Fruit Fly mash

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jfmantis

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Two days ago, all my bluebottles ran out, leaving me with no food. Now today, still none of the second batch have hatched. My mantis, an adult female california mantis, had gone without food for two days. So, desparate, I made up something I call Fruit Fly mash.

I went out to the compost and collected a bunch of fruit flies in a plastic container. I then took them inside and killed them in the freezer for ten minutes. After that, I "pasteurized" them by breifly boiling their carcasses on a sauce pan. Then, I mixed these clean little flies up with honey and put it on a stick. I stuck the stick into her cage, and she snatched at it, pulling the goopy mass of flies right off the stick. She appeared to really like it. She even accepted a second helping. Well, as of now, she is still eating, so I can't really know any bad affects, but I will update soon with how it affected her.

 
An adult female carolina can go a lot longer than two days without food...really interesting how you cooked up a nice meal for your mantis though!

 
She appears to be fine. I don't think it did her any harm. I fed the mash to her the next two days also, because the bluebottles still didn't hatch.

I don't know if this should be a separate topic, but it is related to this: My bluebottles have not hatched after eight days of being out of the fridge. Normally the pupa take five or six days to hatch. Is it possible that the pupa died in the fridge? Or do sometimes they just not hatch? Maybe the longer they have been refridgerated the longer it takes for them to hatch. Any suggestions to what I can do. I don't think my mantis can live on fruit fly mash much longer.

 
jfmantis said:
She appears to be fine. I don't think it did her any harm. I fed the mash to her the next two days also, because the bluebottles still didn't hatch. I don't know if this should be a separate topic, but it is related to this: My bluebottles have not hatched after eight days of being out of the fridge. Normally the pupa take five or six days to hatch. Is it possible that the pupa died in the fridge? Or do sometimes they just not hatch? Maybe the longer they have been refridgerated the longer it takes for them to hatch. Any suggestions to what I can do. I don't think my mantis can live on fruit fly mash much longer.
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Adults can survive 1-2 weeks without food. I think she'll be fine as long as her abdomen isn't paper thin.

Crickets are an alternative, though you'll have to allow them to get all that icky bad stuff out of their system for 1-2 days while they are being housed and fed adequately to get back their lost protein/nutrients.

 
:rolleyes: Can't you go outside and get a slug or worm or something? Surely there is insects outside it could eat. Anything you can find that wiggles will probably do, you said you had a compost pile, you should be able to get some nice fat worms out of it ;)
 
hibiscusmile said:
:rolleyes: Can't you go outside and get a slug or worm or something? Surely there is insects outside it could eat. Anything you can find that wiggles will probably do, you said you had a compost pile, you should be able to get some nice fat worms out of it ;)
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Slugs + mantis = mantis slimed.

:lol: :p

 
Careful how long you cook them for etc.

Heat denatures and destroys proteins/vitamins/enzymes etc. Which although can be "eaten" will significantly reduce nutritional content!

 
I've kept a lot of California mantises and they survive a long time without food as adults. I'm comfortable with leaving them 10 days without food. Anyway, glad you figured out what to feed your mantis. I guess I'll try that instead of buy crickets when I get back into the hobby. :lol:

 

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