Praying Mantis: Bug or Pet?

How cool was it when you were a kid to find a praying mantis sitting by the front door or in the garden waiting for a hapless bug to come along and become dinner? If you were like most kids, you watching it for a minute or so and then ran back into the house asking mom for a jar to catch it in. You just knew this would be the coolest pet of all time. Mom, however, in her infinite wisdom, said 'no, leave it alone - it isn't hurting anything'. Maybe she was right...but even as an adult, praying mantids (the plural form of mantis) are still one of the coolest bugs there are.

Well, now you are all grown up. And guess what, you can buy your very own praying mantis - and this time you don't have mom saying 'no'. However, as a rational adult, you know there are things that even a bug needs to thrive in captivity. What can you feed them? What kind of cage do they need? How long do they live? These are some of the questions that need to be answered before you purchase a praying mantis.

First off, you need to know how long to expect your new mantis to live. Depending upon the actual species of praying mantis, and the age at which they are acquired (most will be adult), pet expectancy is roughly six months. If, however, the egg is actually hatched in the home, life expectancy in about a year.

Since mantids are small, generally 2 to 3 inches (occasionally as large as 6 inches), and not a roaming insect, they don't need much room in their habitat. As praying mantids are carnivorous, they need to be kept separate. When planning a habitat, it needs to be twice the size of the insect, both wide and tall. A good size for the cage is 12 x 12 x 12, if the cage is too large, your pet may actually have a hard time finding the food you provide.

Any cage will need a substrate, or bedding. For a praying mantis, a couple of inches of soil mixed with sand or peat moss is an excellent choice. Be sure to provide your new pet with twigs and some leaves. These will help to not only make the cage seem more natural, but also gives the mantis something to hang on to and to hide in. Since the insect will need room to hunt and move, it will be important not to put too much stuff in the cage with it.

As with any pet, water is a requirement; with insects, humidity is also important. Since insects generally don't drink from a dish, the best way to give your pet water (and also the correct amount of humidity), is to mist the walls of the habitat every day. The mantis will drink the droplets off of the sides. The humidity needs to be around 60%, if daily misting isn't keeping this level, it may help to place a shallow dish inside the enclosure.

Obviously, your new pet will need to eat. Even as a kid, you knew that praying mantids ate other insects, as an adult, you may wonder which insects exactly. Thankfully, there are plenty of prey insects available in most pet stores throughout the world. A praying mantis will eat fruit flies, crickets or meal worms (all available at pet stores) or moths, flies and aphids (make sure these food items are not exposed to pesticides), which can be caught in the back yard.

Don't be alarmed if you see a praying mantis "body" in the enclosure. Praying mantids, like many insects, molt their skin as they grow. This is a good sign. Simply remove the shell from the habitat.

Enjoy your pet and your time reliving your childhood wants.

Informational source: www.bugsincyberspace.com/mantid_care.html#Housing/Habitats