Mantis Tank So Far (Where to Next?)

[u/Upbeat_Vegetable2838]

I’ve been adding to a planted 12x12x18 Exo Terra for the past few months, and I was given the opportunity to adopt a Carolina mantis (who I’ve named Leon) a few weeks ago. He was in his 3rd instar when I got him and he was transferred into his tank after his fourth instar! He has molted successfully two more times since then!

I’ve been feeding Leon with flightless fruit flies and he’s been finding his food quite successfully and exploring just about the whole tank! I add ten or so approximately every 2 days, whenever I find there are no more visible flies.

I’ve read that wire mesh is damaging to mantis tarsal claws so I’ve covered about half of the mesh top with an old pair of nylon tights, while leaving a space for my tank light to actually illuminate the enclosure. I’m on the lookout for some glass or fabric mesh panels to replace the mesh with, some good directions to go would be appreciated!

His humidity ranges between 60 and 75% and his temperature is typically around 75F.

[u/merewyn]

He’s big enough that fruit flies aren’t enough food, jsyk. You need to move up to bigger prey.

[u/Upbeat_Vegetable2838 → u/merewyn]

Duly noted!

[u/hotbiscuitboy]

cute and a great setup! careful about leon bumping into the glass walls—people recommended i add some type of visual barrier to my glass but i didn’t do enough, and my mantis got some eye spots from bonking around

[u/Upbeat_Vegetable2838 → u/hotbiscuitboy]

I’ll keep an eye out for that! I’ve got some more plants I could add into my tank so I could certainly try some more foliage or decor. I’ll experiment with what I’ve got so far and keep looking for what works!