The price is higher this year, $21.99 vs $20 last year. It's not a sale price, it is what it is and then they're gone until next spring. It says pre-order but we ordered yesterday and got them today so it's not pre-order.
Uses: garden pest control. As babies they eat aphides and as they grow they eat larger pests (they do not like Japanese beetles though).
Bonus uses: pet!
We ordered our first mantis egg last year from Costco to see if it helped with the pests, and just generally out of curiosity. I'm not sure if any outside survived (they're masters at hiding) but my 4.5yr old son and I did keep 3 babies as pets in a small $9 terrarium. 2 died within a day, the 3rd lived 7 months all the way until Dec 17th.
She made a surprisingly fun pet and he absolutely loved it. Way cooler than the fish ever was. For kids, what's cooler than feeding it helpless insects and watching the mayhem that follows? Seeing them shed their skin and grow larger, and they're pretty good around people.
That seemed to be the main difference. When I think of bugs I think of little things fleeing in terror from me. The mantis though would come to us if we put out a hand and study us.
Tarantula or scorpions that could sting you aren't for me, but these guys are pretty tame, unless you're a cricket, fly or wasp. and then good luck.
There's lots of online info about keeping these as pets and if you have kids I fully suggest it for fun.
Some photos of our pet mantis from last year.
Nearby Costco locations:
Last edited by fyrebug on Mar 11th, 2022 8:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.
The price is higher this year, $21.99 vs $20 last year. It's not a sale price, it is what it is and then they're gone until next spring.
It says pre-order but we ordered yesterday and got them today so it's not pre-order.
Uses: garden pest control. As babies they eat aphides and as they grow they eat larger pests (they do not like Japanese beetles though).
Bonus uses: pet!
We ordered our first mantis egg last year from Costco to see if it helped with the pests, and just generally out of curiosity. I'm not sure if any outside survived (they're masters at hiding) but my 4.5yr old son and I did keep 3 babies as pets in a small $9 terrarium. 2 died within a day, the 3rd lived 7 months all the way until Dec 17th.
She made a surprisingly fun pet and he absolutely loved it. Way cooler than the fish ever was. For kids, what's cooler than feeding it helpless insects and watching the mayhem that follows? Seeing them shed their skin and grow larger, and they're pretty good around people.
That seemed to be the main difference. When I think of bugs I think of little things fleeing in terror from me. The mantis though would come to us if we put out a hand and study us.
Tarantula or scorpions that could sting you aren't for me, but these guys are pretty tame, unless you're a cricket, fly or wasp. and then good luck.
There's lots of online info about keeping these as pets and if you have kids I fully suggest it for fun.
2021-05-26 12.57.49.jpg
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You sound like such a good dad. Can you be my dad? I want my childhood to be like that...
On a positive note, legit review. I'll get some as we planted over 100 bulbs of tulips and they're sprouting, weather is warming up so can try these out in the garden.
Bonus: my kid may or may not love them but we'll see!
tunglete wrote: ↑
Is it time to buy now? a bit too early since we are going to have 1 or 2 snow storms ahead. I'm afraid none will survive until summer.
Seems to be a preorder with no confirmed date so no idea when these will actually ship out.
tunglete wrote: ↑
Is it time to buy now? a bit too early since we are going to have 1 or 2 snow storms ahead. I'm afraid none will survive until summer.
You keep the egg in a ventilated jar inside not outside. See my first photo. They are on their own schedule and will hatch as it's getting warmer out and not in the middle of winter.
Edit: I had no issue with indoors last season, but its recommended to keep the egg in the fridge until 4-10 weeks before you want them to hatch.
Last edited by fyrebug on Mar 12th, 2022 10:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
fyrebug wrote: ↑
You keep the egg in a ventilated jar inside not outside. See my first photo. They are on their own schedule and will hatch as it's getting warmer out and not in the middle of winter.
tunglete wrote: ↑
So are you keeping them at room temperature?
Yes. That's what I did last year and it was ok and didn't hatch in the winter or anything. I had them in a ventilated jar in the basement. The instructions say to just sprits the egg with water every now and then.
