# mantis for beginners



## emmilllyyy (Oct 9, 2010)

I'm keen to jump into the world of inverts, and was wondering what kind of mantis is best for beginners, and what kind of setup would they need? Also are orchid mantids good to keep because I've looked at them and they're gorgeous!

emily: victory:


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## dizzee (Nov 3, 2008)

aslong as you get the care down. you can have any mantis really emily, just some require more heat or humidity or both..

an enclosure 3x there length and with a full mesh lid with cork bark or a twig running diagonally in there..

i started with an african lined mantis, awsome sp. then a ghost mantis which are a smaller funny looking things hehe 


hope it helps. pick one you like and reasearch. 

callam xx


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

My first was a giant African, then I had a giant Chinese *lol* Then moved on to orchids and ghosts  They're pretty easy to keep, really.... Just getting the humidity and heat right.


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## Zohan-zee (May 27, 2011)

An orchid mantis is kept at 30-55c, humidity is essential 1 spray per day!
The substrate a friend uses is peat but you can also use coconut fiber, kitchen towel or soil.
You will need surface for the mantis to grip on to in a small enclosure as the don't hunt there prey.
They can eat a mixture of moths, flies, bees, daddy long legs etc but these can be very hard to come upon and can be quite expensive!


If you are a beginner, find the right mantis species for you ... check this site out....good luck :2thumb:​


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## emmilllyyy (Oct 9, 2010)

okay thanks I'm after either a Chinese, giant Asian or a giant African, could any of these live in a large faunarium or would they need something larger?

emily: victory:


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## Zohan-zee (May 27, 2011)

Chinese n giant Asian mantises are both highly cannibalistic, If u are planning on keeping mantises in the same enclosure plan to lose a few. Provide plenty of surface area in the cage. 
Textured vertically placed items also provide perches for the mantises to molt from.

Young mantises do better is small enclosures, the cage should be 3X as high and 2X as wide as your mantises length. keep the humidity up, so cross-ventilation is a key factor, for the Chinese and Asian they can be kept at room temp, as long as its a fair temp...unless its during the incubation stage which it needs to be raised .

Ive copied a food regime as an idea for you :-
1st instar: fruit flies
2nd instar: fruit flies
3rd instar: fruit flies and house flies or small crickets or small roaches
4th instar: house flies and small crickets or small roaches
5th instar: same feeder insects as 4th instar, but slightly larger
6th instar: same but larger
7th instar: same
8th instar: adult crickets, blue bottle flies 

1st & 2nd instar- daily or every other day, about 1-3 flies depending on abdomen thickness
3rd-5th instar- every 1-3 days
6th instar to maturity- every 1-3 days (larger food, of course)
gravid (pregnant) females- they should eat everyday and appear quite plump.

Anything else feel free to mail me : victory:


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## Biggys (Jun 6, 2010)

emmilllyyy said:


> okay thanks I'm after either a Chinese, giant Asian or a giant African, could any of these live in a large faunarium or would they need something larger?
> 
> emily: victory:


 
Giant matids are awesome things, always wanting to eat, get big, and are normally calm enough to walk over your hands,

I keep the younger mantids in gallon sweet jars, as the rule is 3x the length of the mantis so they don't hit the bottom when moulting : victory:

you can use fauns if you tip them up on end

Mist once every other day with luke water water, and you can't really go wrong. 

you can feed them all sorts, crickets, flies, locust, moths....ect

but if you go for smaller mantids of ghost and gongys, then they will only really take flies :2thumb:

I don't bother with heating, just keep them at room temp or slightly above, and they do fine.

as for decoration in the tank, eco-earth for substrate, a few branches and a fake plant will do, just be careful not to over crowd the tank as the might bumb them while moulting.


as for starter _spp._

I suggest

bud-wing mantids
ghost mantids
giant mantids
peacock mantids

just a few that are pretty easy to keep, only thing with the ghosts is they prefer flies over crickets : victory:


hope this is some help

Tyler,


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

I'd say go for something other than an orchid as your first, they are hard to come by, not that cheap and are considered one of the harder mantis to keep. 

You mentioned some others which are good for a beginner, they are really easy to keep we feed and water ours every 2 days. A pint cup with some material on top is best for a nymph and increase to a sweet jar as they grow. A plastic tank will be fine for any of the species you mentioned, ghosts and orchids are more stand and wait mantis, something too big means they might not be able to get food. They need more height than length. We went to the £1 shop and got some jugs, they are perfect and or congos are looking very happy in their new tubs. :lol2:

Either way mantids are quite easy to care for, if you go onto ukmantisforum you can get bundles of nymphs quite cheap, and find lots of care sheets as well as meeting lots of friendly people.


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## stevemusson (Oct 16, 2010)

as already stated, any mantis really. none of them are especially hard to keep but you might wanna talk to the breeders first as i've bought a double shield mantis and the breeder claimed to have scars from the female lol. not sure how true this is as none of my other species i've kept have pinched at all


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