# Help my mantis



## Midderz (Feb 8, 2008)

Hello i am new here and i have a baby giant asian praying mantis and it is 3 or 4 instar and earlier i came in my room and there was a locust eating away at the mantis's rear end.

The end of its tail has turned dark green and was wondering is my mantis going to survive, its the first one i have ever had so please help me.


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## macro junkie (Feb 8, 2008)

_Mantid Boy_ said:


> Hello i am new here and i have a baby giant asian praying mantis and it is 3 or 4 instar and earlier i came in my room and there was a locust eating away at the mantis's rear end.The end of its tail has turned dark green and was wondering is my mantis going to survive, its the first one i have ever had so please help me.


i dont ever leave crickets or locust in a cage if they dont want to eat it..i normally throw the cricket in and if its not eating in 20 mins i wil take it back out,.also how big is the locust compaired to the mantis?


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## Midderz (Feb 8, 2008)

it is my first mantis i got it about 12:00 this morning an went to get food for it put some locusts in and left it exactly 5 mins i come back and it eating away at the mantis's rear end.

The locust was a bit bigger than the mantis but the man at the pet shop said it would be fine.

At the minute it is layed down on the tank floor not moving will it survive?


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## Midderz (Feb 8, 2008)

My mantis cant stand up either


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## Mantida (Feb 8, 2008)

The dark green is blood.

How much of his rear was eaten?

He may not be able to get waste out of his system anymore, doesn't sound too likely he'll survive.


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## macro junkie (Feb 8, 2008)

u put a locust bigger than the mantis and u didnt put 1 in u put more than 1..thats what happened..the locust started attacking the mantid..i guess they where hungry..stick to food half the size of the mantid..and only ever put 2 in maxmine.


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## Midderz (Feb 8, 2008)

only a small bit off his end but will it survive and if not were can i get other giant asian praying mantis's is there any websites on the net


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## Mantida (Feb 8, 2008)

_Mantid Boy_ said:


> only a small bit off his end but will it survive and if not were can i get other giant asian praying mantis's is there any websites on the net


It might. Give it some time to rest, don't feed it anything for about two days, and give it plenty of water.

Remove the locust(s) if you haven't already.


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## Midderz (Feb 8, 2008)

haha do you spray water and will it get any when it is on a branch motionless i can see it is still alive because of movement but i am wondering how long not to feed it for?


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## Mantida (Feb 8, 2008)

_Mantid Boy_ said:


> haha do you spray water and will it get any when it is on a branch motionless i can see it is still alive because of movement but i am wondering how long not to feed it for?


Yes, spray the water when the mantis is on a flat surface. It will bend down to drink if it's thirsty.

About 2 days. Is it full looking, or very skinny? Can you take a picture?


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## Midderz (Feb 8, 2008)

oh no i think it is really dead now and not moving at all

Is there anywere in the uk i can order of the internet to get mantids?


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## idolomantis (Feb 8, 2008)

_Mantid Boy_ said:


> oh no i think it is really dead now and not moving at allIs there anywere in the uk i can order of the internet to get mantids?


is it realley dead? sometimes they play dead... if it is... i know how ya feelsi lost 6 mantids now.

never put too large food in. there are plenty of breeders who sells cheap mantids. Try graham... if you dont know his site just ask macro junkie for the site

btw

MJ do you already have h. solomonis 4 sale? or does graham have?


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## Mantida (Feb 8, 2008)

idolomantis said:


> is it realley dead? sometimes they play dead...


They only play dead when disturbed.


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## idolomantis (Feb 8, 2008)

Mantida said:


> They only play dead when disturbed.


yes but they can can get disturbed at there own reflection or things that supose to be feeding insects


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## Mantida (Feb 8, 2008)

idolomantis said:


> yes but they can can get disturbed at there own reflection or things that supose to be feeding insects


Uh, no. Mantids will threat pose at large feeder insects or their reflection. They play dead when you constantly bother them so they "freak out" from handling. My boxer mantids do this: they jump around a whole bunch, and then just fall over and pretend to be dead.


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## OGIGA (Feb 9, 2008)

I never had a mantis who played dead, but I guess I haven't seen everything.


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## macro junkie (Feb 9, 2008)

i still have 1 or 2 flowermantids for sale if your interested..L5 - i know martin has giants for sale..email him!


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## Sparky (Feb 10, 2008)

Locusts are nasty little buggers. Did you just say you put a "some" locusts in there? Locusts are social at times and will gang up on an insect to eat them if there is only one available food source. I used to keep some when I was a kid. They ate anything, pretty much like crickets but are more aggressive. Even if there was enough food for them they would still cannibalize each other once in a while.


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## Matthewtinnion (Feb 13, 2008)

Hi, Is this the mantis I sent you in the post the day before, which you told me was DOA?

Mat.


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