So, I've been awake and unable to sleep for about 2 hours, and have spent all of that reading up here on the forum and various places, I think I've suffered an information overload! I'm thinking about getting a Mantis and keeping it as cheap as I can, due to me not having much cash to splash, checking out some of the cheap alternatives are very interesting! Money-saving suggestions are most welcome

Anyhow, there seems no definitive beginner's guide or anything, so I'm a little lost in places. My basic plan is as follows;



1. Get a mantis(was looking at this thread, will get one of the recommended starters) keep it in a big plastic cup at first depending on size, later move it into a bigger plastic storage box when it's bigger. Here comes my first few questions. After keeping one I might consider keeping/breeding a few. How long does the average mantid live, and what's a nice cheap place to get one from? How hard is it to hatch a few from an Ootheca, and how many generally hatch from one? How long til they get angsty and start eating each other? I read somewhere they probably would even just hatched...


2. Law-wise, what is and isn't a native species to the UK? I've never in my life seen a mantis over here, though I guess I haven't been looking either. I'm not likely to be letting my mantis go out into the big wide world, I'm just curious to know.


3. In the way of food, what's the cheapest place to get some? I don't think I have any pet shops near me, maybe like one or two and they don't look like the sort that might sell live food, but I'm gonna check it out later today to be sure. Also, how does one go about keeping food? Fruitflies and crickets? I'm going to try and get flightless fruitflies if poss and not to pricey, are mantids ok with flying ones? Obviously I'd be buying alot, and a mantis can't eat them all in one go. I don't know the lifespan of either food source, or whether they need to be kept under special conditions etc. I always imagined flies should be kept in the fridge, but I haven't seen much indicating that.


4. How often do they actually eat/need feeding? I'm also wondering about their moisture intake, I've seen things saying to mist the habitat, and to put a water bowl(obv a bit harder in the cup stage), and I dunno which to do, or both?


Also, anyone know any good high street stores for good cheap supplies? Like netting, namely. Just thinking I'd need some pretty fine mesh netting to keep in any little fruity flies etc.




I know this is quite a hefty long post, but the world of mantids seems fascinating, and I want to go into it as prepared as possible so that I can give any I own the best life I can

1: it varies species to species tbh, it can be as long as 12 months as adult. Females tend to live longer than males
I would be inclinded to raise a few before starting to breed them.
The clasified section here or from Cosmicbugs or possibly Gurdersmantis
Hatch rate again varies from species to species, from 10 too 100+
Some species get angsty after a day where as other it very rarely happens

2: non are native to the UK

3: there is umpteen places to buy livefoods from online, I mostly use flies and hatch white maggots & pinkies bought from my local fishing shop.

4: every 2 or 3 days is fine as they get older, but the more you feed them the quicker they will grow. I tend to feed younger nymphs a ff or 2 daily (when I can) Misting with a water spray normally provides all the water that they need for drinking or to ease the moulting process

Netting can be bought very cheaply from fabric shops, plain net curtain is all you need

Hope that helps

http://www.gurdersmantis.com/

i just wrote a big thing replying to your post and then i saw gurd's post and was almost excatly the same. so i wont bother posting it now. but yeah exactly what gurd said basically. oh and if you want a FREE mantis look at this post and pm lynne (hot*stuff). http://www.ukmantisforums.co.uk/mant...ree-offer.html hope this helps


alex

CURRENT:

0.0.1 P. Paradoxa (ghost mantids)
1.0.0 Miomantis sp
0.0.1 P. Wahlbergii (Spiny flower)
1.2.0 O. Zebrata ( Zebra mantis)

This mantid FAQ guide should help answer some of your questions UK Mantis Forums - FAQ

It is probabley best to wait untill you have raised a couple of mantids before taking on hatching an ootheca, some species hatch 200+ nymphs and this can be alot to take on, they can cannibalize at 1st instar (hatchling) but in general if well fed they are normally ok up untill 3rd instar.

We have no native species of mantid in the U.K so there are no laws about keeping any species.

Cheapest way of feeding is catching your own, although this can be difficult during the winter month's, if you can't find anywhere locally to get livefood there are many online suppilers. Although with only 1 or 2 mantids to feed you will never use up all the fruitflies in the culture, just keep making up new cultures every week or so to keep them going.

It is up to you how much you feed, you can feed everyday or twice a week, they more often you feed them the quicker they grow, generally younger nymphs need feeding more often the older nymphs, make sure any uneaten live food is removed, especially crickets, roaches or locusts.
Depending on species you will need to mist everyday/every other day, they do not need a water bowl, this not only allows them to drink if they wish but also keeps the humidity up to aid moulting.

Net curtain makes an ideal fruit fly proof net, so any local material/haberdashery will sell this, or just use some old curtain that you have lying around.

Thanks for the responses and advice so far guys! I didn't think we had mantids over here, but I read something about gardening shops selling Oothecas as alternative pest control but now I realise that probably wasn't a UK written thing. The hatchings and Ooth stuff I was curious about, but thinking it'd be cool to be able to breed them some day(but that'd be a while away from now).


Thanks for the link to hot*stuff's post! I'll have to maybe wait on the offer for now though, depending on the size of the mantid cos I think I'm moving into a different house in a few weeks, so I don't think it'd be too sensible to get set up yet, just getting prepped with info and stuff for it. Ty for the FAQ as well Cosmicbug, can't believe I didn't see that earlier :x. I was also contemplating catching my own food, but with a crippling fear of spiders plus the winter weather, I concluded it might not be too successful! Thanks again for all the info guys!

Rummy