Praying Mantis as a Pet?

I’ve recently seen people who have praying mantis as pets, and being the ‘way too easily addicted to animals’ person I am, I have made it a goal to get a mantis of my own and figured it wouldn’t hurt to come here and see if anybody else has had, has, or plans to have a mantis as a pet.
The orchid mantis, specifically, caught my eye

 

I’ve recently seen people who have praying mantis as pets, and being the ‘way too easily addicted to animals’ person I am, I have made it a goal to get a mantis of my own and figured it wouldn’t hurt to come here and see if anybody else has had, has, or plans to have a mantis as a pet.
The orchid mantis, specifically, caught my eye

Just come to work with me, we have all sorts of mantisses out here!!

 

I've thought about this before...I was pretty sure they don't need much space, but I knew nothing else about keeping them as pets. I did do some quick research and found this; Taking care of your pet praying mantis | Keeping Insects

Apparently they only eat live insects...so be prepared for that.

 

I have grown sunflowers many times in the past.
An easy annual plant grown in spring to summer with one large flower.
Having a praying mantis arrive naturally and spend all summer on one flower is a joy to watch.
At the end of summer you have a large store of seed to feed wide birds and enough seed to have dozens of plants next year.

 

I have grown sunflowers many times in the past.
An easy annual plant grown in spring to summer with one large flower.
Having a praying mantis arrive naturally and spend all summer on one flower is a joy to watch.
At the end of summer you have a large store of seed to feed wide birds and enough seed to have dozens of plants next year.

My sister has a sunflower this year that last check was 14 feet tall. We told our daughter that she was growing a magic beanstalk but would try to trick her into thinking it's really a sunflower!

 

Found a friend for you. Was watching me like a hawk

 

I've thought about this before...I was pretty sure they don't need much space, but I knew nothing else about keeping them as pets. I did do some quick research and found this; Taking care of your pet praying mantis | Keeping Insects

Apparently they only eat live insects...so be prepared for that.

thank you! And yep, I figured I might try my hand at raising insects as I’ve only really raised various worms before, and if I fail dramatically I’ll have to invest in buying some, I’m fairly sure the pet store here sells different kinds of feeder bugs.

Found a friend for you. Was watching me like a hawk

awhhh he’s so cute. I love their long legs and tiny little heads.

 

I want one too and agree the orchid mantis looks awesome. I found a tiny baby one for the first time ever recently. I thought about raising him. But he was too large for fruit flies and too small for crickets so I had no idea what to feed him. So I just let him go about his stroll.

 

I want one too and agree the orchid mantis looks awesome. I found a tiny baby one for the first time ever recently. I thought about raising him. But he was too large for fruit flies and too small for crickets so I had no idea what to feed him. So I just let him go about his stroll.
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So cute! I have these pesky medium sized bugs in my house that are a bit bigger than fruit flies, but not quite houselfy sized, maybe I should start collecting them to keep up a little colony as food (I know my bettas like to munch on them)

 

As a kid I never kept an adult mantis but I did collect and hatch an egg/ootheca several winters in a row. I would see if maybe you could find an ootheca yourself, hatch it and keep one while releasing it's hundreds of brother and sisters into your favorite garden spot. I always released mine wherever I was going to try to grow large veggies to protect the stems. Then you could raise one up, and have some outside to watch.

 

As a kid I never kept an adult mantis but I did collect and hatch an egg/ootheca several winters in a row. I would see if maybe you could find an ootheca yourself, hatch it and keep one while releasing it's hundreds of brother and sisters into your favorite garden spot. I always released mine wherever I was going to try to grow large veggies to protect the stems. Then you could raise one up, and have some outside to watch.

We don’t have any praying mantises where I live ( ), which is one of the reasons I want one so bad, but if we did I would love to do that, it sounds like such a fun venture.