Mantids off ebay

[Dave]

lol I got 7 mantids on Saturday :)

[stickinsect123]

lol I'm getting 7 Rhombodera basilis mantids tommorrow!:D (giant malysian shield mantids)

[Dave]

you get them of ebay!? its my mate that breeds and sells them ebay name 'geunon'? hes the only guy I know that sells them.

[stickinsect123]

yep he's the 1:D he's seems like a brilliant seller and a care sheet is included

[Dave]

I'll be honest, I think hes the best seller of living animals on ebay:), he's met David Attenborough:eek:, hes a wildlife artist and David came to one of his shows talked to him for about an hour he told me. I lost a bid on ebay for 3 of his R.basilis:D but I got some Chinese mantis

[stickinsect123]

wow! thats amazing. I would love to meet sir david r Rhombodera basilis harmless?

[Dave]

Well they can be surprisingly aggressive and their claws can draw blood:). but once they are on your hand they'll be fine, females are more agro than males, but it gives them a bit of character :) they are extremly aggressive towards each other, so theres no chance you can keep them together:(.

[stickinsect123]

so basically they're the jungle nymphs of the mantid world. I will be keeping them in a flexarium when they're older. because the cage is massive could I still keep them all together or r there no exceptions

[Dave]

Most mantis should never be kept together (this being one) as they a very cannibalistic, so if yoou keep them together you'll end up with one very fat Mantis:).

[stickinsect123]

could u keep them in pairs then in seperate cages so the can mate

[Dave]

the only time adult should come into contact is during mating and adult males should not be kept in the same room as the females as the female pheromones drive the males mad and the mutilate themselves! if you want to breed them set the two animals homing together for 2 days then let the male into the girls house keep the lid of so he can get out of there if it goes wrong, If you don't want to lose your male keep an eye on mating and have a pen ready seperate them if a 'fight ' breaks out, Keep in mind the male will die some few weeks after, If you don't let the female eat the male give her lots of food after, also before introducing the pair feed them very well!. Mantis breeding hard bloody work lol
Hope this helps, pheew:D

[stickinsect123]

thanks this really helped

[Dave]

ohhhh then she lays her eggcase (ootheca) and she could lay up to 7 of the in these could be 20-300 young, with most mantis you seperate the nymphs after 3rd shed but R.basilis have to be seperated after the 1st shed lol, and the ones you have bought will be very small so be read for them with very small crickets or fruit flies:)

[stickinsect123]

ok will do. Looks like I'll go through loads of cages too

[Dave]

Yes you will lol:)

[stickinsect123]

because they will be small I'll seperate them in jam jars with mesh tops

[Dave]

Sounds good:) they love hanging upside from mesh. The jars should do them for quite some time, I keep my middle aged in cricket boxes wieghted down with wet kitchen roll, I've got a couple of photos of my new mantids in there housing the quality isn't great but should give you an idea:).

[stickinsect123]

cricket boxes..... good idea I have a few of these

[Dave]

Yeah I kept all of my old boxes, just incase and as it turned out it was the best thing I did, to buy them boxes they're like £1 each:).

[Ian]

Moved these posts to a separate thread for you people :)

[Dave]

Yeah we were getting stuck into the mantids, thanks Ian:)

[stickinsect123]

thanks:D my mantids r arriving tommorrow

[Dave]

Brill, you can take good photos can't you? get a thred open 2morrow with some photos so I can get a look:D

[stickinsect123]

ok will do. I'll have my camera at the ready

[Dave]

:)Thanks, they will be quite small.

[stickinsect123]

i've looked at photos of them but wat is their actual colouration like, r they bright?

[Dave]

Yeah, they are a lovely bright turquoise and they have large pink abdomens, their eyes are also a bright emerald green, but your nymphs will not go like this until the last shed:(
If you look up photos and mantis Ian has a photo of a immature male look it up:D
I can't remamber what colour the males wings are but they are usually bright, think they might be red, and their shield is fantastic:)

[stickinsect123]

can't wait till they will get really colourful. r u saying the males can actually fly?! I thought they couldn't

[Dave]

I think all male matis can fly because they need to take off and find females;). They are fantastic:D