Praying Mantis
Invertebrates
Beastly Facts · Updated
Nature's most impressive ambush predator, in a palm-sized package!
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Did you know? Many praying mantises hear through a single ear in the midline of the underside, between the hind legs, where other insects with eardrums have them in pairs. It picks up the ultrasonic calls of hunting bats, and some species swerve mid-flight when they hear one. A flexible neck also lets a mantis swivel its head through 180 degrees while it waits for prey.
The first week
The numbers a new owner needs in the first week, each from the article it links to. Rows with no link come from the encyclopedia.
- Buy an adult
- An adult or subadult, not a nymph. Nymphs are hard to keep alive through their many molts.Cost guide →
- Enclosure
- Length and width at least twice the mantis's body length, height at least three times. 8 by 8 by 12 inches is the adult minimum; a nymph does well in a vented 32-ounce deli cup.Setup guide →
- The measurement that decides a molt
- The drop from perch to floor, at least four times the mantis's length. In the 8 by 8 by 12 box that drop is 12 inches, enough for a mantis up to about three inches; a larger adult needs a taller box.Setup guide →
- The ceiling
- Mesh, screen or something rough the mantis can grip upside down for hours, with the space under it kept clear. Smooth glass at the top causes the most common death in the species.Enrichment guide →
- Temperature
- Room temperature, roughly 70 to 80°F, for Carolina and Chinese mantises, and below 88°F always. Never in direct sun: the enclosure heats fatally fast.Setup guide →
- Humidity
- Species-dependent: a Chinese mantis around 50 to 65%, Ghost and Orchid mantises 70 to 80%. Mist lightly at least once daily; the droplets are how it drinks, and standing water drowns small nymphs.Setup guide →
- Ventilation
- A mesh lid, never solid. Excess humidity without airflow brings mold and internal infection, which kill with no visible sign until too late.Setup guide →
- Substrate and light
- Coconut fiber, soil, bark or paper towel for footing and humidity. No UVB, a normal 12-hour light cycle.Setup guide →
- Feeding
- Live prey only, every other day, as much as it takes in one sitting; the honest range runs every day to every four days by species and condition. Nothing longer than a third of its body.Setup guide →
- Prey by size
- Fruit flies for the smallest nymphs, then bottle flies, small crickets and dubia, with larger crickets and waxworms for a full adult. Dead insects get ignored; hunting live prey is the whole enrichment.Setup guide →
- Feeding around a molt
- Off food usually means a molt is coming: stop offering and pull live prey out, since a cricket chews on a soft mantis. After the molt, wait several hours to a day for the legs and mouthparts to harden.Setup guide →
- Handling
- Calm around people and it rarely bites. Let it walk onto a hand or tool, in a closed room: adults of most kept species fly. Never restrain or squeeze, and nothing at all in the days before a molt.Handling guide →
- One per enclosure
- Cannibalistic at any size difference and often at none. Solo housing outside supervised breeding.Enrichment guide →
- Budget
- $15 to $35 for a Carolina or Chinese mantis, up to $150 for an Orchid. Setup runs $90 to $195, then $10 to $40 a month in feeders. Exotic vets rarely treat invertebrates.Cost guide →
- Lifespan
- 6 to 12 months for most kept species, females outliving males; a few reach around 18 months.Cost guide →
- Adult size
- 0.5 to 6 inches (1 to 15 cm) depending on species.
- If you get an ootheca
- Dozens to hundreds of nymphs, sometimes in a single rush and sometimes trickling out over weeks, and they eat their siblings. Individual containers and a fruit fly culture are ready before the hatch, not after.Praying Mantis Ootheca →
- Pre-molt signs
- Off food, dulled color, stillness. Not illness, and not the moment to intervene; leave the shed skin where it falls until the animal has hardened.Molting guide →
Emergency card
Check humidity and the ceiling first, then act on these today. Exotic vets rarely treat invertebrates.
- An incomplete shed, or limbs that come out twisted or stuck
- A mantis struggling and not progressing during a molt
- A mantis that has fallen mid-molt, or lost its grip on the perch
- A crooked or deformed limb after a molt, which can make hunting difficult
- Mold in the enclosure, or a mantis declining in a tank that is being over-misted
Low humidity drives the mismolts that cause most mantis deaths; high humidity invites mold and infection instead. Regurgitation is usually overfeeding, not illness. A mantis with a crooked limb may need hand-feeding with fine tongs. Little can be done once a molt has failed.
Where to go next
How Much Does a Praying Mantis Cost?
$15 to $35 for a common species, $90 to $195 for the setup around it, and the lifespan that changes what you are buying.
Praying Mantis Enclosure Setup: Height, Humidity, and a Mesh Lid
8 by 8 by 12 as a floor, the perch drop that decides a molt, humidity by species, and what live prey to offer when.
Can You Hold a Praying Mantis? Gently, and Rarely
Walk it onto your hand, keep the door shut, and the pre-molt window when you do not touch it at all.
Praying Mantis Feeding: Live Prey a Third of Its Length, Every Other Day, and Nothing Left in the Cage
Live prey a third of its length every other day, fruit flies to flies and roaches by stage, leftovers out, and the pre-molt refusal that is normal.
Common Praying Mantis Health Issues (Molting Is Where Nearly Everything Goes Wrong)
Mismolt, which is most of it, plus dehydration, the opposite mistake, and why going off food is usually fine.
Praying Mantis Enrichment: Height Is a Molting Requirement, Not a Preference
Why the only enrichment number that matters is a height, what the ceiling has to be, and the space to leave empty.
Praying Mantis Ootheca: What to Do If Your Mantis Lays Eggs
What an egg case is, whether a lone female can lay one, and what to have ready before dozens of nymphs arrive.
What to buy
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Underlined items are paid Amazon links, at no extra cost to you.
Prices and the reasoning behind each item are in How Much Does a Praying Mantis Cost?.
Full Praying Mantis gear listFrequently Asked Questions
Can mantids be kept together?
No. They are cannibalistic and will eat each other at any size difference and often at none. Solo housing is the only sensible default outside of deliberate, supervised breeding.
What happens if it is too short?
The animal drops before it is fully out of the old skin, and a mantis that lands part-molted usually ends up with deformed limbs or dies. Failed molts are the leading cause of death in captive mantids and most of them are enclosure geometry.
How long do praying mantises live, and how does that affect budgeting?
Just 6 to 12 months for most kept species: Chinese mantises toward 8 to 12, African mantises closer to 6 to 9, with females typically outliving males. A few species reach around 18 months under excellent care. That makes it a very short commitment, closer to a garden project in length.
Encyclopedia
Praying Mantis
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Deep Dive
🦗 How Much Does a Praying Mantis Cost?
🦗 Can You Hold a Praying Mantis? Gently, and Rarely
🦗 Common Praying Mantis Health Issues (Molting Is Where Nearly Everything Goes Wrong)
🦗 Praying Mantis Enclosure Setup: Height, Humidity, and a Mesh Lid
🦗 Praying Mantis Feeding: Live Prey a Third of Its Length, Every Other Day, and Nothing Left in the Cage
🦗 Praying Mantis Enrichment: Height Is a Molting Requirement, Not a Preference
Health and More
☠️ Household Pesticides and Your Invertebrate Pet: The Hidden Hazard
📦 Rehousing an Invertebrate: Method, Timing, and Urticating Hair First Aid
🕷️ Invertebrate Housekeeping: Quarantining a New Arrival, Cleaning the Enclosure, and Finding an Escapee
📦 Invertebrate Emergency Plan: Power Outages, Travel, and Shipping
🔢 Four Pets, Four Different Right Numbers
🦗 Gut-Loading Feeder Insects: What to Feed Them, for How Long, and Whether It Replaces Dusting
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