Hello MantisGirl13! Welcome to the Frog Forum Family! I am new to the forum, as well, but I have been browsing it for many months to collect info regarding raising American Toads. The people in this forum are very nice and have a multitude of excellent information, suggestions and advice which I am so thankful for! I haven't posted a formal introduction of myself yet but will do so soon. Just wanted to say that it is so nice to have people, who have a passion for a plethora of living beings, that take the time to communicate, share, educate & promote the well being of all things found in nature! I am enjoying my experiences with the forum and hope that you will too! Also, I think it's awesome that you raise/breed mantids! I love them... actually I love everything, but mantids are very cool! My experiences have been with only Chinese Mantids but I have been able to watch them breed, feed and one of the coolest things I've seen was a female laying her eggs and creating an ootheca!! It was long but AMAZING! I live in Eastern PA and depending on the area/habitat, I don't see them in large masses and sometimes go a couple years without seeing any, which is a bummer. However, last year as I was cleaning up some shrubbery, I was able to find some hatchlings and was so surprised how the babies look exactly like mature mantids, just very tiny! It was an awesome experience to find them because of how small they were... I had to look very close! I have a pic, so when I find it, I will upload it!