Blog

November 16, 2022

Isopods for an upcoming video.

July 22, 2022

More Mantis, please.


Spiny flower mantis - This one is a show off!

First this morning I was opening a nice big box from @Unseen_Universe containing 6 different species of mantis. 4 of the new additions are not already in my collection and I can't wait to see them when they grow up. I think the one my wife is looking forward to the most is the spiny flower mantis, I must admit it is awfully cute.

July 19, 2022

Water, water everywhere


Added a little stream to my small pond. I tried the cheap "Aqua Pump" from Amazon and it appears to work great for what I wanted. I doubt it would pump up any higher with any force, but for me, it was perfect. Running water in your garden attracts more animals and bugs and also provides a needed water source for them. Today has broken all heat records for the UK and I hope the animals thank me for the extra splash by visiting more often.

July 16, 2022

7 Deadly sins, greed.



This is what happens when you accidentally drop 2 crickets in her enclosure instead of one. The giant rain forest mantis is a greedy "£$^^£$"£$ !


July 15, 2022

Busy, busy, busy.

This is Jessica - Giant Asian mantis



My mantis nymphs are all healthy and growing well in their new mantisarriums #TM with the exception of the Giant Asian mantis that had a bad moult and her front legs don't work properly i.e. she can't catch her own food!
However, I have been hand feeding her with tiny crickets and honey, and she appears to be doing well. If she can make it through the next moult I am hoping she will be fine.

Other than this I have been out book promoting (buy my hedgehog book!) and trying to add a waterfall to my garden pond, something that I am still attempting.


June 29, 2022

New guys!


Peruphasma schultei nymphs


Lots of new nymphs hatching now on a daily basis with parents still going strong (and still mating). A little surprised that the adults from the previous generation are still around, but still around they are, still feeding well, and still mating (not just piggy-backing) - I have kept the 2021 generation at a slightly lower average temperature and I am assuming that this is one of the factors why they're alive over 12 months later. The nymphs from them have been hatching since January 2022, and still, they lay more eggs daily.


June 19, 2022

Mantis mania!

It is my birthday in 4 days' time and my son received my present early. In a panic, he arrived this morning with 6 species of mantis nymphs to add to my collection.


In a hurry, I made the little guys some temporary enclosures - when I move the mantids onto bigger enclosures, these will be repurposed as terrariums. 


June 18, 2022

Working hard

Spent the day hunting down photographs for my new book about the Peruphasma schultei stick insect, a much harder job than you would think! As always I am open to submissions, but can only reward your photographs with an acknowledgement in the book, and of course, a pdf draft copy of it when it is complete. So far I have to thank Ketty from Instagram for the fantastic photo of a male and female insect mating. If you would like to submit a photograph then please, send it to SGWildlifeBooks@gmail.com and I will let you know if it is something I can use. 


 June 10, 2022

New web/blog site

This is a new web/blog site that I hope to keep on top of regularly. I am still slowly adding content, so please, bear with me.


Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)