Meet the animal
This is Sphodromantis viridis, distinct from the existing S. lineola profile despite overlapping African-mantis common names.
Confirm the exact line; the common name alone is insufficient.
Before you choose one
Prepare separate individual housing and varied appropriately sized live prey.
Arrange dependable holiday care and keep money available for food, replacement equipment and appropriate veterinary help. Test the habitat before the animal arrives.
Set up its home
Wildform proposes 30 × 30 × 45 cm for an adult, with at least four body lengths clear below the actual moulting grip. Nominal tank height is not the clear drop.
Measure usable internal space after substrate, guards and furnishings. Check ventilation, cable holes and access against the smallest occupant. Fix heavy furnishings independently of loose substrate.
Equipment for this care need
SPECIFICATION TO MEET
Secure moulting grip and clear hanging space
Secure moulting grip and clear hanging space
Use a suitable grippable overhead surface and leave at least four actual body lengths clear beneath the grip, including after browse or feeding changes. Cork decoration alone does not provide a ceiling.
Temperature and safe heating
The AES account includes S. viridis and gives 20–25°C as a general mantid range. Use measured, controlled conditions and verify the actual breeder line.
Record the warm and cool locations, overnight minimum and daytime maximum. Air, surface and substrate readings are different measurements. Any added heater needs compatible thermostatic control and safe separation from the animal; assess summer cooling as well as winter heating.
Confirm the line-specific climate.
Equipment for this care need
Daylight, shade and UV
Use ordinary daytime illumination, shaded cover and darkness overnight. No mandatory species UVB target was established.
Keep the night dark and provide retreat from daytime light. Lamp percentage, electrical wattage and a product name cannot establish the exposure reaching an animal. Check the finished installation after changes to mesh, branches or lamp position.
Water, moisture and airflow
Provide fine drinking droplets without soaking every surface. Maintain airflow and assess moisture from the actual enclosure and moulting success.
Inspect the occupied refuge and substrate as well as the air reading. Adjust water provision and ventilation together, and clean contaminated drinking surfaces. A single humidity number cannot describe every microclimate.
Equipment for this care need
Food and nutrition
Offer varied cultured insects suited to size. The older AES suggestion of raw meat is not adopted here as a routine substitute.
Record what is actually eaten and follow changes in growth and body condition. Food size, life stage and the full diet matter. Supplement products require an individual plan; do not combine calcium, vitamin D and multivitamins by guesswork.
Adjust feeding intervals to the line, stage and condition.
Behaviour and handling
House singly; a larger individual can eat another. Do not disturb a moulting or newly moulted animal.
Make necessary maintenance predictable and allow voluntary retreat. Prepare a secure transfer container before essential moves. Observation should not repeatedly interrupt feeding, rest or moulting.
Health and life stages
Remove biting prey promptly and seek experienced help for persistent loss of grip or failed moulting.
Keep dated observations of appetite, activity and condition. A sudden decline, injury, abnormal breathing or repeated failed moults needs appropriate professional assessment. This guide does not provide a diagnosis or medicine dose.
Buying and keeping records
Confirm S. viridis identity and retain source, instar and egg-case records.
Ask for a dated source record, scientific identity, life stage and established care history. Keep new arrivals and their equipment separate while an appropriate quarantine plan is agreed. Check current official rules for the exact animal, route and transaction before importing or buying; this page does not establish legal clearance. Never release animals or viable eggs outdoors.
Your care routine
Check grip, droplets and uneaten prey while leaving retreats and moulting sites intact. Review clear hanging space and the next feeder size. Keep a dated record of measurements and observations, and revisit the full advice when conditions or life stage change.
YOUR CHECKLIST
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Giant African mantis — Sphodromantis viridis
Ticks stay on this page while it is open. Completing a list does not certify welfare or an installation.
Equipment checklist
Check usable dimensions, compatibility and measured conditions for the individual setup. A product listing does not complete a setup or guarantee price or stock.
Plan the whole setup: Named items are conditional examples. Meet every care need and test the finished habitat before arrival. No price, availability or installation approval is claimed.
CONDITIONAL EXAMPLE
Secure species-appropriate enclosure
Exo Terra Pro Paludarium 45 × 45 × 90 cm
Provide at least four body lengths clear below the actual grip. Increase housing if the furnished enclosure cannot meet that drop. Measure the finished usable floor and height after substrate and furnishings against this guide. Check doors, vents and cable gaps for the actual animal and life stage. Secure the lid, test airflow and temperature, and keep lamps inaccessible. For terrestrial layouts retain the land floor; close and secure any drain rather than adding a water pool. Provide secure stage-appropriate overhead grip and measure the unobstructed drop beneath it: at least four actual body lengths for mantises or three adult body lengths for stick/leaf insects. Include soil depth, food stems and protected water vessels in that measurement; choose a larger enclosure if it fails. Very small nymphs may need a separate fine-gap nursery and accessible prey.
Specification: PT4406; nominal external 45 × 45 × 90 cm; front-opening glass, adjustable ventilation, lockable stainless-steel mesh top.
CONDITIONAL EXAMPLE
Independent temperature measurement
Exo Terra Digital Thermometer
Measure occupied warm/cool air or refuge locations and day/night extremes. This is a measuring probe, not a thermostat; protect wiring and follow the probe’s moisture rating.
Specification: Remote air probe and minimum/maximum memory; place away from direct lamp radiation.
CONDITIONAL EXAMPLE
Air humidity monitoring
Exo Terra Digital Hygrometer
Use representative air readings alongside actual substrate/refuge checks. Protect the sensor from direct spray; one reading does not prove the moisture gradient.
Specification: Remote humidity probe; readings describe air at the probe, not substrate moisture.
CONDITIONAL EXAMPLE
Secure refuge or climbing grip
Zoo Med Natural Cork Round — select actual dimensions
Select natural dimensions for the occupant, secure pieces and avoid trapping gaps. Keep hard décor out of tarantula fall zones; cork is not food substrate or a moulting ceiling. Select and, where appropriate, cut an actual piece to fit the animal and enclosure. Secure it without trapping gaps and keep hard pieces outside tarantula fall zones. Cork is a refuge or climbing component, not food substrate or a complete moulting ceiling. Use only if the actual delivered opening and length fit the animal and leave its required usable enclosure space. Secure the piece and avoid hard fall zones. This option is not an automatic upgrade for a small spider enclosure.
Specification: Three natural small cork rounds; lengths, openings and shapes vary. One natural medium cork round; lengths, openings and shapes vary.
SPECIFICATION TO MEET
Secure moulting grip and clear hanging space
Secure moulting grip and clear hanging space
Use a suitable grippable overhead surface and leave at least four actual body lengths clear beneath the grip, including after browse or feeding changes. Cork decoration alone does not provide a ceiling.
Equipment notes: Set up its home
CONDITIONAL EXAMPLE
Secure species-appropriate enclosure
Exo Terra Pro Paludarium 45 × 45 × 90 cm
Provide at least four body lengths clear below the actual grip. Increase housing if the furnished enclosure cannot meet that drop. Measure the finished usable floor and height after substrate and furnishings against this guide. Check doors, vents and cable gaps for the actual animal and life stage. Secure the lid, test airflow and temperature, and keep lamps inaccessible. For terrestrial layouts retain the land floor; close and secure any drain rather than adding a water pool. Provide secure stage-appropriate overhead grip and measure the unobstructed drop beneath it: at least four actual body lengths for mantises or three adult body lengths for stick/leaf insects. Include soil depth, food stems and protected water vessels in that measurement; choose a larger enclosure if it fails. Very small nymphs may need a separate fine-gap nursery and accessible prey.
Specification: PT4406; nominal external 45 × 45 × 90 cm; front-opening glass, adjustable ventilation, lockable stainless-steel mesh top.
CONDITIONAL EXAMPLE
Secure refuge or climbing grip
Zoo Med Natural Cork Round — select actual dimensions
Select natural dimensions for the occupant, secure pieces and avoid trapping gaps. Keep hard décor out of tarantula fall zones; cork is not food substrate or a moulting ceiling. Select and, where appropriate, cut an actual piece to fit the animal and enclosure. Secure it without trapping gaps and keep hard pieces outside tarantula fall zones. Cork is a refuge or climbing component, not food substrate or a complete moulting ceiling. Use only if the actual delivered opening and length fit the animal and leave its required usable enclosure space. Secure the piece and avoid hard fall zones. This option is not an automatic upgrade for a small spider enclosure.
Specification: Three natural small cork rounds; lengths, openings and shapes vary. One natural medium cork round; lengths, openings and shapes vary.
Equipment notes: Temperature and safe heating
CONDITIONAL EXAMPLE
Independent temperature measurement
Exo Terra Digital Thermometer
Measure occupied warm/cool air or refuge locations and day/night extremes. This is a measuring probe, not a thermostat; protect wiring and follow the probe’s moisture rating.
Specification: Remote air probe and minimum/maximum memory; place away from direct lamp radiation.
Equipment notes: Water, moisture and airflow
CONDITIONAL EXAMPLE
Air humidity monitoring
Exo Terra Digital Hygrometer
Use representative air readings alongside actual substrate/refuge checks. Protect the sensor from direct spray; one reading does not prove the moisture gradient.
Specification: Remote humidity probe; readings describe air at the probe, not substrate moisture.