Instructions
Find an area in your house in which to keep the praying mantis safely. A bay or bow window, a shelf near a window, or any other small space in your house can be a suitable spot for a praying mantis to call home.
Place a few medium to large plants in the area where you want the praying mantis to live. A praying mantis likes to climb and spends little time on the ground. Additionally, praying mantises molt, which means they shed their skin and increase drastically in size. Praying mantises need to hang upside when molting.
Feed your praying mantis daily. A mantis eats most insects that are smaller than she is. Offer her a daily variety of crickets, flies, ants, bees, grasshoppers and any other insect you are able to catch. One advantage to not caging your mantis is she keeps your home and plants free of other bugs.
Mist the plants on which you keep your praying mantis daily. Praying mantises get most of their moisture from the insects that they eat, but they also drink droplets of water from plants. Mantises also need humid environments, so daily misting helps keep the humidity level up.
How to Keep a Pet Praying Mantis Without a Cage
When people decide to keep a praying mantis as a pet, they typically choose to house the mantis in a cage with a lid that locks securely so their pet does not get away. However, if you provide the praying mantis with an environment she likes and plenty of food, chances are good that she will choose to stay.