Cricket Brutality???

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asdsdf

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Could a cricket have done this? I began feeding them crickets, since the winter months are coming up, and I fed them crickets yesterday. This one seems to have the top part of the eye gouged out, and a spike missing. Both missing areas are covered with a green liquid, and the eye wound is outlined with black.

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Is it a cricket's work, or is it fungus or something? Thanks!

 
I doubt it. I have never had an issue of a cricket eating on a mantis.

 
HA! Last night I had one mauled to death by a cricket, it was a texas uniy and this morning it was eaten in half :eek: . Never will I leave them alone again...(i hope). Just as I was telling Creed that everytime someone tell me of a mantis death, I lose one too. Whaz's up with that!

 
So it seems like the cricket did it? I made sure that the mantis had caught the cricket before going to my other mantises, but I did notice the jaws of the cricket moving. I hope the mantis survives because she had a pattern like a creobotra instead of a pseudocreobotra (think I spelled them wrong).

 
If your feeding them crickets make sure you only feed one at a time. Crickets like to gang up on mantids.

Also throw some lettace in the cage so the cricket will decide to munch on that not a mantis.

 
Hi. im an officer from the CPD (Cricket Police Department) and you're all under arrest for mass murder and conspiracy to murder. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something that you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.

on a serious note, hibiscusmile I hope you punished that cricket who ate your mantis. Personally I think justice would be to feed him to a larger mantis.

 
I don't know if a crik is your culprit but it could be. All of the above advice is good when it comes to crix. I hate them. I use only the smaller ones (I use large ones for large mantids but I hand feed them) and only one at a time and only during the time when I know the mantid will not moult. I lost a beautiful mantid to crix. Never again. I'm more comfortable with bees and wasps than those pesky crix with their beady little eyes and their pop-off legs. Necessary evil. I cannot abide roaches, yet. I'm working hard on banishing crix forever. Oh, and did I say, "I hate crickets!"

 
Do not read if soft at heart....

Now, I decapitate all of the crickets before feeding. No head, no risk! First I shock them with an electric fly swatter to keep em from moving, and then out goes some scissors. :angry: Haven't had anymore cases. :rolleyes:

 
Well through speed reading dont know if this has been said before but a cricket can do damage to a mantis, my lil eauchomonella when she was a nymph had her front tarsus bitten straight off, and its a bad idea to feed crickets anyway to flowers, cant you get some castors from the bait shop?

 
Your not keeping them together are you? might of been another mantis trying to steal its dinner

 
Nope, they were seperate. Plus, there's no way that if caught in another's arms, it could escape. (I've seen 4 cases.)

 
Morpheus uk said:
Well through speed reading dont know if this has been said before but a cricket can do damage to a mantis, my lil eauchomonella when she was a nymph had her front tarsus bitten straight off, and its a bad idea to feed crickets anyway to flowers, cant you get some castors from the bait shop?
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Nope, no fishing store near my house within an hour a way. I am getting flies from Hibiscussmile though.

 
asdsdf said:
Do not read if soft at heart....Now, I decapitate all of the crickets before feeding. No head, no risk! First I shock them with an electric fly swatter to keep em from moving, and then out goes some scissors. :angry: Haven't had anymore cases. :rolleyes:
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How long do they live headless? Do they get around enough to draw the mantids attention? I need one of those bug zappers. You could stun escaped blue bottles instead of smashing them and having them go to waste. Tell me more about your cricket modification.

 
Okay, I either grab the cricket with forceps(You can get really nice ones at mantisplace.com), and either crush its head or drop them onto a fly zapper. They are either dead or stunned now, and I grab them by one leg with the forceps and move over near the trashcan. Out goes my scissors and i chop off the head, the pointy things at the end, the wings, and the legs. Now i'm left with a twitching fat mass that is the choice bits of a cricket. I usually just grab a section of leg still there and move it near the mantis. If hungry, the mantis strikes and eats, if scared, I just bring it near their mouth and they chew a little and then grab it. You could also put them in the freezer for a while so they stop moving, but the fly zapper is faster.

For blue bottles, I stun them or put them in the freezer for a little bit. These I put into the containers and in a little while, they zip around. Will upload a blurry pic of one gravid female eating the yummy parts of the cricket.

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I usually just lose the legs and let it go at that, and I alway almost always make sure the mantis has it before I close the house, this one must of changed its mind and it got away, very unusual for that to happen once they have them they usually keep them, I try to leave most pieces of the crik cause it is food,. (the bloody fire alarm is beeping in the background, time to change batteries), as I was saying, unless the mantis is scared I do not take the head off. And trust me he got ate by another one.

 
Crickets are serious preditors.

I was reading a boating magazine one day at the dentists office and they said ... If you have a boat/yacht that has roaches on it ,, toss on a couple crickets .. they will kill and eat the roaches, then turn on one another .... they are one wicked insect

 
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