# Had to destroy almost all of my mantids



## Rick (Oct 23, 2005)

Yep thats right. I have had some kind of illness affecting all of them for the last several weeks. Not sure if it came in with this batch of crickets or not. The mantids just keep puking and having the runs. Over time they will die. Only ones not affected are some nymphs that are still eating fruit flies and one pair of adult Africans. The rest I decided had to stop suffering. I will get rid of these crickets and disinfect everything and hope it doesn't come back. :?


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## Samzo (Oct 23, 2005)

that sucks :evil: How many did you have?


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## PseudoDave (Oct 23, 2005)

Sorry to hear that Rick, hope everything picks up for you.


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## Ian (Oct 23, 2005)

ugh, sorry to hear that rick. Maybe you will have better luck with your next batch..

Cheers,

Ian


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## Joe (Oct 23, 2005)

man that sucks.  i hope u have better luck with the next mantids u get

Joe


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## infinity (Oct 23, 2005)

seems cruel but you could feed them to a cham or T... I'm pretty sure that the virus or whatever wouldn't pass over - expecially with those two species as the cham is a reptile and the tarantula uses enzymes to digest its liquid meal (just a thought - waste not...)


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## Ian (Oct 23, 2005)

want not


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## Samzo (Oct 23, 2005)

i think im gunna do that with some of my excess nymphs lol beardie and T's would love em! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:


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## Jwonni (Oct 23, 2005)

seems a little crazy as people sell one mantid for as much or more than a box of crickets


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## Ian (Oct 23, 2005)

lol, but if you can't shift em, then its the best thing to do. And you can breed crickets by the thousand, so they are vastly cheaper.

Cheers,

Ian


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## DeShawn (Nov 2, 2005)

This happens with alot of exotic species. They often have trouble with crickets (wahlbergii especially), and sometimes wax moths. It is tough for them to get over it, but next time try feeding them flies that have been fed sugar. I do not know why, but that seems to work great. They will continue to puke over the next couple days, but after that they seem to do fine. Clean/change the container everyday if possible, or at least every few days until the puking stops.

I use to have this problem alot until I realized it wasn't necessarily the crickets, but the diet the crickets were on. I have stopped feeding any of my feeder bugs carrots, as I noticed the mantids puked when I gave them roaches that were fed carrots earlier that day. That was the only time I EVER gave my roaches carrots (I was out of apples!), and the only time I have EVER had a mantid puke from eating a roach. I feed my mantids crickets now without worrying, even the wahlbergii.


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## Rick (Nov 2, 2005)

Well I don't have the problem anymore since all affected mantids are gone. Never had a problem before and I didn't change anything. I still think it was something on this particular batch of crickets.


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## *RYAN* (Nov 2, 2005)

Why do crickets have to ruin everything ! .... GL with your next batch


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## DeShawn (Nov 2, 2005)

No doubt. Sucks to lose all your mantids though. I always wait a few days now before feeding new crix to my mantids. Don't know if that helps any, but like I said... I don't seem to have that problem anymore.

Are you going to start building back up? You should email me, I have an overflow of nymphs!


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## Rick (Nov 2, 2005)

Let me know what you have Deshawn. Right now I have a ton of baby africans and five L4 peruvians.


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