Consider a Praying Mantis as a Pet
The word mantid comes from the Greek word prophet or seer. Watching the metamorphosis of the Mantid is interesting. . It is a process by which the mantid looks like a wingless adult and the number of stages depends on the breed. Most are medium in size and have a elongated prothorax. This enables the mantid to look around itself and catch its prey. They are carnivorous by nature. Some mimic flowers, such as the Indian Flower Mantis. This type of mantid has light green wings and a white swirl that can be seen on its back. Then there is the Orchid Mantis that mimics the orchid. It has petals that are in between its legs. These appendages are in vivid shades of whites and pinks.
When housing a mantid, you should keep it warm, rule 20C to 25C. To house your pet, you can use a yogurt pot, 3 by 1 inch. The is a quite inexpensive way to house the mantid. Cover the bowl with several layers of cling film and a strip of sellotape on the top. Pierce a small hole through the film in order to provide food for your pet. Place a sponge in the hole to cater to the humidity needs of the mantid. Also a branch should be provided for the mantid to shed its skin on.
During the mating season, the smaller male will jump on the back of the larger female. If this is not done right, the male will become the females meal. If successful, during the mating, the female will eat the male's head. Talk about a painful romance. Twelve to four hundred eggs are laid after mating. When born, its first meal is a sibling.
Feed young mantids on fruit flies. Adults eat spiders,mice and crickets. Food should be varied and removed after the manis has eaten all it can. The same food will weaken the condition of your mantid.
Mantids are interesting to watch because of their camouflaging characteristics. As mentioned before they mimic flowers. But they also mimic leaves. So think about owning this type of pet. You'll be the talk of the neighborhood.
Published by Faith Antonioni
I am a graduate of the University of Maryland, University College and have a B.S. degree in Communication Studies,it has a emphasis on writing. I have written articles about Siamese cats for www.Suite101.co... View profile
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12 Comments
Post a CommentIt makes me laugh reading that some people cant find one. You cant look somewhere around my place without seeing one. My biggest one lives inside on a windowsill and eats EVERYTHING!!!!!! Even venomous white tail spiders.
My dad found an egg sack think and one night(cause we had forgotten about it)I looked on my glass of water and there was a baby one. They a tiny tiny tiny things. We got to looking around and found about 300 of them in our house.
ive had 1 for a few days ive feed it crickets an spiders an its ate them all.
um i caught a praying mantis yesterday and it wont eat the grasshoppers imfeeding it whats up
but that only works with males if you are looking for a female go down to a pond and look at reeds or somthin for an evil little green shape. The female i found was about two inches long because it was august so the size depends on the date i think they are full grown at november
hope that helps
i found a few by walking in long grass and looking for big flying shapes when u spook em if there are crickets or grasshoppers where you live walk around theyre habitat
Any of those thing i get im feeding to my chameleon
I have been researching mantids alot, and its just become spring... I really want to find one, but I'm not expert in LOOKING for them. I just know how to keep them, but there are almost no websites on how to actually find one. I tried books too, but they didn't have the information either. Can someone who has tips on capturing some send it to me through my Youtube account? My username is PocketNekko....
i'm currently having one praying mantis. I was lucky, i just flew into my room, about 3 inches long, green.
now i'm facing problems to get more prey for it, all i could get at home is small cockroach.
Looking at those things make me itch.