Do-It-Yourself Praying Mantis Enclosure
Materials:
1.)Jar, tupperware, or any breathable enclosure that is fine enough to contain aphids or flightless fruit flies
2.)Stick or similar
3.)Tissue, moss, or water crystal to retain moisture in the enclosure
4.)Glue to attach the ooth to a surface or to attach stick to enclosure
5.)Feeder insect: fruit flies, house flies, aphids, ants, crickets...
6.)Fruit piece or Your favorite gutload
7.)Scissors to perforate the enclosure (if needed)
8.)Tissue or paper towel for plugging holes
9.)Glue stick to adhere paper towel to perforations (if needed)
The enclosure must be breathable but must also be fine enough to contain aphids or similar. I used common household tupperware and cut holes in it. Then I used a papel towel, stripped to 1-ply, to paste over the holes. Remember to paste on the inside.
The placement of the stick with the ooth is best if glued to top of lid. Use a low-heat glue gun or super glue if no insects are present...to avoid sticky situations. Make sure the "zipper" of the ooth is facing outward. If you don't know what I mean by "zipper" look at the ooth and you'll know what I mean.
The mantids will almost always prefer to hang out at the top hanging upside down. This is also why the mesh should allow feeder insect traffic close to the lid top so that the mantids have a shot to get a meal. The mesh can be obtained from a garlic pack or orange sack. You can also use aspen excelsior (recommended by mantisplace.com)
The feeders presented to the nyphs (babies) must be very small. I use flightless fruit flies (drosophila melanogaster) but many other have had great success with small ants, aphids, leafhoppers...the list goes on. Just make sure your enclosure won't spring a leak. As the mantids get older and molt, you can increase the size of the feeders. Mantids are known for their aggressive behavior and are capable of taking down prey much larger than themselves. BE FOREWARNED! DO NOT LET YOUR BABY CHAM ENTER AN UNFAIR FIGHT!
Keep the substrate (moss, a few water crystals, tissue etc) moist. Depending on the temp. and ambient humidity, you will need about 1 misting a day. Just watch your substrate to see if you need more/less mistings.
The fruit piece is meant to keep your feeders alive. It may need to be changed and added to regularly. I use banana slices for the fruit flies. A honey/pollen mix works well for many feeders.
REMEMBER, you're really feeding your cham in a cumbersome, round-about way. You add an extra step in the feeding cycle. gutload>mantis feeder>mantis>chameleon
This set-up has worked well for me.
Be patient with your ooths and keep the moisture constant. Soon you'll have way more nymphs than you bargained for...
Hope this helps! Let's use this thread to build a comprehensive guide to keeping mantids...for the purpose of feeding our CHAMELEONS!
- Chad Norton
Materials:
1.)Jar, tupperware, or any breathable enclosure that is fine enough to contain aphids or flightless fruit flies
2.)Stick or similar
3.)Tissue, moss, or water crystal to retain moisture in the enclosure
4.)Glue to attach the ooth to a surface or to attach stick to enclosure
5.)Feeder insect: fruit flies, house flies, aphids, ants, crickets...
6.)Fruit piece or Your favorite gutload
7.)Scissors to perforate the enclosure (if needed)
8.)Tissue or paper towel for plugging holes
9.)Glue stick to adhere paper towel to perforations (if needed)
The enclosure must be breathable but must also be fine enough to contain aphids or similar. I used common household tupperware and cut holes in it. Then I used a papel towel, stripped to 1-ply, to paste over the holes. Remember to paste on the inside.
The placement of the stick with the ooth is best if glued to top of lid. Use a low-heat glue gun or super glue if no insects are present...to avoid sticky situations. Make sure the "zipper" of the ooth is facing outward. If you don't know what I mean by "zipper" look at the ooth and you'll know what I mean.
The mantids will almost always prefer to hang out at the top hanging upside down. This is also why the mesh should allow feeder insect traffic close to the lid top so that the mantids have a shot to get a meal. The mesh can be obtained from a garlic pack or orange sack. You can also use aspen excelsior (recommended by mantisplace.com)
The feeders presented to the nyphs (babies) must be very small. I use flightless fruit flies (drosophila melanogaster) but many other have had great success with small ants, aphids, leafhoppers...the list goes on. Just make sure your enclosure won't spring a leak. As the mantids get older and molt, you can increase the size of the feeders. Mantids are known for their aggressive behavior and are capable of taking down prey much larger than themselves. BE FOREWARNED! DO NOT LET YOUR BABY CHAM ENTER AN UNFAIR FIGHT!
Keep the substrate (moss, a few water crystals, tissue etc) moist. Depending on the temp. and ambient humidity, you will need about 1 misting a day. Just watch your substrate to see if you need more/less mistings.
The fruit piece is meant to keep your feeders alive. It may need to be changed and added to regularly. I use banana slices for the fruit flies. A honey/pollen mix works well for many feeders.
REMEMBER, you're really feeding your cham in a cumbersome, round-about way. You add an extra step in the feeding cycle. gutload>mantis feeder>mantis>chameleon
This set-up has worked well for me.
Be patient with your ooths and keep the moisture constant. Soon you'll have way more nymphs than you bargained for...
Hope this helps! Let's use this thread to build a comprehensive guide to keeping mantids...for the purpose of feeding our CHAMELEONS!
- Chad Norton
