A day full of excitement for the hatching of our mantis'! The mantis' provided some great inspiration for our free books. We wrote 'I eat' sentences, the AM class helped create a mantis habitat and the PM class watched the performance from the grade 2-4 choir! 

 By now you heard all about the Praying Mantis' in our classrooms.  Are you interested in taking one home? I have some 1 week old nymphs OR in about a month I will hopefully have 10-15 more hearty critters who will be looking for homes.   I kept one last year for 6 months. 

What is required to keep one? (I am not an expert by any means, I've just done this once) 

Housing: A container with proper ventilation, enough room to hang upside down (about 4 times the body length), something to climb on and hang from. (I use the bug containers from the dollarstore with nylons or a mesh bag on top). You will need to mist the cage daily with water and they need to be fed about every other day. 

Food: For the first month they eat tiny flightless fruit fly.  (Some pet store sell these as well as places like https://junglejewelexotics.com/).  You will need to source these if you get a nymph (baby).  After about a month they will outgrow the fruit flies and need small insects like crickets. They only eat live prey.  

Lifespan: About 6-8 months if you're lucky 

Other: The first month they are delicate and shouldn't really be held much but once they are bigger they are quite exciting to hold. They will shed multiple times before they are full grown. 

If you are interested in one email Mrs. Hughes and let me know if you want a nymph right away or if you would like one in about a month.