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Allthingsterrarium

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Hi guys! quick question for you! Do you think it's okay to give a mantis wild flies? At least not very often? I know tons of people with reptiles, amphibians and arachnids suggest not using wild insects because you have no way of knowing what they get into and they could have been exposed to chemicals but in my neighborhood at least I think it's okay as an occasional treat because I'm convinced nobody around here uses pesticides or weed killer as we're right next to an elementary school where kids play in the grass and besides I think a lot of people overreact as most terrarium animals are pretty tough and lots of people feed a lot more wild insects than I would. Thing is flies are a bit dirtier and since a mantis is an insect it might be more prone to picking up insect problems. I have a bit of a fly problem right now in one of my upstairs rooms and in the hallway (I honestly have no idea where they all came from there must be 30 of them) and I've been trying to catch as many as possible in a small net I have and putting them in a container so I can put them outside all at once when I catch enough of them. Some however were weakened in the process and didn't fly away so I just gave them to Lee. She devoured 3 of them in 15 minutes. Probably the equivalent of a good sized cricket for her and I know mantises love flies. What do you guys think?      

 
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Think then you can feed them, but catching them is hard. Took me 3 days to catch an annoying fly what was bugging me for 3 days. It ended up in a mantis stomach ;)

 
Honestly, getting wild flies that have been breeding on dog poop or some rotting thing isn't much different from how they are cultured in captivity. This is why it's important to wash your hands after handling pupae or live flies no matter where they came from. I only use cultured flies but that is because I have a lot of mouths to feed and catching that many flies as often as I need them would be a lot of work.

 
Predatorhousepet said:
Honestly, getting wild flies that have been breeding on dog poop or some rotting thing isn't much different from how they are cultured in captivity. This is why it's important to wash your hands after handling pupae or live flies no matter where they came from. I only use cultured flies but that is because I have a lot of mouths to feed and catching that many flies as often as I need them would be a lot of work.
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Yuck! :)  

- MantisGirl13

 
Mantids survive on these in the wild, so I’m sure they have some immunity to whatever bacteria the flies may be carrying. I wouldn’t worry too much about using wild feeders. If you want to be careful though, you could always give your mantis some 100% raw unfiltered honey after.

 
River Dane said:
Mantids survive on these in the wild, so I’m sure they have some immunity to whatever bacteria the flies may be carrying. I wouldn’t worry too much about using wild feeders. If you want to be careful though, you could always give your mantis some 100% raw unfiltered honey after.
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That's an interesting idea! I had no clue they could eat anything other than insect/meat based food.

 
Predatorhousepet said:
Honestly, getting wild flies that have been breeding on dog poop or some rotting thing isn't much different from how they are cultured in captivity. This is why it's important to wash your hands after handling pupae or live flies no matter where they came from. I only use cultured flies but that is because I have a lot of mouths to feed and catching that many flies as often as I need them would be a lot of work.
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That's pretty much the way I look at it anyway. Even containers of captive bred crickets can get pretty disgusting after all and must be filled with bacteria and parasites. Haven't seen anybody in my collection get sick so far. 

 
Allthingsterrarium said:
That's pretty much the way I look at it anyway. Even containers of captive bred crickets can get pretty disgusting after all and must be filled with bacteria and parasites. Haven't seen anybody in my collection get sick so far. 
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You do want to be careful with sick crickets in particular, they can cause a fatal condition in mantids nicknamed "The Black Death" because it causes them to vomit a foul smelling sticky black substance and ends in death of the mantis. If you buy crickets it is important to quarantine them for a few days before using them as feeders to make sure they aren't sick and also to keep their enclosure clean and as free of nastiness as possible (adding cleaner insects such as isopods and springtails help if you have them on a semi moist substrate such as soil or coconut fiber.) I don't usually buy crickets unless in a pinch but I do the same thing for them as I do the roaches I raise. I put down soil, then a layer of wood chips then egg crates for them to hide in. I add cleaner insects to the soil and they do a pretty good job of cleaning up after both roaches and crickets.

The other concern with crickets is that they have a tendency to nibble on newly molted mantids when they are still soft and can't defend themselves. The solution to that issue is to either feed in a separate container or to remove any uneaten crickets after an hour, especially if you believe the mantis may molt soon. 

 
Predatorhousepet said:
You do want to be careful with sick crickets in particular, they can cause a fatal condition in mantids nicknamed "The Black Death" because it causes them to vomit a foul smelling sticky black substance and ends in death of the mantis. If you buy crickets it is important to quarantine them for a few days before using them as feeders to make sure they aren't sick and also to keep their enclosure clean and as free of nastiness as possible (adding cleaner insects such as isopods and springtails help if you have them on a semi moist substrate such as soil or coconut fiber.) I don't usually buy crickets unless in a pinch but I do the same thing for them as I do the roaches I raise. I put down soil, then a layer of wood chips then egg crates for them to hide in. I add cleaner insects to the soil and they do a pretty good job of cleaning up after both roaches and crickets.

The other concern with crickets is that they have a tendency to nibble on newly molted mantids when they are still soft and can't defend themselves. The solution to that issue is to either feed in a separate container or to remove any uneaten crickets after an hour, especially if you believe the mantis may molt soon. 
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Oh yeah I only give her lively, healthy looking crickets, never anything sluggish, dying or suspicious looking and I very closely watch to make sure nothing goes wrong. If she clearly sees it but shows no interest I take it out and if she molts I'll give her something soft and harmless like a waxworm. If an animal isn't fit to be top predator at the moment it can't be dealing with difficult prey right now. I do pretty much the same thing for my two tarantulas, especially considering that since they too are arthropods I don't want them catching something from a sick insect.

 
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Allthingsterrarium said:
Oh yeah I only give her lively, healthy looking crickets
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Same here. I wish I could feed more dubias  than crickets. I give more grasshoppers at the moment. But  the pet store don't has really small dubias. The adult female I have has an ooth in her. Don't know if will give me a few small ones. It t is still very warm here.

 

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