orchid mantis

[dominicrobed]

Hi all my orchid mantis came today ( from shep1979) they are amazing and stunning little things , s/he has already chased down and ate 2 flys , has any one else got one ?

[Ozgi]

Yeh they are awesome! You know if you got a male or female? The females are brilliant, they get about 4 times the size of the males, lol.

[dominicrobed]

Originally Posted by Ozgi

Yeh they are awesome! You know if you got a male or female? The females are brilliant, they get about 4 times the size of the males, lol.

not to sure yet still vey small 3rd instar? how long till you can tell ?

[utterbeastage]

Originally Posted by dominicrobed

not to sure yet still vey small 3rd instar? how long till you can tell ?

maybe 4th upwards, depends on how white they are really , I sexed my Idolo when it was L1 and for some reaosn it was really easy because the segments were really clear , try feeding them up then having a count

[Ozgi]

You can tell as soon as you are able to count the segments on it's abdomen, so it's all down to eyesight, lol. Or you can wait until it gets bigger and see what colour it's "necklace" is.

[utterbeastage]

Originally Posted by Ozgi

You can tell as soon as you are able to count the segments on it's abdomen, so it's all down to eyesight, lol. Or you can wait until it gets bigger and see what colour it's "necklace" is.

theres a trio of nymphs on ebay for ONLY 25 quid , I'm so tempted

[dominicrobed]

Originally Posted by Ozgi

You can tell as soon as you are able to count the segments on it's abdomen, so it's all down to eyesight, lol. Or you can wait until it gets bigger and see what colour it's "necklace" is.

I think I can count 6 including the purple tip ( a female I hope )

[dominicrobed]

also how quick should they grow I know the female aint as quick ?

[Ozgi]

Originally Posted by utterbeastage

theres a trio of nymphs on ebay for ONLY 25 quid , I'm so tempted

Tarantula barn on here is selling 10 for £67! Not a bad price!

[Ozgi]

Originally Posted by dominicrobed

also how quick should they grow I know the female aint as quick ?

I got mine on April 1st and they were at 4th instar, my male is now adult and my female is 1 shed away from adult. They grow pretty quickly, expect about 1 shed a month.