My Ghostie Mantis

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This is a pic of my Ghostie hanging out. He or she not sure yet which, will be going back into it's regular home in the morning. I had to remove it to a cup because it was not eating, and I need to get up the humidity in case it was getting ready to shed. Actually it did shed and it is amazing how much bigger they are when they get out of their old skin. Don't stress anyone this is not its permanent digs

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How cool. I though about trying a mantis but I was afraid I'd kill it. I'd really like giant millipede someday.
Most of the Manti are hardy, especially if you find one in your yard or purchase one that has gone through it's 2nd mold. This little guy was a newborn nymph when I purchased him/her. Not sure yet which it is. My daughter has gone into breeding them and believe me they are a Lot of work. One or two are easy not hundreds. Because they murder each other it is tremendous work to separate them into their own containers.
 
Most of the Manti are hardy, especially if you find one in your yard or purchase one that has gone through it's 2nd mold. This little guy was a newborn nymph when I purchased him/her. Not sure yet which it is. My daughter has gone into breeding them and believe me they are a Lot of work. One or two are easy not hundreds. Because they murder each other it is tremendous work to separate them into their own containers.

I am always amazed by people who breed exotics. The rows upon rows of leopard and crestie geckos or snakes. The videos of people separating mother tarantulas from egg cases, or giant snakes from their clutches.
 
Most of the Manti are hardy, especially if you find one in your yard or purchase one that has gone through it's 2nd mold. This little guy was a newborn nymph when I purchased him/her. Not sure yet which it is. My daughter has gone into breeding them and believe me they are a Lot of work. One or two are easy not hundreds. Because they murder each other it is tremendous work to separate them into their own containers.

Yeah, I've kept local species before but was afraid to tackle the temp/humidity issues of some of the more exotic ones.

I know all about separating and caring for little critters. I raised tarantulas at one point, it took almost two hours to water and feed 150 separate spiderlings. I don't know how people manage with 1000's.

My most exotic pets now are a corn snake and some hermit crabs.

anyone interested in tarantulas can see some of my past ones here
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/waldo_20012001/library/bugs?sort=3&page=1
the only one that I didn't personally own is last pic of the giant bird eater that the man is holding. I only have two T's now but I have been thinking about getting more.

Wow! I can tell why they call it a Ghost Mantis. I can't find it.
its the little brown thing dangling off the stick
 
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Yeah, I've kept local species before but was afraid to tackle the temp/humidity issues of some of the more exotic ones.

I know all about separating and caring for little critters. I raised tarantulas at one point, it took almost two hours to water and feed 150 separate spiderlings. I don't know how people manage with 1000's.

My most exotic pets now are a corn snake and some hermit crabs.

anyone interested in tarantulas can see some of my past ones here
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/waldo_20012001/library/bugs?sort=3&page=1
the only one that I didn't personally own is last pic of the giant bird eater that the man is holding. I only have two T's now but I have been thinking about getting more.


its the little brown thing dangling off the stick

Thank you. I thought that was debris or part of the stick. I was actually thinking the big white thing in the left corner was the mantis, but I looked them up on google to see what they look like. Not that.

BTW: WHY WHY WHY did I have to look at those spider photos? The big ones are fine; however, the little ones look like white ticks and now I cannot get that "something's crawling on me!" feeling to go away.
 
Obsidian is right, it is the little brown guy that is hanging towards the bottom of the stick. They love to "hang around".

You are a better person than I Obsidian. Spiders are my nemesis and have nightmares about them. I always blamed it on my cousin, that loved to put spiders down my back when we were young. We had a lot of avocado trees, 14 to be exact, in our back yard so we also had a lot of spiders. Lordy I HATE spiders. I can say I was so glad when he moved with his father instead of living with us. Although I can say once in the desert off-roading I saw hundreds of little black cotton balls moving across the ground, which turned out to be baby tarantulas. They were the big black fuzzy ones we have here and they were cute. They are the only critter in the spider kingdom that I can tolerate. At least I remember them being large and black, maybe they did not stay black don't know, but you might know what they were
 
Thank you. I thought that was debris or part of the stick. I was actually thinking the big white thing in the left corner was the mantis, but I looked them up on google to see what they look like. Not that.

BTW: WHY WHY WHY did I have to look at those spider photos? The big ones are fine; however, the little ones look like white ticks and now I cannot get that "something's crawling on me!" feeling to go away.

This made me laugh so much. I did exactly the same and I'm terrified of spiders!
Why oh WHY did I have to look!

I remember waking up one night, jumping out of bed in terror, turning the light on and seeing A huge spider (well, maybe medium sized!), literally land on the pillow where my head was a second before:Kitten Love:

I'd love to get over the fear. I'm not scared of any other insect. In some strange way, I thought the spiders were beautiful, but now I can't stop the shivers!!

Love the mantis Cmzaha:)
 
My fascination with spiders is they are incredible builders. I love the webs they spin. I have a gazillion in my house. It probably comes from being a slob, er, having the doggie doors open all the time. I never kill them unless they come too close or turn out to be brown recluses or black widows. Then all bets are off. There's a little guy that's been living in the upper corner of my shower stall for about three years. If I see him "hanging" around, I bang near him (or blow on him) so he'll scurry back home so I can take a shower. Live and let live. My house is decorated for Halloween year round.
 
Obsidian is right, it is the little brown guy that is hanging towards the bottom of the stick. They love to "hang around".

You are a better person than I Obsidian. Spiders are my nemesis and have nightmares about them. I always blamed it on my cousin, that loved to put spiders down my back when we were young. We had a lot of avocado trees, 14 to be exact, in our back yard so we also had a lot of spiders. Lordy I HATE spiders. I can say I was so glad when he moved with his father instead of living with us. Although I can say once in the desert off-roading I saw hundreds of little black cotton balls moving across the ground, which turned out to be baby tarantulas. They were the big black fuzzy ones we have here and they were cute. They are the only critter in the spider kingdom that I can tolerate. At least I remember them being large and black, maybe they did not stay black don't know, but you might know what they were

Yeah, they definitely aren't for everyone. I can tell you that if a little house spider gets on my I will scream like a two year old and go into flapping fit to get it off.

There are several species/sub species of T's in California but they all belong to the Aphonopelma genus. They are generally docile and quite long lived (30 years), more likely to kick their hair over biting.

@TeresaT the little white ones are newly hatched and so small you can't really feel them on you. Not like a true spider of the same size. Plus they aren't really mobile at that size.
 
Thank you. I thought that was debris or part of the stick. I was actually thinking the big white thing in the left corner was the mantis, but I looked them up on google to see what they look like. Not that.

BTW: WHY WHY WHY did I have to look at those spider photos? The big ones are fine; however, the little ones look like white ticks and now I cannot get that "something's crawling on me!" feeling to go away.


I, sensibly didn't look! My DH is away at the moment and there is a huntsman in the house. I am staying out of its way. Unfortunately it will probably be well hidden by the time DH is home.
One of my first words was "pie-pie" for spider. My silly parents didn't realise it was said in HORROR!
 
Yeah, they definitely aren't for everyone. I can tell you that if a little house spider gets on my I will scream like a two year old and go into flapping fit to get it off.

There are several species/sub species of T's in California but they all belong to the Aphonopelma genus. They are generally docile and quite long lived (30 years), more likely to kick their hair over biting.

When I was in high school we had a rural mailbox and some kid thought it was funny to put the big guys in our mailbox. You are right they never did bite they just wanted out of the mailbox, so we would pick them up and deposit them on the bank. Sometimes I think I imagine the big black ones becuase I have not seen one here in over 20yrs which saddens me. There was a time we would see them walking down the street, but that was before our hillside were so built up, which it what I blame their disappearance on. Or my imagination, but, darn it, I know we had big fuzzy T's
 
Native T populations have declined due to over collecting for the pet trade. The ones you see wandering are generally adult males looking for a female, otherwise they stay in their burrows and wait for food to walk buy. They are quite inactive critters.
 
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