The Mantis Menagerie

I would look for Traeger oak pellets. I usually do not find them at Lowe’s or Home Depot, but rather at places like ACE Hardware.

I was not alluding to anything in particular, but you have many amazing species. I do not know what you would be willing to trade, though, so I am not going to start asking about every species. Do you have a trade list somewhere of species you would like to trade?

I have seen some cool pictures on your website.

What about trades?

I have never seen such high densities of roaches!

My first colony of Blaberus giganteus bred fine at 72-75-degrees Fahrenheit. I do not have experience with other blaberids, but it might be worth looking into some of the smaller members of that genus, although B. giganteus is also fine as a feeder.

I do not know much about it, but I would want to see Polyzosteria mitchelli.

It depends which species you have. My hissers have had ventilation on only the lid for many months and do fine.

I wanted to go out for the TITAG IECC conference, but it did not work out this year. I really want to find D. granti.

Grubs can be fun to hold, too! It has become my job to bathe the Goliathus grubs at the local insectarium where I volunteer, and they are so much fun to hold. If only their poop was not so much stinkier than that of wood-feeding grubs! For roaches, I would suggest Archimandrita based on what I have read about them. They sound like a version of my B. giganteus that can figure out how to sit peacefully.

I saw something today from an isopod breeder on Instagram that showed the use of a dried produce medley intended for pet reptiles in an enclosure. Theoretically, many herbal teas would work just as well.

May I suggest you move them to a different type of bin? The extinct roach is deemed to require containment by the USDA as I learned when I applied for the permit for that species. I have some of the containers that you are currently using, and I would not feel comfortable about keeping Simandoa conserfariam, at least not young nymphs, in one of them.

CITES and ESA also restrict some species, but none of these are the cause of the APHIS regulations. I guess I did word that way too broadly.

Yes

I meant arthropod, and I changed it to prevent any confusion. I live in a family of six. It is not an issue.