Mantis Eye. com
The Original Mantis Supply Store!
Announcements
NEW VISITORS: If you're here for the other Mantis website that was here prior then I'm sorry to inform you it has been shut down after a long, long legal battle for the mantiseye. com domain name. The courts finally sided with us, since our mantis business has existed since 1997, long before the previous owners. Thank you for understanding! Please stay a while and look around, maybe buy a mantis or two?
LOYAL VISITORS: An announcement! The long legal battle with the original owner of this domain finally ended, and we were awarded all names and items associated with the Mantis Eye name. The previous site didn't even have anything to do with mantises. We will continue to offer the same great mantis-selling services that we always have!
GROUPON CUSTOMERS: If you came here via the Groupon deal I am sorry to inform you that the deal for 50% off the FLORIDA BARK MANTIS was so successful that we are out of stock on them! Sadly the Groupon deal is not good for any other mantis, but we hope to have these back in stock in the near future, so please check back!
About Mantis Eye
Since 1997 Mantis Eye. com has aspired to bring you the finest in mantis and mantid sales for all your mantis needs. If you are looking for a pet (or pets!) or perhaps food for your bird (please don't feed them a mantis unless it's 100% necessary!!) then Mantis Eye has what you need! Please feel free to browse our items for sale at your leisure!
My name is Lisa and I've been selling Mantises since 1987 out of my garage. I know how difficult it can be to find reliable mantis dealers, especially in this economy where sometimes people will be selling what they claim is a mantis but it ends up just being a cricket or grasshopper or sometimes it's just a clever fake made out of of pipe cleaners. I, too, have felt the pain of buying what I thought was a mantis only to have my heart broken! That's why I started Mantis Eye. com, so I could provide high quality mantises at affordable prices! I hope you enjoy!
Mantises For Sale
The rare BUDWING MANTIS hails from Florida and gets it names from the place it was discovered: Florida. They were found in the Budweiser factories and were named because they enjoyed drinking the beer there and they also have wings. $219.00 |
The GHOST MANTIS is called such because they are actually ghosts. This species was declared extinct 200 years ago but they have continued to roam the earth as ghosts ever since. Nobody know what they want but you will need a special ectoplasma-coated enclosure for them so they don't just walk through the walls of it. $874.25 |
The VIOLIN MANTIS is named as such because of its penchant for orchestral music. Sadly they are far too small to be able to play an actual violin, but if you had a very small one specially made for them that might work. You can probably find one on eBay or something. You would also have to pay for lessons since this is a learned behavior and not something they're born with (and some are better at it than others). $157.40 |
The GRIFFIN MANTIS likes to eat bugs, which is pretty gross, but if you like a bug that eats other bugs then griffin mantis is a pretty good choice (though all of our other manti also eat bugs, so perhaps this is not the main selling point for you?). He'll eat the bugs you feed him and then sleep or something. I'm pretty sure mantises sleep. Oh also he's got a pretty cool name: 'griffin' so I'm sure that will impress people, right? $329.10 |
As you'd expect the GIANT SHIELD MANTIS is called such because it has a giant sheild on its back. This is used to ward off predators and in the summer it sometimes paints a pattern on it or gets a temporary tattoo on there, which is pretty cool. Sadly this species has been on the decline in the wild because their temporary tattoos give off an odor that is easy for predators to smell. They'll figure it out eventually though, I'm sure. $562.00 |
The rarely seen DEVILS FLOWER MANTIS is called such because it looks like a flower, kind of. They are also fans of the New Jersey Devils hockey team, I'm told. I don't watch hockey, so I wouldn't know, but if you're a fan of it then you can watch with one of these guys. They do become angry if the Devils lose, however, so keep that in mind if you are watching them play a better team. Just a fair warning. $287.00 |
Tips & Tricks!!
Naturally running a website that sells only high-end praying mantisieses I get a lot of questions such as "Lisa, how do I care for this mantis?" or "Lisa, what does a mantis eat?" or "Lisa, your garage is overrun with insects, do you need help?" or "I think you love those goddamn bugs more than you love me!!" and so on. While I can't answer all of these questions (and some of them aren't actually questions) I can help you get off to a good start. Read on!
Mantis Care
Contrary to popular belief, mantidises are very easy to take care of (except for the GHOST MANTIS, I suppose). You can simply put them in a box or a fish tank or tupperwear or pretty much anything vaguely square shaped. Throw a couple of sticks or something in there and they have something to climb on and you're pretty much set.
One important thing to remember, and I cannot stress this enough, is that there need to be air holes in the enclosure. Mantiseses are living, breathing creatures (again, except for the GHOST MANTIS) and need air! So cut a couple of holes in the box. It's important to remember that the holes should be smaller than the mantis since otherwise they might escape out of the hole. Cannot stress that enough.
Beyond that keep them out of direct sunlight and away from heat sources and away from birds and cats because birds and cats really like to eat bugs for some reason. It's super gross.
Mantis Feeding
I know it may take some getting used to, but mantises actually eat bugs! I know it seems weird, like what kind of animal eats other animals of the same kind, right? Cows don't eat other cows. Lions don't eat other lions. People don't eat other people! The mighty mantis is a bug, however, and likes to eat his bug brothers. They will also only accept live prey, so feeding a mantis may not be for everyone!
Basically you just need to find some bugs and throw them into the box and the mantis will eat them. Also note this may include other mantises, so if you have more than one I don't recommend keeping them together since they usually try and eat their buddy! Manti are solitary creatures.
Final Words
Above all else remember that mantidies are our lords and masters. I know they seem like small little bugs but a few more years of evolution and they will become very large and really there will be no stopping them. I mean, look at those claws. A lot of people don't believe me when I say that mantii will rule the world within our lifetime, so just heed this as a warning. I recommend buying a flame thrower since mantiseses do not like fire at all and keep it hidden but ready to go. Other than that there's not much else you can do except try to get on their good side. Give a mantis or two a good home and lots of love and hopefully when they enslave humanity they will take pity on you and let you have one of the easy jobs like raising the mantid babies.
Of course the average lifespan of a praying mantis is only about 10 - 12 months so in 20 years our new masters will be generations and generations removed from their distant and long gone ancestors that you raised, so they probably won't remember you. Still though, it never really hurts to try.