United States Praying Mantis Dealer
BUY A PRAYING MANTIS ~ BUY PRAYING MANTIS PETS ~ PURCHASE U.S. PET PRAYING MANTIDS
VERIFIED PAYPAL MERCHANT STORE SITE
Praying mantis food is offered for sale below the praying mantis insect purchase link. Praying Mantis care instructions are also posted further down this page.
U.S. NATIVE STAGMOMANTIS CALIFORNICA PRAYING MANTIS INSECTS FOR SALE BELOW
The images above are of various specimens of the Stagmomantis Californica species, the mantids offered for sale below. The mantids pictured are L3 (have shed twice since hatching) after the mantids have molted 2 times and changed colors. The mantids you will receive will be green, L1 or L2 baby mantids. The future color of your mantis will depend on both genetic and environmental factors.
Currently Available : L1 - L2 baby Color Changing California Mantis pets (Stagmomantis Californica) are now available!
COLOR OF THE MANTIDS YOU WILL RECEIVE ~ Many of the California mantids in the mantis breeding culture are turning out to be an unusual colors, neon green, mint green, tan, black, turquoise, orange, grey, gold and skyblue with a purple tint and yellow on the tips of the raptorial forelegs. The color of the mantids when you receive them will most likely be a very nice green, the color will change with molts (skin sheds). There are many variations of color and pattern, some of the mantids turn out to be a mix of two or three colors! Keeping the mantids in 60% humidity in an artificial environment (on white and transparent surfaces, in a clear container with no green plants) seems to bring out the exotic colors!
Live Praying Mantis insects delivered to you all seasons of the year! We ship in Winter, Summer, Spring and Fall! Live Delivery of your Praying Mantis insects Guaranteed!
BUY A PRAYING MANTIS ~ SCROLL DOWN TO PURCHASE A LIVE PRAYING MANTIS AND PRAYING MANTIS FOOD
The praying mantis species' offered here are legal to own in the United States (unlike the mantids offered on some other sites) No heat mats or heat lamps are required, no plants are needed. Raising a mantis is pretty simple. Praying mantids are harmless to humans. In fact, they are very friendly to humans when raised in captivity. Mantids are non poisonous, they do not bite humans unless a human injures or teases one! All of the mantids offered on this site are very friendly captive bred TAME mantids! Scroll down to buy a praying mantis, you may also wish to visit the praying mantis image. Scroll down to purchase
BUY A LIVE PRAYING MANTIS PET BELOW
Currently the California Species is being offered for raising indoors. For those who wish to raise a mantis indoors as a pet or educational study subject, the Stagmomantis Californica species is recommended. The Stagmomantis Californica species (California Mantis) offered directly below is the BEST species for raising indoors! Stagmomantis californica is a very strong and easy to raise mantis species and they do very well indoors, they require only 5 inches of shelf space. Live Delivery and Health of the California Mantis is guaranteed!
$6 SHIPPING AND HANDLING! : Shipping is $6 for all orders. There is no additional shipping fee if you order more than one item. Order as many products you want, the shipping and handling remains the same. (there is a separate shipping charge for Fruit Flies. The Fruit Fly cultures must ship separate from praying mantis insects)
LIVE CALIFORNIA MANTIS WITH A FREE CUSTOMIZED PRAYING MANTIS CONTAINER ~ Along with each California Praying Mantis you purchase you will receive a customized praying mantis container with a poly fabric coated pre punched ventilated lid and a praying mantis perch. No plants or soil need to be added, the container is all you will need to raise the mantis for its entire life (about one year) Click the buy now button below to purchase the Live Stagmomantis Californica / California Praying Mantis insect and container ($6 shipping and handling fee, no additional shipping and handling charge no matter how many same species baby praying mantis pets you order!) ~ The California Mantis Praying Mantis species is one of the smaller species of mantis which grows to about 2.5 to 3 inches long. The lifespan is about 1 year with proper care. Click on the Buy Now Button link below. Please indicate the quantity you wish to purchase in the quantity box on the paypal payment page (quantity 1 is for one california mantis and one container, quantity 2 is for 2 mantids and 2 containers and so on)
California Mantis
Customized Mantis Container
1 LIVE BABY CALIFORNIA MANTIS AND ONE CONTAINER FOR $35 plus $6 S&H!
*Live Delivery guaranteed (*someone must be present to collect the mantis upon or shortly after delivery)
Click on the Buy Now button below to send your payment.
Click the buy now button to send your payment via credit card or your Paypal account for Live Baby California Mantis plus a free prepared customized praying mantis container with mantis perch and lid per mantis you purchase. U.S. Customers only, no sales to Hawaii or TN
Click on the following Buy Now button to buy California praying mantis pet insects with life long permanent praying matnis containers. Species S. californica ~ $35 per mantis plus a $6 shipping and handling (shipping is free on additional mantids after the first mantis per order)
NOTE ON LIVE DELIVERY GUARANTEE : Someone must be present to accept live mantids upon arrival. The mantids are delivered by your United States Postal delivery person. Although the mantids are very strong and ship well and would most likely survive a delay of a few hours, the live delivery guarantee is void if you miss the delivery attempt when your mantis arrives as recorded the USPS tracking data.
CARE PROVISIONS FOR THE STAGMOMANTIS CALIFORNICA MANTIS SPECIES :
BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR MANTIS CARE / MANTIS AND CONTAINER PREPARATION UPON DELVIERY : The mantis will arrive to you in a small shipping container. Do not open the small container until after you have prepared the permanent container also included. The permanent container will arrive empty. Before placing the mantis into the permanent container line the floor of the permanent container with a single layer of plain white paper towel (white paper towel only, no napkins or tissue) After placing the paper towel onto the container floor, use a spray mist bottle of purified water to spray mist the paper towel with 7 to 10 mists, allow some of the mist to coat the walls of the container. Use only purified water which is room temperature. Press the paper towel flat against the container floor. Place the mantis perch (included) into the container at a 45 degree angle. Notice the small strip of paper towel inside the small shipping container. Open the lid, lift the small paper towel strip out of the small container and allow the mantis to climb up onto the paper towel. Drop the small paper towel strip and the mantis into the container and close the lid (make sure the mantis is not at the top when you close the lid). Watch your mantis, you will see the mantis stick the face to the paper towel as they drink. Allow them to drink all they want before adding the food or handling the mantis. After the mantis is finished drinking water, add about 10 fruit flies into the container, your mantis will begin to eat soon. Allow your mantis to drink, eat, rest and settle in before you handle the mantis. (NOTE: If you notice that your mantis is not eating, only swatting, running from or ignoring food for more than one day, your mantis may be in the molt phase. You would need to sit the mantis at room temperature (about 72 degrees) and allow the mantis to complete the molt before you do any handling of the mantis. After the mantis completes the molt by shedding, you will notice a spent exoskeleton (shed skin) hanging from the lid or laying in the bottom of the container. The presence of the spent skin means that the mantis has completed the molt phase. The mantis will begin to eat again in about 48 hours, after which it is fine to hold your mantids.
Long term care provisions for the Stagmomantis Californica Praying Mantis species
1. This species grows smaller than the chinese species, they can be kept in the customized containers offered on the Live Mantis Store page. Larger containers create a problem when the feeder insects can hide, smaller containers cramp the mantis and may cause a mismolt. So the container instructions are to get one of the custom containers for this species of mantis.
2. Food : For the first 4 weeks the mantids will need USDA Approved Wingless Fruit Flies (offered below), later they will eat a combination of large fruit flies and crickets and/or silkworms. While the mantis is a baby (L1 L2) they will eat only small insects. A combination of fruit flies and hatchling silkworms are an excellent diet for the baby mantis, they can also live on fruit flies only if you wish while they are this small, but later it is best to mix at least two types of food (large flightless fruit flies and crickets or silkworms). Crickets are ok to feed the mantis only for about the first 8 days after the completion of a molt, after the 8 day period, during the time right before a molt, large fruit flies and/or silkworms should be used as feeders as silkworms can not harm a mantis in any way. Food is inexpensive and feeding requires very little effort on your part. As long as you know that insects in your yard and garden have not been exposed to pesticides, you may feed your mantis wild collected insects such as caterpillars, roaches, small grasshoppers (of some species, best to break the large legs off the grasshoppers) moths, butterflies, houseflies and such can all be fed to the mantids. It is best to avoid spiders, ants and bees or wasps.. Make sure the size of the insect is small enough for the mantis to capture and eat easily, but large enough to be attractive and valuable to the mantis. Feeder insects should be no larger than 1/2 the size of the mantis. (except in some cases such as with silkworms or caterpillars)
3. Water : A brand new never before used spray mist bottle will be needed. You should spray mist the lid of the container with 7 even mists once every 3 to 4 days. Do not keep the container absolutely wet! The mantids get most of the water they need from eating insects, but indoors, water seems to be a must to keep the humidity right (at about 60% for this species) A single layer of plain white paper towel should be placed on the floor of the container to prevent puddles of water and for slow release moisture. Never allow puddles as they will drown the feeder insects and possibly the mantis. The paper towel prevents puddles while the water drips through the poly fabric coated ventilated or screen lid of a custom container, so be sure to add the paper towel to the floor of your mantis container.. For more advanced praying mantis care information, see the ebook offer below the praying mantis food ad below.
PRAYING MANTIS FOOD
Fruit flies are offered in two sizes. Small wingless Melanogaster and large flightless D. Hydei are both offered below
PRAYING MANTIS FOOD : SMALL WINGLESS MELANOGASTER FRUIT FLIES FREE SHIPPING! ~ Click on the Buy Now button below to send your payment via Paypal. The price per 32 ounce six week supply of small wingless Melanogaster Fruit Flies is $15 FREE USPS Priority Mail shipping! Fruit Flies require no care and are the best food for your baby mantis.
PRAYING MANTIS FOOD : LARGE FLIGHTLESS D. HYDEI FRUIT FLIES FREE SHIPPING! ~ Click on the Buy Now button below to send your payment via Paypal. The price per 32 ounce six week supply of large Flightless D. Hydei Fruit Flies is $15 FREE USPS Priority Mail shipping! Fruit Flies require no care and are the best food for your baby mantis.
BASIC CARE INSTRUCTIONS INDOORS
Basic Care instructions for raising chinese Praying mantids indoors : (for advanced information, see the mantis e-book advertisement above.
Keep mantids separate until breeding time. Mantids will attack each other, so keep them separate until it is time for them to mate!
You will need a plastic container for each mantis. Each mantis purchased at http://www.livemantis.com will include a free customized mantis container
Place only a single layer of paper towel along the floor of the customized container, add the perch only. Mantis containers need some space for clearance during the molt. Avoid too much clutter inside any mantis container. No real plants are required. The perch and the lid provide the surface space mantids need. Sometimes the mantis will sit on the underside of the perch but they spend most of time hanging upside down from the container lid. You will need a brand new never before used spray mist bottle. Never use any bottle that has contained other than water, you could accidently kill the mantids very easily with any type of chemicals! Use purified or distilled water only. Spray mist the inside of the mantis enclosures once every 3 to 4 days, make sure that you do not create puddles.
MANTIS FOOD : Mantids will eat alot of different types of insects. Baby mantids need USDA approved wingless fruit flies and then larger flightless fruit flies. The fruit flies are very inexpensive and require no care at all. Some pet stores offer wingless fruit flies, if your local pet store does not offer them, see the purchase links above to buy the 32 ounce USDA approved fruit fly cultures. USDA approved wingless fruit flies are offered in 32 ounce self sustaining cultures. Fruit fly cultures last for about 4 weeks and are a continuous source of food. One culture is enough to feed up to 20 or more mantids for about 3-4 weeks (mantids will only eat these for about the first 3 or 4 weeks, according to the temperature the mantids are kept at, see more details details in the mantis care e-book. The mantids will be ready for larger fruit flies, small crickets or small silkworms in a few weeks, as soon as the mantids are able to tackle and eat a small cricket, feed crickets to them in addition to fruit flies. Crickets can only be fed to the mantids at certain times as described in the praying mantis care instructions e-book, click here to purchase the praying mantis care information e-book. Buying feeder insects from the pet store is fine and is the choice for those whom do not wish to keep many crickets at a time. Crickets of several sizes will be offered for sale at http://www.livemantis.com in the very near future.
FEEDING PROCEDURES : When the mantids are babies, offer them about 8 or 10 fruit flies per day. While you are feeding the fruit flies to them, there is no risk of harm to the mantids during a molt, this will help you to learn when the mantids will molt, that way you will know when to remove and discontinue feeding crickets during a molt. It is best to offer crickets only during a certain time span. 48 hours after you find the spent mantis skin in the container, begin feeding crickets of a correct size (a cricket size chart along with more information are included in the mantis care e-book) Stop feeding a manits any crickets 8 days after the shed of the old mantis skin. Feed the mantids alternate food such as large flightless fruit flies untill the next molt. Fruit flies, silkworms and waxworms are not a threat to a mantis in the molt phase, crickets are dangerous near and during the molt as crickets will chew on and kill a molting mantis. If you can locate and purchase waxworms or silkworms, those insects are excellent food for the mantis during the dangerous molt phase when crickets are a threat. You can also wild collect insects from your yard and garden if you are 100% positive that the insects have not been exposed to any pesticides. Quarantie any wild collecting insects to make sure they are still alive and obviously well after about 4-6 hours.
MOLT PHASE / SHEDDING ~ As mantids grow, they outgrow the exoskeleton. Mantids will stop eating suddenly when entering the molt phase. Remember, be careful with crickets, they can injure or kill a mantis during the molt/shedding phase. Stop offering the mantis crickets 8 days after the skin shed. Alternate insects such as caterpillars, moths, houseflies, roaches, waxworms and large mosquitos should be offered to the mantis whenever possible and a dependable supply of at least one type on the list must be available to offer the mantids just prior to the molt phase. When you notice that your mantis is not eating ANY insects at all, only ignoring, swatting at or running from insects of a size the mantis would usually eat, stop offering any food as the molt is in process. A mantis that does not eat any insects in a 24 hour period is most likely in the molt phase. To test for a molt, place a single insect (other than a cricket) into the container and make sure it climbs to where the mantis is perched. Increase the temperature inside the mantis container by about 10 degrees (up to 85 degrees), if the mantis still does not eat after a day or so, the molt is very near. Do not disturb a mantis during the molt. Do not move the container, do not allow and vibration of jolting of the container untill after the spent skin is found on the lid or in the floor of the enclosure. Do continue to spray mist the lid with 7 mists every 3-4 days as the mantis may still need water and will need a humidity level of about 60% during the molt phase. Fully mature mantids have wings. Once the wings have developed the mantids are full grown and will not molt again. Feed females all the food they will eat. In some cases you may wish to withold food for some breeding males of some mantis species' as the females may mature weeks after the male matures. (more details are included in the mantis care e-book)
BREEDING PRAYING MANTIS INSECTS : Once the male and the female both have wings, they are mature. Wait 10 to 14 days after the wings appear to introduce the male and female. Females begin to swell with eggs when they are mature, they throb as they produce pheromones. Male mantids may begin to just sit still and refuse food if he is sensing the female mantis. His antennas will stick straight up, he will seem to be in a trance. For this reason, you should place the males in a separate room after maturity until you are ready to place the mantis together for mating. There are more detailed instructions on breeding mantids in the mantis care e-book. For example, if you have only one male and a few females you can breed the male with multiple females after a specific resting time noted in the book. You can also re-mate mantids after every 4 or five eggs to assure that all 20 eggs will be viable.
AFTER MATING THE MANTIDS : Place the female in her container, feed her all she will eat. Continue to spray mist every day. Make sure there are several small sticks mounted in the container at a 45 degree angle. The mantis may end up laying the eggs on the lid or the side of the container, this is fine, but you will have to remove the ootheca (egg case) if you wish to delay the hatch by placing the eggs in cold storage (not freezing, the warmest part of a refrigerator is best). Wait 24 hours after the egg is laid before touching it or removing it. If the egg is laid on a stick, simply remove the stick, if it is deposited on the side of the container or the lid, use a razor blade to get behind the egg and slowly detach it making sure not to puncture the ootheca or tear any away. This is not usually a problem as the eggs come loose from plastic or glass very easily. Flexible plastic can be manipulated to flex, the flex action will most likely cause the egg to snap off with no harm to the egg, try this flex method first if you use a plastic enclosure. More on mating mantids is included in the manits care instructions e-book.
EGG STORAGE / EGG INCUBATION
To delay hatching, you will need to place the eggs inside a ventilated container (a small pill bottle or food container with 15 to 20 small pinholes in the lid and sides of the container) Then, place the container in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator or in a building outside where the temps are 50 degrees or less. This will keep the eggs from hatching and keep them fresh and viable for hatching at a later time.
INCUBATION OF MANTIS EGGS :
OUTDOORS ~ If you wish to release all of the mantids outside, you should first hatch them indoors in a praying mantis egg incubation container. Release them after 24 to 48 hours of the hatch. Make sure they get partial shade rather than full sun all day. Do this when the temps outside are constantly above 70 degrees in the daytime, after the last frost.
INDOORS ~ You will need a 32 ounce container with a ventilated lid (I offer mantis hatching containers and will post them on this page in the near future, be sure to bookmark this page now) Place one small section of artificial vine inside the container for the baby mantids to perch on after they hatch. (If you purchase the customized mantis hatching containers at livemantis.com when you need them, they already have a wooden perch covered with nylon screen) Spray mist the inside of the container (LIGHTLY) with purified or distilled water once every 5 to 7 days, don't overdo it, you can easily kill a mantis egg when you follow the advice I have seen given elsewhere. Mount the egg inside the container in the same position you found it in after the female laid the egg. If the egg is on a stick, mount the stick to the wall or lid of the container. If the egg is not on a stick, use an adhesive velcro strip mount the egg on the smooth side to the container, do not cover or block any other surface of the egg other than the back portion. The front of the egg will have a zipper like portion, do not get glue or adhesive onto the front or sides of the eggs. Keep the container in a room that is at least 70 degrees (72 to 80 degrees is best). The egg will hatch in about 30 days, some species' eggs take longer, some eggs continue to hatch after the initial burst hatch. Offer small wingless fruit flies 48 hours after the mantids hatch. The mantis hatchlings will need to be placed into seperate containers soon after they hatch (about 48 hours after the hatch just prior to the first feeding)
Live Praying Mantis insects delivered to you all seasons of the year! We ship in Winter, Summer, Spring and Fall! Live Delivery of your Praying Mantids is Guaranteed!
Unlike some of the mantids offered at other sites, all mantids offered at this site are legal to own in the United States
BUY A PRAYING MANTIS ~ BUY PRAYING MANTIS FOOD ~ BUY U.S. PRAYING MANTIS INSECTS ~ PRAYING MATNIS PREYING MANTIS ~ MANTIDS ~ PRAYING MANTIDS ~ PREYING MANITDS ~ FREE SHIPPING FRUIT FLIES ~ BUY FRUIT FLIES FREE SHIPPING!!
