Does anyone here keep praying mantis?

[Toffee44]

My dad is a photographer and enjoys macro stuff ATM. He recently had some weird and wonderful stick insects and now his tank is empty. For Christmas me and my brother and sister are getting him a giant Asian mantis (man in shop said they are the easier types to keep). He kinda knows he's getting it as under instructions to keep tank empty and make a mesh lid.

Just wondering if anyone here keeps them?

 

[Caol Ila]

Not recently, but when I was a kid (in the States, where praying mantises are native) we used to catch them and keep them as pets. The females are bright green and the males are brown, and I don't think (could be mis-remembering) you could keep them together as the females would eat the males (it's not great, being a male praying mantis). We had great fun with them. Used to enjoy catching grasshoppers and feeding the poor, hapless critters to the mantises.

 

[debsandpets]

They are fantastic pets, but food wise you are best going to a fishing shop and buying maggots to hatch into blue bottles, as crickets can actually kill them off due to some sort of bacteria in their guts.
I had two this year, both grew into adults. Also make sure the enclosure is warm enough ie heat mat if required (both of mine were slightly more fragile types so needed the extra heat). The enclosure will need to be a suitable size for allowing the mantid to moult with space for wings etc, and the mantis forum is a fantastic place to get advice and also to buy stock in the first place - much cheaper than reptile shops and the breeders know far more about keeping them too. Most shops tell you they are fine to feed crickets to etc and not to worry about heating the enclosures etc, but in reality it isn't the case.
I had a thistle and a lime green mantis and they were awesome, both turned out to be females, but I really want an orchid mantis next year, as they are exquisite and a photographers dream too ;-)

http://www.ukmantisforums.co.uk/forum.php
I hope the link works, these guys are a fountain of knowledge in the mantis world, with a huge supply of breeders too