Rhombodera basalis care? - new to mantids

jared

jared

Fourth Instar
Just got back from the LA County Museum of Natural History bug fair and traded for a shield mantis nymph. I've never owned a mantis before, but I tried my best to make a suitable enclosure.

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It immediately ate a fruit fly as soon as I rehoused it, and my question is, how often should I feed it? One fruitfly a day or more?

 
Cool thanks. This thing is so fun to care for I might be hooked on mantis keeping now haha.

 
I would keep feeders available to the mantis, they grow extremely fast, you can also use rice flour beetles, bean beetles, and buffalo beetles. Mist lightly every few days, Make sure your wood decorations allow 2 times the length of the mantis for molting, if he molts onto the wood he can mis-molt.

Mantis are like Australian Sticks; they have personality!

CHEERS!

Nick Barta

 
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Thanks for the info, I have a metal mesh at the top; if it molts on that will it most likely fall?

 
You should be fine with the metal mesh, fiber glass mesh is also good and has a little better grip. By the way, you might want to change out the rocks on the bottom for coconut fiber or sphagnum moss, these are good substrates for mantids because if the mantid falls it will have a soft landing and it helps to retain humidity in the container.

I was also hooked on mantids for almost 2 years, they were the first insects I kept! I kept D.dessicata, P.spurca, P.paradoxa, R.valida, and T.sinensis. I however stopped keeping them after my last mantid died back in maybe September, because they just seemed hard for me as some mismolted and a few of them got bacterial infections and died. :(

I have gained some knowledge since then though and am happy to say that I might be getting another one soon!

 
Ah yeah, I was debating coconut fiber or rocks and I saw a mantis tank online with rocks so I went with that. I'll switch it out when I get the chance. Sorry to hear about your problems rearing them but it sounds like with your experience you'll have no problem raising them again. Glad you're giving them a second shot!

Also it ate 3 fruit flies today and looking much more plump. :)

 
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Hey, I don't mean to hijack this thread, but Jared, did you draw your avatar? Love it man, it looks so cute! :wub:

 
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