# sugar?



## babynik14 (Jun 9, 2007)

Last night one of my friends blew on my mantis (which i HATE) and she jumped and jumped right into a bowl of chocolate pudding..it looked halarious.. she had it on her face and her legs and she cleaned it off.. i helped a lil but.. do u think that is alright for her? cause she ate most of it off her ?


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## Way.Of.The.Mantis (Jun 9, 2007)

Mine scoff honey quite happily..I guess its ok, the main problem is makign sure they dont get gunked up, and thing like their antenna and fore-limbs stick together- so watch out for that..in the 'wild' I suppose if they catch a honey bee, then they are used to extra sugar


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## babynik14 (Jun 9, 2007)

yea for sure, she got it all off and there wasnt A LOT but today theres absolutly nothing and she cleans herself a million times a day anyways lol.. but i guess bugs do like sugar


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## Asa (Jun 12, 2007)

Never tried.


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## Way.Of.The.Mantis (Jun 14, 2007)

Infact ive got a bit of nymph trouble at the moment, and they only seem to eat honey because they dont have to move to get it.


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## Asa (Jun 14, 2007)

> Infact ive got a bit of nymph trouble at the moment, and they only seem to eat honey because they dont have to move to get it.


Stop giving them honey, then.


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## Way.Of.The.Mantis (Jun 14, 2007)

But I dont want them to die, they cost me $6 each..ill see if it builds up its strength enough so that I can give it flies or crickets again.


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## Asa (Jun 14, 2007)

Oh, you meant it was sick... Just mash up some crickets and give it to them.


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## Way.Of.The.Mantis (Jun 14, 2007)

Ah, good idea! :idea:


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## Stefan (Jun 15, 2007)

How good is honey for them? Can it become a large part of their diet?


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## jplelito (Jun 15, 2007)

They will let you know when they no longer want to sip up fluid.

If you use a dropper to give a honey/water solution, they will drink until they have had their fill, then bat away the dropper or the droplets on their claws.

I mainly give them honey water near a molt, especially the adult molt, when they don't like to feed on their own. Mainly I use this on species that don't drink much, like _Blepharopsis_. I do have pretty good success even at the later molts, so I've never seen it being bad for them, but, on the other hand, I have no idea if it helps or not.


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## Stefan (Jun 15, 2007)

Can they be fed pure honey? Or does it need to be in a solution?


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## spawn (Jun 15, 2007)

The mantids aren't going to down anything that's too complex for them to digest. The pudding was probably loaded in calories compared to flies it would normally get. Many people feed their mantids fruits (banana slices), and other inanimate organic food that you would typically think a mantid would take no interest in. Honey is okay, as a few mantids may encounter that in the wild anyway from an abandoned hive. But no, either sweet shouldn't become a staple part of the diet. Lacks the protein needed to grow and make ooths later on.


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## Asa (Jun 15, 2007)

I have never fed them honey, the only way they get it is by eating honey-bred fruitflies.


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## OGIGA (Jun 17, 2007)

> Can they be fed pure honey? Or does it need to be in a solution?


Yeah. I pretty much always give them pure honey. I usually just swipe some on their arm and they start "cleaning" it off.


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## Stefan (Jun 17, 2007)

Cool. Thanks for the replies


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