u/Bussingod

My first orchid mantis! I know it’s a big tank but I put her in a separate enclosure for feeding if anyone is worried, she’s pretty mellow for an orchid!

Edit: it has cross ventilation. I covered the metal mesh with tulle fabric. I live in a warm area so heating is unnecessary.
All these issues were addressed before putting the orchid in and before making the post.

People in the comments, while rightfully concerned about my mantis’s welfare, were incorrect about the quality of her care.

If anyone can see a problem with her care that was not correctly addressed please dm me and I will add it into the post.

I did months of research before getting this mantis!!!

I wanna get some neocaridinas in there, it’s 3 gallons. I have one of those ceramic “shrimp hides” hidden under the rocky cave area.

It’s 6.8 gallons but probably closer to 6.5-6 once I add substrate. I would be putting 2-3 adf in there

Should I take them out of my tank?

Me and my brother scaped this tank together as our first tank. It’s a 20 gallon long with 1 betta, 3 oto catfish (gonna get 3 more soon), 2 amano shrimp, and a random snail that snuck in

My mantis molted overnight so I was unable to observe her, but when I looked at her this morning I saw that she has one bent leg, will she be ok? Is this something that she’s just gonna have to deal with until it gets fixed in her next molt?

I wanna make some sort of bioactive eco jar that only needs light and that I can keep sealed forever. I’ve never made a terrarium in a jar so just wanna see what you guys might inspire me with

This fungus is growing in my isopod terrarium and I was wondering how to get rid of it permanently? The terrarium wasn’t getting a good amount of airflow before so that’s probably why it grew but now I have a fan pointed at the tank.

I just finished making my first terrarium for my chinese mantis and I am honestly very proud of how it looks, but I noticed my mantis mostly likes to just stick to the glass wall and she keeps falling.
Can I have some suggestions of things I might be able to put on the wall so she can grip it without ruining the aesthetics of my terrarium? Obviously I’ll choose to do what’s best for her if I have to but I want to have my cake and eat it too.

I am planning to move my juvenile Chinese mantis into a mid-sized enclosure before putting her into her final enclosure when she gets big enough. I’m stuck between 2 options for this temporary enclosure because after I move my mantis out I actually want to put a spiny flower mantis or ghost mantis into the cage. So the options are the Thrive Acrylic Terrarium (8”x8”x12”) or the Zoo Med 3 gallon glass terrarium (8.75"×8.5"×11.75"). I prefer the Zoo Med because I like the look of glass over acrylic but am worried about the lack of cross ventilation. I’ll also attach images of the enclosures as well.

Continuing from my last post, I now only have 1 mantid (I gave 1 to a local reptile/insect pet store and am giving another away to a very nice man) but I am wondering if my enclosure is ok for my baby mantoid Vivian. I added mesh to the top of the cage and a hydro ball layer under the soil for drainage as well as charcoal and springtails.
I make sure the soil stays moist and spray the whole terrarium down with spring water 2x a day.
This is only temporary until she gets too big for the tank then I will be upgrading to a 10x10x15 for her.
And comments or advice? Should I add isopods or is the tank too small for them?

I got free mantids from Ace Hardware like 2 days ago and kept 3 of them, is this a good tank setup? I think they might be Chinese mantids but not sure. I put flightless fruit flies in their enclosure but they don’t seem to be eating and I am worried. I only plan to keep 1 but have 3 because I wanted backups in case 1 or 2 die. They haven’t started fighting or cannibalising each other yet but idk how long I have. And right now their tank is 4x4x8 inches but when they get bigger the winner’s (as in the one I keep NOT the winner of the baby mantis hunger games, English is so hard you guys) tank will be 8x8x12 probably. Please give me any and all advice.
Edit: I ended up choosing the 2 who ate the most flies and separated them because I feel like they each have a bigger chance to make it to adulthood.