My dead leaf mantis, Charlie, matured in April of this year. She is definitely a voracious eater, but when I went to feed her today, I noticed that her abdomen was abnormally large. I was gone for the last eight days and had a pet sitter watching her so I can’t be 100% sure that she wasn’t overfed, but none of the other inverts appear overfed so I’m worried something else is going on. Is it possible for her to be gravid without ever having been around another mantis? Should I continue to feed her despite her abdomen size in case she is gravid or does she need to just skip a few meals? She’s alert, drinking water, and “grooming” herself as normal but I feel like she’s moving more slowly or carefully. Not sure if that is important or if I’m just staring at her too much because I’m worried. Any advice or information is greatly appreciated!

In western PA. Such a sweet little guy.

She came in yesterday and refused to eat a beetle, i thought she was injured bc she was missing an antenna. Left the screen door open and went to sleep and there's an egg now. I'm in Europe and they might be invasive in my area i'm not 100% sure, should i freeze them?

i literally just found this dude in my garage and he is huge! like maybe 5-6inches long. i think he's a chinese mantis, which are invasive to my area, so i'd love to keep him as a pet. (i think it's a boy because i read online that only the males can fly and he sure was flying- i thought he was a bird at first lol)

can someone tell me exactly what i need for an enclosure? i just need a checklist of what to buy. i'm going to go right after work tomorrow and buy anything he needs so he can be comfortable ASAP (it's 10pm rn). he is currently in a small clear storage bin with some holes drilled in the top for oxygen and paper towels on the bottom.

also.. how to i feed and water him? what do they eat? i've had reptiles and other small pets in the past but never any insects, let alone any carnivorous ones.

any other advice you also might have for beginner mantis mothers would be greatly appreciated. i'd love to give him the best life ever.

thanks!

My l2 ghost mantis has been showing signs of molting for about two days now but has not molted yet. Should I be worried?

Hi everyone, sorry to be one of those guys. Is this a female Tenodera sinensis? Was visiting my mom and saved it from her cat outside trying to play with it. Tried gently offering a waxworm with some tongs but she preferred to stay hanging on the ceiling. Is she pregnant or is that a normal sized abdomen for a female? Sorry for the bad photos and thanks for any help!

I'm still getting used to her husbandry, and I'm not sure how often I'm supposed to mist her. Some say twice a day, some say a couple times a week. I've been doing every other day, assuming she's still getting moisture from food. I definitely now know what "thirsty mantis" looks like! Poor baby. 😅

My first venture into mantis keeping. I raised this female ghost mantis since it was a bby. Did she lay an egg sac?

let me know if there’s anything i should add or change! i want the best for my girl!!

very proud of her and she’s already back to moving around and eating!! she’s a powerhouse!

I have a Dead Leaf mantis and would like to keep it in a 8”x8”x10” glass enclosure. Can I replace the metal mesh in the lid with this rubberized shelf liner? Also, there would be no cross ventilation due to the glass sides - is that ok?

I live in Washington state, and found this guy crawling around on a large piece of dry grass within a large dry grassland area. I don’t know the gender nor species nor how to care for it properly, and I would love advice based on the species it is!!! thanks a lot! based on the size I’d assume it’s around sub adult to adult.

My orchid mantis went from a little pink/purple around their legs (just the start of their legs) to this kind of full pale pink color. It hasn’t molted in weeks so it’s probably that since it wasn’t this pink before. Once it molts probably tonight or next days, will it keep that pretty colour or will it fade to white. My other ones were never this pink and they all turned out quite yellowish white. I kept them warmer tonight for that reason and with more humidity also. How could I make them more prone to pink?

Take a picture of Bub while you read this- So where I live.. winter will be pretty rough this year which isn’t usual for us. There might be power outages and ofc I don’t want all of my mantises to freeze to death.

So are there any recommendations or suggestions anyone has? I’ve done a bit of research and have seen that people get coolers and little reptile heater pouches for emergencies and then put it near them. I don’t know if that’s the best way? Any tips would be very much appreciated, thank you💚

Moin also ich habe mich nun ein bisschen eingelesen und so weiter bin ebenfalls auf die Geistermantis gestoßen aber ich habe jetzt nicht wirklich vor das als großes Hobby aufzufahren sonden halt nur ein Tier wil mir das in meiner Bude einfach zu langweilig und unbelebt ist kann man sich dann trotzdem eine holen oder ist es eher besser die dann auch versuchen zu paaren und mit allen drum und dran sein ganzes Herzblut in die Sache zu stecken?

I love these little guys..

Been wanting to get praying mantids forever but can’t find anyone who breeds them at expos or MorphMarket. Found a website called Mantis Universe and they have a wide variety but i don’t know if it’s reliable or trustworthy. Any recommendations or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks ahead.

Also sorry if I used the wrong Flair.