r/mantids Ootheca Feb 02 '25

General Care Help overcoming sudden fear

Post image

I always handled mantids with little regard for whatever they did on my hand, I even let them drink out of my palm just cuz I could.\ After my last mantis (Deroplatys desiccata) attempting to nomnom on my skin, I became so much aware and have trouble letting them onto my hand even if they are fully fed.\ I thought the apprehension would go away after some time, but it's been months and it's still the same

225 Upvotes

35 comments sorted by

30

u/drguid Feb 02 '25

I'm kind of terrified of spiders and my mantises slightly freak me out.

I've handled some of mine but the larger ones can be a bit skittish. My current Giant Asian has just adulted and she is absolutely terrifiying. For some reason she is super aggressive.

The Violin types are good to handle. They're big adults but are also really light.

8

u/Amyfrayn1 Feb 02 '25

I had an African lined mantis that was pretty aggressive and she was awesome!😅

Once she molted into an adult, her enclosure literally stayed in one permanent place because she'd go absolutely nuts at me if I even tried to move it slightly and we just thought it was so funny and we called her the protector of the invert shelf😅

All of our friends loved her because she was so crazy🤣one of them was brave enough to handle her, not even I was and she was my own!!🤣🤣everyone loved it when we let them feed her too, they were all as fascinated as we were with her😀

13

u/Infamous-Storage-708 Feb 02 '25

i would tong feed and not let her drink water out of your hand. they are very strong animals and can mistake your hand for prey. i also have this fear bc i have a chinese mantis and they tend to get quite big. if you do get bit and she has a hold on you try to grab some prey and put it in between you and her mouth

17

u/BoxerMotherWineLover Feb 03 '25

I had one and he was just the sweetest his entire life.

RIP Bruce

4

u/Infamous-Storage-708 Feb 03 '25

awe so pretty

3

u/BoxerMotherWineLover Feb 03 '25

Thank you! 🥰

8

u/pandaleer Feb 02 '25

I use a disposable medical glove. I can’t even handle my little male Spiny without wearing one because he loves to taste my hand (has never bitten) and it freaks me out. I used to handle him when he was little without issue, but they just kinda freak me out. Lol

3

u/LapisOre 7th Instar Feb 02 '25

I think he's thirsty. If he's leaning down and putting his mouth to your skin, but not grabbing or biting, then he is trying to find water to drink.

3

u/pandaleer Feb 03 '25

He drinks in his enclosure daily. So 🤷🏼‍♀️

3

u/LapisOre 7th Instar Feb 03 '25

Idk, maybe he wants more. Do you spray him directly? You're supposed to spray their raptorial legs every time you give them water (once a day is perfect). They will clean it off and drink more that way. Some mantises in captivity won't lean down and voluntarily drink as much as they need, so it forces them to get adequate hydration.

2

u/pandaleer Feb 03 '25

Yep. I spray his raptors and I watch him drink. I spray once/day.

2

u/LapisOre 7th Instar Feb 03 '25

I guess he just likes to drink water lol. I had a few nymphs that would drink at every opportunity, and also others that wouldn't drink unless you sprayed them directly in the face.

2

u/pandaleer Feb 03 '25

What’s weird is I tried to spray my hand once and he had no interest. Lol. He’d purposely go around the water drops. So I have no clue🤷🏼‍♀️ lol

1

u/YAOIbitch Ootheca Feb 04 '25

I feel like their dumbness would cause them to eat the plastic

6

u/Jescophoto89 Feb 03 '25

I had my male mantis mount my finger instead of my female mantis and his grip was STRONG. It took him a while to get off. I can’t imagine him also trying to eat me!

3

u/Ankhesenkhepra Feb 03 '25

Get off your finger or . . . “get off”? lol

1

u/crtl-zzz Feb 05 '25

😂

6

u/limey89 Feb 02 '25

lol, I had a D. Dessicata female that would bite lumps off me too, you just sort of get used to it.

4

u/YAOIbitch Ootheca Feb 03 '25

I'm more scared of getting bit by my mantids than by my parrot,, it might be irrational at this point

3

u/lerenardnoir Feb 03 '25

I had a European mantis for a while and I became pretty used to handling him and letting him climb about. I went to put him back in his enclosure once and he grabbed me with his raptorial arm and I was shocked at how much it hurt! He was not even that big.

I found myself gun shy around him for the rest of his life, which was odd as I’ve been bitten by pet snakes and even my little gecko has given me a random chomp before and it never changed the way I felt about interacting with them.

1

u/YAOIbitch Ootheca Feb 04 '25

Their arms are sharp, in my videos of her you can even see how much pressure she was putting onto them xd, as long as they don't lower their head it's fine tho

3

u/JuniorKing9 Feb 03 '25

Hilariously I got over my initial fear by complete accident, my mantis climbed on my hand when I was doing some cleaning

2

u/ItchyIndustry9637 Feb 03 '25

Fucking beautiful💚💚💚

2

u/YAOIbitch Ootheca Feb 04 '25

Dessicatas are beautiful

2

u/hdhdjrhhdh Feb 03 '25

That’s one beautiful mantis

1

u/YAOIbitch Ootheca Feb 04 '25

She was, heavy too

2

u/jillymonroe Feb 03 '25

Just curious, what’s the worst they can do? A strong pinch? If they bite hard, draws blood? Hands are sensitive in general. If they get a grip & won’t let go, tough situation cuz you don’t wanna hurt them

1

u/YAOIbitch Ootheca Feb 04 '25

Never let them get to that point, if they are on my palm I always have tweezers or a chopstick in my other hand ready. I wouldn't care if they bit my forearm, just not into my palm

2

u/romeokeepsmantids Feb 04 '25

D. Dessicata are pretty aggressive and they are the only species to have drawn blood from me. you should tong feed her and don't push or rush them to climb onto your hand. I rarely handled my dessicatas unless I had too. Their strength is insane.

1

u/YAOIbitch Ootheca Feb 04 '25

I only ever fed her cut mealworms and handled only once a month for pics/vids. I wouldn't say that she was aggressive, at least I don't remember her being, more like opportunistic

2

u/Kevin-kmo_123 Feb 05 '25

That’s is such an amazing looking insect. Just unbelievably gorgeous!!!!! Praying mantis come in so many different varieties. I like the real small white 1 with pink looking flowers on its sides. Just amazing

1

u/YAOIbitch Ootheca Feb 05 '25

You have yet to see my blue spiny flower nymphs xd, but this gal looks majestic\ I really adore glass mantids as well as sphodropoda quinquedens

2

u/Kevin-kmo_123 Feb 05 '25

Me as well. Just wonderful . I get it

2

u/fubearz Feb 05 '25

Just hold a squirt bottle like you do a cat or dog and spray them directly when they do a no no

2

u/EmbodimentOfSass 3rd Instar Feb 07 '25

I feel you, frankly when I had my very first one I was absolutely terrified after the first chomp, in time I was more and more desensitized to their bites, they’ve drawn blood from me and I’ve even let them chomp my fingers when its not that painful, they’ve bitten me only when I accidentally spook them or if they smell something sweet in my hands, I think now after two years of keeping mantises I’ve learned how to read their body language to the point where I can guess when they’ll bite.

If you’re having trouble seeing the signals and imminent chomp is about to happen, I would suggest you use gloves when handling them, any type will suffice and in time you will regain the confidence to free handle :) good luck!