# Are Superworms a reliable staple?



## Todomantis (Dec 23, 2018)

Since my male Hierodula Venosa reached adulthood, I've found that fruit flies are no longer filling enough to keep around so I have started feeding him whole superworms. Although I do let him stalk and catch the worm himself, I make sure it's debilitated before putting Mr. Miyagi back in his enclosure to finish eating because the superworms have littler pincers. My question is whether or not superworms are a  good food source for large mantids? If not, what is a reliable food staple?


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## hysteresis (Dec 23, 2018)

I don't think my L6 venosa could even SEE a ff. LoL.

Im interested in this topic because im always looking for alternatives to crickets and dubias. I haven't fed worms, and flies haven't been around since summer.

Seems youre doing the right thing cutting the worm's face off. 

A reptile store I frequent keeps the worms, crickets, and black soldier flies. There's a selection of prey items.


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## Mantis Lady (Dec 23, 2018)

you can try grasshoppers too.


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## Todomantis (Dec 24, 2018)

hysteresis said:


> I don't think my L6 venosa could even SEE a ff. LoL.
> 
> Im interested in this topic because im always looking for alternatives to crickets and dubias. I haven't fed worms, and flies haven't been around since summer.
> 
> ...


Oh no I give my mantis the worms alive and whole. I just see to it that he eats the worms head safely before putting letting him go about his business. I don't want Mr. Miyagi getting soft on me so I let him do his thing


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## Cole 78 (Dec 24, 2018)

Blue bottle flies or curly wings are the best source of food at this stage.


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## Synapze (Dec 25, 2018)

I grab them by the head with my forceps and give them a good crush. I find they wiggle a little longer... the superworm, not the mantis. 

Other than an occasional grasshopper or the rare superworm, my mantids live on a straight diet of blue bottle flies. Some might say I feed too little.


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## The Mantis Menagerie (Apr 8, 2019)

This is a little late, but I use superworms and mealworms frequently with my large mantids. I want to use large flies, but all my attempts to breed the flies failed.


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## Synapze (Apr 8, 2019)

Personally, I wouldn't use them a main staple, but if you do, remove or crush the heads before feeding. Blue bottle flies are the best feeders in my opinion and are inexpensive... unfortunately the shipping costs more than the flies.


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## hysteresis (Apr 8, 2019)

I now use superworms as a staple for my adult venosa and my sub mega.

There aren't enough flies to fill those two.

I feed chunks to my orchids. They pick the exoskeleton clean. But, their staple is BBFs.


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## Teamonger (Apr 10, 2019)

Back when I was overrun with adult Tenodera sinensis I quite often gave them superworms. All the females at least were happy to just grab them from tweezers and I never had any issues despite leaving the worms whole. That said I never just threw them in the cage with them, they were always given to each mantis with tweezers to ensure they got a good grip and started to chow down.

I did not use them as a staple however, it was more of a way to get more food in bigger packages into the females in an attempt to lose less of my males


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## The Mantis Menagerie (Apr 10, 2019)

Teamonger said:


> a﻿﻿ way t﻿o g﻿et m﻿ore ﻿foo﻿d in ﻿bigger﻿ packag﻿﻿e﻿﻿s


I managed to exhaust my entire _Gromphadorhina portentosa_ colony of juveniles while using them to fatten up my _T. sinensis_.


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## FeistyMcGrudle (Apr 12, 2019)

Synapze said:


> Some might say I feed too little.


Would you mind sharing your feeding regimen?


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## Synapze (Apr 12, 2019)

3-4 blue bottle flies twice a week with occasional snacks.


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