Praying Mantis - Anybody have one?

I've always loved these guys, and I've recently been considering getting one because they have a few at the local reptile shop and until recently at the pet shop where I get my crickets. They look so cool! So I was wondering, has anybody on here kept them, and what kind of experience it was?

I'd love to get one, but I was a little put off when I was told they only live for about a year from hatching... Have you had any that lived longer?

i dont know much about em.except they are amazing mystical, wise,and beautiful little creatures to though.i find em all the time,handle em for a minute or two set em down talk to em.they look at you and it just looks like theyre trying to figure out what your saying.either ill put it where i found it or somewhere safe from human trampling.

this mantis was outside on our patio for about a week.i would go out there everyother day and play beatles songs on my acoustic for him.then i figured he would be happier in the orange tree where he could find a buffet of little tv dinners.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...08111929-1.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...0209111806.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...0209111657.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...0210111734.jpg
i miss that lil fella.
i wish my local pet shops had mantis'
heres a nice little website dedicated to mantises or mantis' or mantid or however you say it plural.

ThePrayingMantis.org

Awesome, thanks for pointing me to that site! That's what I found so fascinating about them, they always look like they're trying to understand you, they just look so intelligent. I wish we had some wild ones up here, unfortunately it's a little too chilly for them :( good to know they like the Beatles though, if I get one I'll make sure to sing some Beatles for him :P

I love all insects in the mantid family!

http://tapatalk.com/mu/a6898eab-1708-8b7e.jpg

I try to get one every so often. They do only live for one season to one year but they are so cool. Once they learn you will not hurt them they will willingly walk onto your hand. It's fun to hand feed them large things like grasshoppers.

They are very neat little insects with a type if intelligence not seen in other insects. Leaf bugs and stick bugs are also very cool but the chinese praying mantis (the large green ones we have here) are the coolest when it comes to size and the way they act.

Here's one I found last year. http://tapatalk.com/mu/a6898eab-19c7-06b2.jpg

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Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

http://tapatalk.com/mu/a6898eab-19c7-06b2.jpg

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Oh wow, that's awesome! Thanks for sharing, and thanks for the info!

She was a huge female. Surprisingly calm considering that she was full grown when I found her. Never once tried to pinch or bite me. Here is a photo of a leaf bug I found in my yard last year also.. (I don't know the proper name for them)
http://tapatalk.com/mu/43a34993-8651-d0df.jpg

I would suggest getting a few mantis'. Keep each one in it's own small kritter keeper. Once they are larger you should be able to tell the smaller males from the females. Then breed them.

The egg cases should be kept outside during winter. In a garage or shed. Then brought in when the last frost is over. Mist every day or 2. Then a LOT if tiny little mantis' will hatch late spring.

While the babies are so small they can only eat pinhead crickets, they are neat to watch. I would pick a few to keep in individual sauce cups with (like spiderlings) since they will cannibalize. Then release the rest in a field or wooded area.

They only drink water droplets from misting so a fake plant for adults to climb on and drink off of is all you need and a spray bottle. I would spray my mantis directly and she would drink the droplets off her arms.

that mantis was probably the real Paul Mcartney.
Foschi that is a m a z i n g.

You should look into finding a flower mantis. They're gorgeous!! (in my opinion) I really miss mine :(

Look up the Orchid mantis.. They are my all-time favorite! Absolutely gorgeous!!!!