how to care for a praying mantis

Praying mantids are very easy pets to take care of, and are very rewarding in return ( AKA a very interactive pet.)
And I mean come on who doesn't want a awesome flying predator bug as a pet ? :D

Before I get a thousand comments saying owning a praying mantis is illegal!
read this Snopes article
I also looked on the US fish and wildlife endangered species list and found nothing at all.

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Dictyoptera (Mantids and Cockroaches)
Suborder Mantodea (Mantids)
Family Mantidae

Step 1 Finding and catching the mantid.

Finding the mantis is the hardest part, but it is also the most fun, so grab your ipod and get outside.
You will want to look in tall grasses, flowers, small shrubs, short trees, pretty much anywhere lots of bugs are. The best time to find a mantid is late July to first frost (this is when they are big enough to find and are out of hiding to mate)
Don't worry if you cant find one you can buy mantis egg/ootheca at a good garden shop
or order a praying mantis here

Catching a mantid is very easy, all you need is your hand (or a stick) and a jar with a lid that has holes in it, or another container of some sort .

Do not grab the mantid it will bite you (It hurts really bad), let it walk onto your palm.
If the mantid has wings you will need to "shield" it with your other hand so it doesn't fly away.
If you are afraid of picking it up use a stick to gently corral it into a jar, put the lid on carefully so you don't catch one of its legs.

Comments

[fwjs28]

where i live, capturing mantids or hurting them is illegal....*sigh* ....

[tbarnhart1]

myth!

[iman]

then order some off the internet . where do you live ?

[fwjs28]

oh yeah, i didn't even think about that....

[happyjo]

Wow! praying Mantises are such awesome animals! Did you get bitten by yours?

[nikeman76]

do they live in central new york?

[harry88]

i live in a small town and found one in an outside air duct there is plenty of those in new york

[iman]

ummmm I would take a guess at no ... but it never hurts to look ... have you looked at any garden stores ? ( especially organic ones )

[sheesha11799]

How long is the life-span of a mantis?

[iman]

10-12 months maximum

[nikeman76]

for my comment below PLEASE REPLY!

[Lisa!]

 Ah! bad Manty!

[Scream[Aim]Fire]

Hmmmm i think its still to for the mantis ill try cutting it ad then skewer it

[Scream[Aim]Fire]

thanks alot for the quick reply ill try to make a meal worm shichkabob or how ever u spell that word lol

[Scream[Aim]Fire]

Hey i have a question i caught a mantis that is about an inch long and i made it a home and every thing im just curious about feeding it i bought some meal worms for it but they look kind of big any good ideas on how to feed this thing or maybe if i cut the worms in half might work will it?? i did get it to eat a moth the other night, it was pretty awesome tbh theese things are gory ;) if any body has any advice on how to take care of these guys plzzz reply fast it would help out alot

[iman]

yep you can cut it in half , but it might be better to use a full one on a skewer and yes , very gory eaters :)

[Zetheros]

heh, I once caught a mantis and brought it home. I kept it in an unclosed jar and fed it spiders the size of pennies. It didn't leave the jar, and it was amazing how brutal the mantis was treating the food. I let it go in my backyard, and now I have 2 mantis egg clusters that I found under a piece of firewood.

[irishkorene]

thats badass im new to this site but this would of helped me when i was 12 catching them that awsome

[iman]

thanks :) If you liked it please rate it ~Matt

[clay_modeling]

Coolness! They are great creatures, they are always welcome in my garden. Keep it fat and happy!

[c4l3b]

If your mantis lives long enough to produce it's eggs, you many need to remove any crickets that are not eaten immediately. The Mantis will get sluggish and the crickets will eat into the body where the eggs are.

[iman]

Yeah, I am working on step 5 through 7 that covers the egg laying / breeding and care of small mantids.

[c4l3b]

cool, can't wait.