Warmer
temperature speeds up the metabolism of the mantis and will shorten
its life span…and in contrast, cooler temperature slows its metabolism
and lengthens the life span, but both extremes could kill it. Humidity
should be around 60%. This could be achieved by spraying or watering
the substrate a few times a week. The main purpose of humidity is to
help the mantis molt…too much humidity will cripple the mantis
during molts, and too little will hinder it from emerging from the old
skin…just make sure it doesn’t get too dry or too damp.
Caging:
This species is quite large. Give it plenty of space to roam and to
molt. The suggested height is usually 3x the mantis’ length and
2x for the width and length dimensions. They require sticks and leaves
for perching and to hang from for molting and catching insects.
Feeding:
this species eats very well. They are not picky. Crickets and mealworms
are the best food for them, but you can feed them anything else that
will fit in its claws. It’s recommended that the size of the feeder
insect does not exceed 1/3 the mantis’ length. Do not offer them
poisonous insects or wasps or bees as these could seriously harm the
mantis. To feed them, you can either drop the food inside the tank and
if the mantis is hungry, it’ll go after the prey…or you
can feed them by hand: use a pair of tweezers to hold the cricket and
wave it in front of the mantis, if it’s hungry, it will turn its
head to stare directly at the insect and will snatch it from the tweezers…or
you may need to pierce the insect and put it to the mantis’ mouth
and if it likes the taste, it’ll grab on to it and begin to feed.
Do not overfeed them, overfeeding will shorten their life span also.
Feed them as much as it will eat in one day and do not feed it for another
2 days. As for watering, mantises get their water from their prey so
no additional watering is needed except from spraying the tank…and
occasionally, a mantis will drink off of droplets from a branch or a
side of the tank.
Molting:
a mantis will stop eating a few days prior to its molt. Do not be alarmed
if one day your mantis is chowing down on a cricket and the next it
refuses its food, it’s simply getting ready to shed its skin.
Mantises molt every 2-3 weeks as babies and the time in between each
molt increases as they get older…so their last molt into adulthood
can sometimes take as long as 3-4 weeks. It takes about 8 molts for
females and about 7 for males. That’s why males tend to mature
earlier than females and they also die faster. During molts, it is vital
that you do not disturb them. The mantis will hang upside down from
a branch or the screen lid and will sometimes shake or spasm violently.
Then after a while, it worms out of its old skin and will hang out to
dry. Once it’s dried, it will resume eating and being its normal
self. Unlike other cryptic species, this species will not have a hard
time getting out of its skin.
Reproduction:
pair up a male and a female 2 weeks after their last molt and if they
are ready, the male will try to climb on the female to initiate breeding.
Be sure that both sexes are well fed prior to mating. And before mating,
it is advised to give the female a food item to busy herself with while
the male tries to mate with her. After wards, he will run away, leaving
the female to make the eggs. Feed her as much as she will eat during
this time and she will lay about 6 oothecae.
Ootheca:
about 100-150 babies will hatch out of each ootheca within 6 weeks if
kept at a steady temperature of 30-35 C (86-95 F) and 70% humidity.
Feed the babies fruit flies on the second day and they can be kept together
until their 2nd molt. Then separate them to prevent cannibalism. Spray
the young nymphs once a day and reduce to a few times a week after their
3rd molt.
I would like to thank Evan for his wonderful caresheet. You can see more a mantisphotos.com
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