Top products from r/mantids

I use this terrarium once they're larger but I invested because I raise mantids as pets quite often.

For a twig, I use this

And for foliage I use this with the suction cup plonked near the top and the leaves hanging down that I found in the reptile section.

The fish and reptile sections at your local pet store are going to be your favorite aisles from now on.

For substrate a lot of people here prefer dirt (NEVER from outside, there are all kinds of parasites and mites in outside dirt!) But I prefer coconut fiber as my substrate because it's naturally antibiotic and will hinder fungal and bacterial growth, and smell nicer too.

You'll really come to love these little guys, and here's why. Mantids, unlike most "bugs" hunt via sight, not vibration. This means they move and act much more mammalian than other insects. They don't skitter, they don't make sudden scary movements or bite or attack on sight (well some do, they all have their own distinct personalities), and they're VERY smart.

Mantids have been known to be receptive to operant conditioning, AKA they can be trained like a dog would. You should try to handle them (gently and with clean hands) as they grow up, every couple of days, and by the time they're adults they'll readily calmly hang out with you whenever you want. You can plop them on your arm as you do computer stuff or whatever. They're very docile creatures most of the time and make great pets. Just be careful because they're fragile.

As others said, keep humidity around 50% and if they're Tenodera Sinesis then temperature should hover around 70F at night and 80F during the day, which means you'll want a dome reptile lamp and you'll need to figure our the appropriate distance from the top of the cage to place it. Don't place it right on top, the mantids love to hang out on top upside down and a lamp right there would fry them. Make sure there's at least 1 cool spot for them to cool off.

As for food and water, once they're a little bigger the crickets at the pet store should work fine. If they're super picky there are lots of online mantis stores that sell larger flies. and whet a sponge or paper towel in there to help with the humidity.

Yeah I'd say it really depends on the species but also your environment. I live in a really, really dry place so keeping any tropical species (or even most "normal" species) requires extra attention to moisture. I definitely need glass containers and to keep the substrate pretty damp everyday. When I travel to the other side of my state I don't need that level of daily care to maintain the moisture levels. I'm sure you'll figure it out with time, based on the species and where you live. Personally, I really like these tanks for most species except maybe the super dry species (or like wondering violins that need better grip than glass). It's a little bit big for nymphs but a good middle of the road size. I've kept Ghost's all the way up through full sized female Malaysian Dead Leaf's in one of these tanks. Good luck! 🙂🤙

https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Glass-Natural-Terrarium/dp/B0041P5PBE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=exo+terra+terrarium&qid=1567954987&s=gateway&sprefix=exo+&sr=8-1

Some pictures can help with the identification of the species, though I hear that the Chinese mantis (T. Sinensis) is commonly given out to kids in some elementary schools.

In the likely case that you are housing T. Sinensis nymphs, it is important to note how prone this species is to mismolts when they are young. Nevertheless, a lot of people will still tell you they are a beginner specie (though certainly manageable). Since yours are still feeding off of fruit flies, they are still in the early instars and you should pay particular attention to humidity and the enclosure itself.

Humidity should be around 50% for these guys. Some members of the mantidforum suggest misting just enough so that any visible moisture on the walls evaporates within 30 minutes, but do not let the paper towel completely dry out. Anymore and you risk oversaturation. I have had a ghost nymph straight up drop dead from this (possibly due to fungal infection caused by excess moisture). As for how often, some people like to do it once every morning or once before bed time. It's up to preference, but I spray very lightly once in the morning and regularly at night. If I had to spray once a day, I would do it at night because that's when most will shed. Important thing is to keep the paper towel moist (but not soggy)!

As for your stick woes - never put outdoor collected wood in a pet's enclosure without sanitizing it either by oven baking at 200-250 degrees F for 2-3 hours or by using a bleach solution. You might not want what hatches out to get into your home, nevermind your mantis enclosure!
What I like to do is glue the netting that people often put on their lids onto the side of the 32oz cups. This way, the mantis get all around climbing surface and you eliminate the need for sticks that can potentially get in the way during an important molt.
These work well:
http://m.homedepot.com/p/Phifer-36-in-x-84-in-Black-Pet-Screen-Kit-with-Spline-and-Roller-3025886/205001783

http://www.amazon.com/Duck-1100731-Non-Adhesive-12-Inch-20-Feet/dp/B002AS9NAI

The black netting can usually be found in very large rolls for under $10 in most hardware stores.
That said, fake plants are okay as long as there is plenty of room for molting.

*Edit: As they get larger, newer enclosures must accommodate their size. T. Sinensis grow pretty large (around 4"). The general rule for every mantis enclosure is twice it's length in width, and three times its length in height. This means that by adulthood, you are looking at an enclosure that is a rectangle of dimensions 8"x8"x12" or a cylinder with a radius of 4" by a height of 12", or of course another container of similar dimensions.

This link has a lot of helpful information about this specie:
http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?/topic/31349-tenodera-sinensis-chinese-mantis/

Hah, awesome! I used to use regular tweezers, then got REALLY tired of it -- I'd have a tendency to crush the crickets if I happened to actually catch one.

[These are what I recommend.] (http://www.amazon.com/EK-tools-Craft-Tweezers-Package/dp/B00AZRGEF8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417109078&sr=8-1&keywords=reverse+tweezers) Squeeze to open, release to close. So, you can snag a cricket by the leg or even the body and not worry about crushing it. :)

I just got a new cricket keeper from PetCo a while ago, too. It has two square tubes which slide through trapdoors high in the sides of the box. The tubes rest at a 45 degree angle and the crickets climb inside where it's nice and dark. I can just pull one of the tubes out and tap some crickets into the vivarium. :)

[Here's one] (http://www.amazon.com/Lee-20080-Kricket-Keeper-Small/dp/B001OVBDDM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417109329&sr=8-1&keywords=cricket+keeper) on Amazon, not the same one I have but same concept.

Get yourself one of these. It will allow you to keep your crickets for a long time and offer them food and drink. I often ordered a hundred or so and kept them around for months

Praying Mantis 10 Egg Cases 1,000 - 4,000 Babies +Hirt's Hatching Habitat https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQHRT0Q/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_WAL.zb3DDNW7P

I get mine through Amazon. This vendor has specifically worked for me before, but it's a tough time of the year to get them I think. I order closer to spring, usually in March or therabouts.

They're all live 👍
[The exact one I have ]https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KN1BF22/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_7e9YCbDA4347Q)

Hate to be a Debbie Downer, but you're unlikely to get your research published until you've proven yourself to be an expert in the field, e.g. have a relevant university degree. I mean, that's what peer review is - a critical analysis of your research by other experts. If you've never been through the peer review process, it's an incredibly brutal process (at least in the medical field, and I hope that is the same in entomology). Most studies do not get published because they are poorly conducted, and if they do, it's in some low impact journal.

To get an idea of how mantis research is conducted, here is a good introduction. Then you'll want to start reading actual studies (and there are entire university courses just on how to read, analyze, dissect, understand, and critique studies, so when people tell me they read studies, 99% of the time, I laugh at their overconfidence and insult to science). You should also enlist the help of methodologists too so when your research is peer reviewed, you won't outright get rejected for poor methodology.