# help with feeding



## Shadow Mantis (Jun 13, 2005)

Hi

My female African mantis (L 4-5) has not been eating. She just molted three days ago. I tried to hand feed her a cricket, but she seemed to be afraid. I am worried that she might starve. Does anyone have an idea about what I should do?

Thank You


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## Rick (Jun 13, 2005)

Likely it will be fine. Sometimes they just don't eat for awhile. Give it some more time. Make sure you are misting it daily.


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## dino (Jun 24, 2005)

Hello,

Try to pierce the food and make sure that a little of juice is out. Then put the food in front of the mantis. If he/she likes the food he/she will grab it. This could take several try's though.


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## PseudoDave (Jun 24, 2005)

Shadow, it'd be best in my opinion to just leave food in there and maybe ignore the mantis for a while, they'll often do everything you want them to do when your back is turned. Hand feeding is ok, but some just wont do it, sometimes after doing it many times before. Since moulting, it's probably very much in defence mode still.

Dave


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## dino (Jun 25, 2005)

Hello,

Hmmm. Leaving the food in the container is quite dangerous. For example. If you leave a flying insect in the mantids container/tank it could knock the mantis off something and the mantis will end up hurting it's self. And as for a cricket it could chomp on the mantis while it is in a helpless state. Also for a mealworm they don't like the light so the first thing they will do when you put it in the mantids container/tank is go dig underneath the substrate. You should try the hand feeding trick for at least a couple of days. After a couple of days put a flying insect in the mantids home and see if the mantis can strike at the meal on his/her own. Take extrem caution though. He/she can hurt him/her self while trying to strike. Then just keep trying. If the mantis still does no good own it's own then simply go back to the hand feeding trick and just wait till the mantis molts and gets bigger. Then the mantis should be ready to hunt on it's own. If the mantis appears to be quite timid and none of the tricks work then the mantis will probably not live much longer. Keep trying tough. Don't give up.


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## PseudoDave (Jun 25, 2005)

Knock a mantis off something? That's hilarious.

As for leaving food in a container being dangerous, it is, when the mantis is shedding, or laying an ootheca maybe, but since this mantis shed already that danger is gone. Put frankly, the mantis has more chance of eating if undisturbed, hand feeding is not always easy at all and if the mantis panicks due to the shock of seeing something hundreds of times larger than itself offering it a cricket, then it will not eat.

Dino, when you reply to peoples threads, if you do not agree with something someone has written, then offer some basis as to why, not just 'leaving food in the container is quite dangerous' and 'if you leave a flying insect in the mantids tank it could knock the mantis off something' (that's just stupidly funny). If a mantis is weakened enough to be 'knocked off' by a fly, then i'm afraid the mantis is not healthy or the food is simple too big, thus try not putting birds in their enclosure again.


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## dino (Jun 25, 2005)

Hello,

Well I'm not disagreeing with anything. I was just trying to help.

PS: I dont think it is silly when a mantis gets knocked over. Also if you dont like my help than dont just listen to me, but I'm telling you how I care for my mantids and they live fine. Like Rick says " We each have different ways of caring for our mantids" and he is right. Maybe I dont care my mantids like you, but that is me and I will care for my mantids my way and they seem to live the way I care for them.


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## PseudoDave (Jun 25, 2005)

dino, i'm glad you quoted someone how to properly respond to peoples posts, seeing as that was the point of me posting the way i did anyway. It's very rare for me to post a reply such as the one I did before and there is a reason for it. I've noticed in MANY of your posts and replies that all you can do is disrepute peoples experience or knowledge and offer your own in its favor or just reply in a very condescending manor. To be honest with you, although I don't totally agree with your reply on this particular thread, I saw no problems with it, but I wanted you to see what it's like for someone to just randomly reply to your post and declare it as nonsense.

As for the mantis in question, how is it doing now? Eaten anything yet?

Dave


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## dino (Jun 25, 2005)

Hello,

o okay anytime.


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## Rick (Jun 25, 2005)

I agree with Dave. Put the food in there and let the mantis find it on it's own. I have found that if using crickets put something like a stick in there so the cricket can climb up the stick towards the mantis. Flying insects usually get a mantids attention pretty fast. They won't harm a mantis unless it's molting. I have never had a feeder insect do any kind of harm to any mantis. Not saying it won't happen but it hasn't happened to me yet.


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## Shadow Mantis (Jun 27, 2005)

Hi

She is doing just fine now. The crickets are being hunted down and eaten now. Today, she molted again!

Thanks for the Help


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