- Mantis FAQs -

All mantises available in the shop are personally bred and hatched by me from captive bred nymphs I raised. I have never bought ooths nor bulk bought nymphs to resell; I prefer to raise a species and then breed it myself. Currently, the only time I plan on considering buying an ooth is if it is a rarer species I have raised but did not succeed in breeding, or otherwise seems to be my only/best option of obtaining a species I really desire. Insects sold will never be wild caught nor from wild collected ooths unless it is an invasive species (such as Tenodera) that is being removed from our ecosystem to find homes instead.

Depending on the species, most nymphs are initially put up for sale too young to sex, in which case it is not possible to request a certain sex. Otherwise, older/sexed nymphs may be specifically listed as an option, or at least offered in sexed pairs. For nymphs that are old enough to sex but do not have separate options listed on the product page, you can make requests via the notes at checkout, but I may not always be able to guarantee your exact request, depending on stock and demand.

I may be able to pick out individuals for you if you are hoping for certain colors or just want to see what ones I have available. However, note that colors are not guaranteed throughout a mantis's life, and they can basically change at any time with molts – including their final molt!

The US is very big, and unfortunately those of us in the US aren't as lucky as those in places like the EU where they can order bugs and animals overnight with much cheaper shipping. UPS 2nd Day Air is the most commonly used shipping method for mantises. There are cheaper methods, but the animals would potentially be in transit for days longer. Sellers can get cheaper base rates by buying prepaid labels through online shipping services, but then we still also have to factor in the cost of packaging, including insulation and temperature control packs when necessary. When done properly, packaging live insects also takes time and effort and extra planning, compared to most other products that can just be thrown into a box or package and shipped at any time. I personally put quite a bit of effort into packaging for a nice personalized unboxing experience for each customer. Because it currently does not seem possible for me to provide live calculated shipping rates at checkout, the shipping rates onsite have been manually set based on states' distance relative to my state, and the assumption that orders might need a medium-sized box, in order to help ensure that shipping/packaging costs will (usually) not be underpaid (or at least not drastically.) For very small orders, you may be able to save some money by contacting me to order from me directly, where I can give an exact calculated shipping rate to your location for a small box.

social media is hard and I procrastinate (I mostly exist & sell on Discord) I will post on them eventually... :)

The majority of my selling before publishing this site has been on Discord – you can find some of my reviews in the Mantis HQ server!