I fell in love with ghost mantises and am now the proud owner of two ghosts and a giant Asian mantis. This lil guy taph (short for taphonomy) has grown the most of the 3 of them and I’m just so happy to have them and watch them grow so I wanted to share :)

i7 adult male ghost mantis, floppy crown is because of a secretive subadult molt where he was probably severely dehydrated when the molt happened and for his entire time of being a subadult he was lethargic but could still do most things on his own.

Venus is, I believe, sub-adult now as she has slightly visible wing buds. Now, usually she goes into premolt pretty much exactly every 2 weeks, and well, I believe that’s what she did. She hung upside down for 2 days and her abdomen turned white. However, I went out for a couple of hours and returned home. Her enclosure had become quite dry, which I’m not sure is a contributing factor, but when I came back she had moved and was on the side of her enclosure, not upside down. Her abdomen also seems to have returned to normal colour and is very flat as it never inflated, so I’m not sure if I should feed her. She’s become a little more active and there is no visible molt. There were a few disturbances so I don’t know if the combination of that and the lack of humidity caused her to abort the premolt (if they are able to do that) or if she’s molted and then eaten it fully which I don’t believe she has done. What is going on, and what can I do for her??

he is utterly terrified of every food source i give him. he's so stupid.

i found this guy outside and since he's invasive i took him and put him in my terrarium. i've fed him a super worm and a dubia before after much trial and error. he molted two days ago so I was planning to get him a meal again but he's so darn scared of everything.

the terrarium is full of isopods so he might be snacking on them (but given how frightened he is of everything and how he is only ever on the ceiling i sort of doubt it).

any tips to get this guy to eat? i didn't want to stress him out too much so i gave up for today. are there any better ways to feed him? early in the morning, right after misting, etc?

edit: i mean it endearingly when i call him stupid

I think I count 8 segments but I'm not super confident in my abilities yet lol. Any help appreciated! :)

My Sphodropoda Quinquedens pair.

Sorry phone didn't want to focus.

1. Belphegor - Presub Female

2. Male - Sub Male

This is a Japanese broad-winged mantis.

(Unfortunately I can't include image evidence as it's too difficult to photograph)

Over the past couple days I've noticed somewhat large? bead-like spots around their mandibles and face. The spots are present in clumps but don't move, even once they clean themselves.

I haven't noticed any particular behaviour differences apart from an increased restlessness and much more frequent pooping (one of which has grey poop).

There's 2 mantids with these 'spots' in question:

1x Deroplatys Desiccata (Molted to adulthood on 23rd December 2025)

1x Hierodula Membranacea (Molted to adulthood on 7th May 2026)

I fed her earlier and I don't know when to feed her again/when I should feed her again

(first time owner btw)

also is it normal for them to not want to hunt? I have to cut a mealworm in half and put the open part to her mouth to get her to eat — any tips on how to get her to eat/hunt normally? 😓

she's climbing in my hair rn, pls give me tips on how to raise her as well!! :D

He is almost done.But still im very carefull.So proud of him🤞 ps. Inclosure change will happen this week for him

Hey everyone!! I recently got 2 mantids from different places. The first one I purchased at a reptile expo and the seller didn’t give me any ID or instar stage on the mantid (green one). The second one is a yunnan flower mantis but I don’t know her instar stage either. Any advice is appreciated!

This is my mantis called pea had her for about a month now and shes molted once and grown her wings shes got such a funny little personality and i love her brought some joy in my life again.

Found this little guy in sri lanka and im unsure on the species anyone that can help?

Getting a Mantis here soon, in the medium to large range, do they eat enough to try and maintain a dubia colony or something like that or is it not high enough to keep the dubia colony population from exploding?

I found this cutie last Wednesday (a week ago). She molted on Saturday and today ate an entire housefly (took her 2 hours). Is that normal? When should I feed her next? TIA!

Hi, I’m currently on holiday and have been having my aunt to mist my mantids and feed them. She has a snake and knows a lot about mantids so I am not worried about husbandry issues while I am gone. She’s been calling me daily to let me know she’s been misting them and has fed one of my mantids that molted the day I left. I’ve only been gone for 5 days and she called me this morning about my spiny flower mantis. He was laying upside down and fully limp definitely dead. I told her not to worry cus I know her husbandry has been spot on tho I am confused on why he died. I don’t think it was old age as he has only been an adult for just over a month. I also fed him well on the day I left so I don’t think he starved as it’s only been 5 days. She was supposed to feed him today but hasn’t cus he’s dead. I’m not sure why he may have died cus everything seemed ideal. Does anyone know why he might have died?

he got through his final moult now, and I need to figure out something that works better than letting him catch the free-roaming baby dubias in there by himself(since thong feeding tiny mealworms or roaches upside down isn't working out and he either can't grab it from me or freaks out). I know this is a pretty lazy post but if someone would just guide me to the masterthread or some youtube videos on this I'd really appreciate it please and thank you 🙏🙏

wing buds are pretty big

Shes L4, I started goving her less food cause her belly not getting flat even after few days so I assumed she's full. But she dont molt yet so I start worrying. I spray walls in her ilclosure with water daily