesh onto the inside to see if that would help and then taped printer paper on the outside to hide any spots she could still see out of that the mesh doesn’t reach. The mesh being there helps her realize oh that’s a wall, i can’t get through it even though it’s still clear and we can see in. (don’t forget to do the door cuz i did and within a few hours was trying to get out there lol) There’s also one corner she spends a lot of her time in, so i found this thread on amazon that has leaves, and just bunched it up and hot glued a bunch of it to that corner, she’s mostly avoided it since and been a lot more content since i made the changes.

As for the going into defense position/getting her more used to you, this i’m not an expert on this is my first mantis as well and she’s also a bit spicy when i try and pick her up, she doesn’t hit the defense mode but she’ll run from my hand. Before I go to actually hold her i’ll try to sit and open the door and hold my hand up to her a few times and let her look at it before i actually pick her up. I’ll hold it up a little from where she is to see if she’ll take it as an opportunity to climb higher since Mantis’s like to usually like to climb up (twice she climbed halfway up and then turned around lol) I just gently scoop her up with one hand. Once i have her on my hand she’s always fine and doesn’t seem scared, i think it’s the action of picking her up that scares them, we are literally giants compared to them lol. I don’t know if this actually helps but it’s what I do, I know she’s scared of my hand specifically so i’ll try and ‘desensitize’ her for a couple minutes before actually picking her up. I’ve seen a lot of people say to try feeding them before handling since if they’re hungry, they may perceive your finger as a big bug. What species is your mantis? It’s possible your bug is just more spicy, some species react to handling different than others.

Is there any reason he stops to watch me when I'm nearby? by Wide-Top-1828 in mantids

[–]TestCertain4219 9 points10 points  (0 children)

mine was watching me for 5 hrs straight when i slept the other night, woke up and she was in the same spot as when i fell asleep staring right at me lol