I'm very passively thinking about branching into praying mantises. I've done some prelim research, and it turns out that the more exotic and beautiful species have temp and humidity requirements that are very similar to ball pythons. Balls don't eat insects, and mantises couldn't possibly pose a threat to a ball, so the thought occurred, why not house them together in the same T8?
Has anyone tried this? Could it cause stress for the ball? I wouldn't think it would as they co-exist with insects int he wild. Mantises can get large (for an insect) but they typically don't do very much either. From what I understand they are ambush predators that hang out on branches. My balls are almost always in their hides so I don't expect there would be any interaction between the two. They may not even be aware of each other. Then again, maybe there is something I'm not thinking of.
If I need to invest in a whole new set up for mantises, then I'd just scrap the idea. Snakes are the main thing and they'll be no compromises on that front. but if its simply a matter of buying a mantid and tossing it into an already functioning T8, then I may give it a try.
Thoughts?
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