Gurders Mantis
praying mantis
The Mantid shed
Got myself some slabs so I can put them in the lawn going to the shed to stop the floor getting so muddy this winter, I think this is one of the last big jobs that I need to do now
Can't believe how quickly the border infront of the shed has filled out, especially the passion flower. It has even found it's way into the shed.
I have also made a canvered roof cage to fit the shed roof for the male Gongys, seperate from the females.
I have got round to making a new female Gongy cage, it is shelf sized and I used the green netting on it and I think it looks very good.
Well I hope this is the end of the overheating in the shed, I have installed an extractor fan at 1 end of the shed and an air vent at the other. I have got the extractor on a timer so that it comes on for 15 mins at hourly intervals but this might change I will have to monitor it.
The layout of the shed is still the same but I am now happier that all my species are
in the right areas of the shed, oh and the food lol. I have had to put in a new shelf
under the Idolo shelf but this was planned for and was a fairly quick and easy job.
I've had a few teething problems with the shed but nothing major, phew!
Things have been moved around a bit to get all the species into areas in the shed
that will do best at and also because I've got a few new additions 
Mantis have now moved in to the shed 
It's rather warm in there with the lights on and I'm going to have to keep a close
eye on the temp now. The heater isn't needed during the day because of the lights
All finished (well nearly)
Gongyville
Idolo's
Food
Work area
Well now uni is finished I can get the shed sorted
All the racking is in and finished now and I am playing around with the heater to get the temp to what I want.
The lights are nearly all sorted now.
Idolo rack
Gongyville
Bargins Galore
I have got the lino for the floor and saved about £25 because of a sale, then an extra £8 because the shop didn't have any change in the till, even blagged the spray glue for the lino for nowt
I noticed in a skip round the corner was filling up with joiners waste so asked if I could take some battons for shelving "help your self mate" was the reply. Several trips and loads of wood later think I should have most of the racking in the shed for free
The lino is now fitted and the 1st of the racks is built, varnished and put in place.
Well the idea of fitting a window in my shed has been scrapped, it would loose a lot of heat through it. I am going to fit a daylight fluorescent tube on a timer to create the daily cycle.
The insulation was delivered but they sent the wrong boards instead of 50mm & 75mm I got 50mm, 60mm & 75mm. How fortunate that it worked out I had enough 60mm to cover the walls instead of the original 50mm and I saved a fair few pounds.
All the insulation minus the door is finished now and I have put the floor in, chipboard loft boards were the cheapest option.
Well my room was just becoming silly with all my mantids and I can’t expect to breed mantids properly in my bedroom.
The answer was to flatten my veg patch in the garden and replace it with an 8"x 6" shed. The veg patch isn’t needed anymore because I am sharing an allotment with a friend.
The shed needs a bit of work before my mantids can move in. I have put the electric’s and lighting in now I need to fit a double glazed window and wait for the builder centre to restock with insulation boards which should be next week.
