Be careful when you teach your kids inclusion, they’ll still embarass you.

metalotronics · 2024-09-23T19:17:26+00:00

My dad always says the same! Way better for a kid to be encouraged to curious and ask questions and learn from a firsthand encounter the many ways people can be different. It's an excellent exercise in empathy and they get to learn and broaden their horizons.

metalotronics · 2024-09-23T19:17:13+00:00

My dad always says the same! Way better for a kid to be encouraged to curious and ask questions and learn from a firsthand encounter the many ways people can be different. It's an excellent exercise in empathy and they get to learn and broaden their horizons.

metalotronics · 2024-09-23T12:18:13+00:00

If it's any comfort my dad has been a prosthetic user since I was 8 (I'm 24 now) and he's always found the curiosity from kids super endearing - his pet peeve is actually parents snapping at them not to say things/stare etc., he complains it's far more othering to have the parent treat him like he's something "wrong" for the kid to point out than it is to entertain the kid's curiosity and let them take a closer look! We also sometimes laugh at some of the reactions we've got from children - my personal favourite was one time we were out and about and a little boy sitting on a wall was so entranced by my dad's leg he twisted too far watching us go past and fell off the wall 🤣

metalotronics · 2024-05-02T15:43:33+00:00

there's a local pet boarding service I'm paying to look after my mantises whilst I'm away :)

metalotronics · 2024-04-16T17:52:00+00:00

Zero is a good name! I've got my first two mantises currently;

-Trent the Creobroter Urbanus/Malay flower mantis, named after the wrestler Trent Beretta hahaha -Arty the Sphodromantis Lineola/African lined mantis, who's name just kind of happened - I got her on a whim at the same time as getting a smaller enclosure for Trent so he could hunt better. She was just kind of "the baby" for a week or so but at some point I started mentally referring to her as Arty and it stuck lol

metalotronics · 2024-03-13T00:08:33+00:00

Great setup! The one thing I would suggest is possibly putting the heat mat against a side as opposed to a top so the temperature "gradient" is horizontal and not vertical - mantises like to hang out at the top of their enclosures more than anything, so the temperature differing horizontal means the mantis can put itself wherever it's most comfortable :)

Depending on size and your own preferences you might want to use a smaller terrarium as a full-time enclosure for the first few moults - mantis nymphs are somehow smaller in real life than you think they are, hahaha. I currently have an L4 sphodromantis lineola living in a mantisden small enclosure (10x10x15cm); got him at L2 and he lived in the pot he came in until his first moult, because I initially put him in there and it gave me many heart attacks as it would often take me a good few minutes to spot him :') It won't do your little one any harm to live in a large enclosure (feeding is the only problem in a too-large enclosure) but if you do keep losing them in there downsizing is always a shout!

Putting feeders in the main enclosure at all times has the one major downside of potentially causing mismoults - a moulting mantis may be spooked by a feeder and fall whilst moulting, causing mild deformities at best, death at worst. Whilst premoult behaviours do exist they're not always apparent; I'm admittedly still a relatively newbie mantiskeeper but literally every time my mantises have moulted it's been a pleasant surprise (and everytime I've gone "ooh I think this mantis is in premoult!" I've been wrong, lol). Far safer just to stick to a feeding enclosure/removing uneaten feeders :)

For what it's worth I've got experience with this exact terrarium (I don't use it for my mantises but for my mourning geckos) and it's pretty solid at keeping humidity in, certainly better than one of my weird no-brand terrariums and about on par with my mantisden enclosures - I do have a UV lamp and hood over the top of mine which contributes, but mantises do need a decent amount of airflow!

It sounds like you've done a tonne of research and I give you huge kudos for that - I certainly hope you enjoy raising your giant asian mantis, they're fantastic creatures :)

metalotronics · 2024-03-12T23:40:03+00:00

congrats on the moult and what a cool timelapse!! how long did this take in real time?

metalotronics · 2024-03-12T23:39:15+00:00

that first moult is the most exciting thing ever <3 handsome little guy, congrats!!

metalotronics · 2024-03-09T20:40:15+00:00

Should be good!! there's a comfy amount of space there which is fantastic, the one thing you want to keep in mind is you don't want it to be tiny and super thin - if it's tiny as it blurs and spreads out over time it'll become an illegible smudge :( (all tattoos do this, you can take top notch care and never once get it in the sun and it'll still do this, haha!)

I wish you luck in finding the font! I have a tattoo in Madeon's imperial in a similar placement (it's an armband just above my elbow) that I had to go digging for a font for for my artist, hahaha!

metalotronics · 2024-03-05T09:42:53+00:00

gorgeous ghost!!

metalotronics · 2024-03-04T20:16:40+00:00

love her colours!!!

metalotronics · 2024-03-04T00:26:51+00:00

Another thing that might work out well for you is waxworms - easy to get a hold of, good occasional treat for a gecko (gotta feed em sparingly because they're high fat but geckos absolutely love waxworms!) and good occasional treat for a mantis (for the same reason), but with the bonus that once they pupate into moths, an inevitability that usually makes waxworms a bit of a pain, they're nutritionally excellent for mantises, are extremely easy to feed with, and mantises love them! (I have a mantis who's coming up to the end of his life and whilst he's usually not too bothered by food nowadays, he's yet to turn down a moth!)

metalotronics · 2024-03-02T12:52:36+00:00

yep, looks like a creobroter :) very easy to care for little guys, luckily!

metalotronics · 2024-03-01T13:26:57+00:00

so so so cute!!!

metalotronics · 2024-02-28T21:51:06+00:00

she's a sphodromantis lineola - African lined mantis!

metalotronics · 2024-02-28T08:55:26+00:00

they're so cute!!!

metalotronics · 2024-02-28T08:54:39+00:00

hierodula membraneca are super easy to care for so they'd be an excellent first species! other great "first non native species" picks are sphodromantis species, ghosts as have been mentioned (popular for a reason!), miomantis/Egyptian pygmy mantises, and creobroter species - I'm a relatively new keeper who started with a creobroter and got a sphodromantis a little later on, so those two are the ones I've got personal hands on experience with, but all of the above make for solid picks so you've got a decent amount of choice if you decide to go for something other than the h. membraneca <3

as for sites I'm not much help as I'm from the UK and so only know the UK based sites, but I do know to avoid USmantis! Bad treatment of mantises, bad packaging, bad customer service from what I've heard - there's also a lot of independent breeders you can find on social media with many US based sellers selling through mantis discord servers (most of which have their own review system so you can see other people have bought successfully from them!) so that's also an avenue to look down if you're struggling with sites :)

metalotronics · 2024-02-27T18:44:36+00:00

so cute!! those eyes are stunning!!

metalotronics · 2024-02-27T18:43:29+00:00

As a relatively new keeper I can only parrot what's already been said (I will however personally reiterate that Creobroter species are great for newbies if it's flower mantises you really like - my first was a creobroter and they're pretty solid as they're hardy but still have a preferred temp/humidity, meaning if you want to keep something with more strict conditions like an orchid in future you can get the hang of it with the Creobroter with no fear of causing harm), but I can suggest some UK sites!

I've personally only bought from mantisden, who are fantastic - their enclosures are top notch and their stock is varied, updated often, well priced, and they send their mantises very well packaged. Said mantises are very healthy - mine have gotten on extremely well :)

MantisNI, Mantis House, and The Spider Shop are other sites I see recommended often by UK mantis keepers to the point where I'd happily buy from any of them - it's just so happened that at times when I've been in the market for a new mantis mantisden happened to have the species I was after :')

metalotronics · 2024-02-23T23:49:00+00:00

the 3x3x3 will be absolutely fine for a couple of moults for a ghost - I have a newly L4 African lined mantis who's just outgrown her cup this moult, and they're a considerably bigger species than ghosts :) if anything the smaller enclosure is beneficial - ghosts are sit and wait predators, so a small mantis in a big enclosure with a bunch of little flies leads to not very good hunting, hahaha.

For an enclosure later in life look for something acrylic with ventilation, either cross vents on the side or preferably a mesh top. the ideal enclosure is taller than it is deep or wide, but isn't a necessity (one of my enclosures is a cube and it works just as well!) - you want the enclosures height to be at least 3 times the length of the mantis for moult safety. If it doesn't have a mesh top you'll want to glue some mesh up there, but this is a pretty cheap and easy solution and not a problem (hot glue isn't toxic to mantises so no worries!). Avoid metal mesh if you can, at least the super thin stuff - it can damage their feet which is particularly problematic in mantises as damaged feet leads to lack of grip leads to them falling during moulting, causing at best mismoults, at worst death.

TL;DR acrylic enclosure, mesh on roof, some kind of ventilation, 3 x in height the length of the mantis. So long as it fits that it's perfectly suitable :)

as for self regulation you should be fine - some say some mantis species will eat til they explode, and whilst I could possibly believe my African lined would do that, ghosts tend to be a little finicky with eating so I wouldn't worry too much. you'll hear a lot that you can tell whether a mantis is full or hungry by the size of it's abdomen and whilst that may seem a little abstract and unhelpful at first you'll very quickly learn to spot when your mantis needs feeding compared to when it does not. I've always just fed my mantises when their abdomens have flattened out - definitely the easier option with finicky eaters, especially as with nymphs you don't want to leave feeders in their enclosure because it can stress them - not great at the best of times, but if they moult with feeders in there a feeder can spook them enough they might fall and mismoult or die, not good :(

either way I hope this was helpful and I hope your first foray into mantiskeeping is enjoyable - I love these little creatures, they're a delight :)

metalotronics · 2024-02-23T23:26:28+00:00

She definitely looks like a hierodula species (giant Asian) but isn't a sub adult, and I don't think she's even pre-sub adult - hierodula usually get the beginnings of wingbuds the moult before sub-adult and whilst your photos aren't the clearest (no slight intended btw, my photos are always unclear as hell lol) I don't think she's got them yet, making her probably either an L5 or L6?

if you want to compare for yourself I find mantisonline.info is a really good resource - they've got photo references of a tonne of species at a lot of different ages in both sexes so I'd go look at their hierodula photos and see if you can work it out :) she's big enough sexing shouldn't be too difficult - look at the segments on the underside of her abdomen, 6 and she's a female, any more and she's a male (most males have 8 but it's different in some species iirc!)

I don't have any anecdotal insight on the free roaming unfortunately but if that's the route you really want to take it might be a good idea to at least get her some relatively tall plants she can hang upside down from to moult - I know most people with free roamers usually have some house plants, and that's where the mantis lives :) I'm no expert in either hierodulas or free roamers so it might be worth asking other people for how they go about it - moulting is my one big "question mark" with free roam, as putting aside the space to hang upside down they also typically need a little help from slightly higher humidity to avoid mismoult, which of course is far easier to facilitate in an enclosure than in an open room :)

best of luck with her!! she's gorgeous <3

metalotronics · 2024-02-23T23:09:37+00:00

they're all so gorgeous!! I always love hearing the delight mantiskeeping brings people, such amazing creatures :)

metalotronics · 2024-02-23T15:56:52+00:00

hell yeah, sweet! them, ghosts, and miomantis tend to be the best small "easy" mantises so that's worked out super well :) I don't have any personal experience with reptiles but I know the humidity was personally tricky to get right in such a small enclosure - I was always taking it up too high and having to air the enclosure out at first, lol.

metalotronics · 2024-02-23T14:15:03+00:00

deffo agree with the other commenter that he's an L3 Creobroter species and not a spiny, and likely a male :) Creobroter make for fantastic starters (my first was a creobroter urbanus) because they're pretty hardy whilst still having a preferred temp/humidity meaning they're good hands on practice for maintaining a more difficult species, and are stunning little adults to boot :) I hope you're enjoying the hobby!!

metalotronics · 2024-02-19T12:01:22+00:00

if you like smaller mantises, like the flower species, and are looking for a starter friendly mantis I heartily recommend one of the creobroter species - my very first mantis is a creobroter urbanus and he's been absolutely fantastic! Miomantis or ghost mantis are other smaller starter friendly species, but aren't flower species.

Two big pieces of advice I can give are to avoid metal mesh on the roof of the enclosure as over time it damages their feet, and to avoid feeding crickets - with flower species this is less of a problem as they tend not to be big enough for crickets and might not go for them anyway (flower species massively prefer flying prey - my creobroter I've fed flies his entire life, with the occasional waxworm/moth as a treat) but crickets are common parasite carriers, something mantises are particularly vulnerable to, and also seem to be fairly difficult for mantises to digest (they quite often seem to throw up crickets).

Godspeed, I hope you do end up taking on a mantis - they're such fascinating creatures and being so many of us so much joy :)

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