Waxworms

[MantisTrainer]

Hi everyone, with the colder months coming up in the US I can no longer find enough bugs outside to feed my two Chinese mantis sub-adults. I have avoided the use of crickets because I've heard that they can make your mantis sick, I try to avoid feeding them mealworms because those aren't the best either. I started feeding them waxworms because they seemed to be the only appropriately sized feeder that I could get my hands on for the time being. I haven't heard much about waxworms, are they okay to feed to your mantises?

 

[hibiscusmile]

hi, sorry for the late reply, but this just showed up. They are to fatty to feed every day, once a week is ok. We use mostly blue bottle flies.

 

[ANTdrew]

I like ordering house fly pupae from joshsfrogs.com as well. I let them eclose, feed them a bit, then keep the adults for several weeks in the fridge. I have a smaller species of mantis than you, though. Another option could be finding moths at lights. Many species still fly on cool nights.

 

[kurliefrie]

their fine to feed mantids, but maybe once a week. its good to let them turn into moths as well because their much more nutritional that way, and most mantids love flying prey

 

[The Wolven]

Hi everyone, with the colder months coming up in the US I can no longer find enough bugs outside to feed my two Chinese mantis sub-adults. I have avoided the use of crickets because I've heard that they can make your mantis sick, I try to avoid feeding them mealworms because those aren't the best either. I started feeding them waxworms because they seemed to be the only appropriately sized feeder that I could get my hands on for the time being. I haven't heard much about waxworms, are they okay to feed to your mantises?

Why not try checking around your local pet stores to see if they sell dubia roaches? Those are some of the best prey items you can find nutrition wise.

 

[MantisTrainer]

I've had them turn into moths before and I found that helpful. My mantises seemed to like them better when they moved around more. as for the cockroaches, even if any local pet stores sold them I would be unable to purchase any because the rest of my family does not tolerate them, unfortunately.

 

[kurliefrie]

Why not try checking around your local pet stores to see if they sell dubia roaches? Those are some of the best prey items you can find nutrition wise.

depends on the mantis, dubias can be strong

 

[The Wolven]

depends on the mantis, dubias can be strong

Trueee, but I've found even 1 inch mantises can eaten dubias if you use the right size.

 

[PrayingMantisPets]

cut legs off dubias?