# Mantid sitter needed?



## markdneck (Jun 25, 2007)

Here is a dumb newbie question ... My wife and I will take a few long weekend trips this Summer; Las Vegas, San Francisco, etc. If I throw in a couple extra medium sized crickets and mist before I leave, will my mantid girls be OK for 3 or 4 days? I have a cat sitter come in to feed my felines but I don't want to break her in on mantid care neither do I want to bring the "bugs" with me on vacation. What do you guys do? Can they last a couple days with no food?


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## robo mantis (Jun 25, 2007)

Yeah they'll be fine just feed them till they can't eat no more.


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## athicks (Jun 25, 2007)

Definitly fine


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## Asa (Jun 26, 2007)

They can last longer than 4 days :wink:


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## captainmerkin (Jun 26, 2007)

I have fed mine up till bursting point before and they have managed two weeks unattended so far.. but poor little buggers were rather thirsty when I got home.

Now have someone ready to spray them every few days if I go away


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## Asa (Jun 26, 2007)

Don't get those auto misters. They don't work well, and generally kill the mantid. At least in my experience.


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## Butterfly (Jun 26, 2007)

I use these weird little "Cricket keeper" pillows that absorb water, My mantids have learned they can get water from them. So I dont have to mist quite as often I toss those in and they drink just fine from them. Toss a couple crickets in there and they should be fine. Or just feed them alot the day before and the day you leave and they'll be fine.

I had to teach my mom last year how to care for my Mantids, just told her ok see this lid, open it and toss in a cricket and thats it. lol. She got the hang of it but lost one big fat cricket, fortunately my cat got him that night I got home.


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## Asa (Jun 26, 2007)

> I have fed mine up till bursting point before and they have managed two weeks unattended so far.. but poor little buggers were rather thirsty when I got home.Now have someone ready to spray them every few days if I go away


I wouldn't leave them for two weeks without someone. Maybe instruct a neighbor or friend to do it? All it is, is lift the lid, throw some food, spray the mantid. Moving on to the next one. Of course, if you have a ton of mantids, that wouldn't be so easy...


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## yen_saw (Jun 26, 2007)

If you have fresh fly pupa, place some into the cage and it should provide your mantis some food for the next few days while you are away.


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## OGIGA (Jun 26, 2007)

Generally, the older your mantis, the less you'll have to feed them. If you have any adult males, they'll probably go a week or two rejecting food. I wouldn't worry about feeding for 3-4 days but some species might want some moisture. Not to hard for the cat-sitter to give the insects a little spray, right?


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## Asa (Jun 26, 2007)

> If you have fresh fly pupa, place some into the cage and it should provide your mantis some food for the next few days while you are away.


My mantid ate the pupa :lol: . But it was just a weird case.


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## Rick (Jun 26, 2007)

I leave mine all the time. Feed them well each day before I go and leave some extra food in the cage. For those that eat house or bluebottle flies I throw in some pupae that will hatch while I am gone.


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## captainmerkin (Jun 27, 2007)

> If you have fresh fly pupa, place some into the cage and it should provide your mantis some food for the next few days while you are away.


just do not use blow flies as when these emerge from pupa they contain some nasty toxins, they should be allowed to vomit this up before being eaten or they can poison the mantis.

For some reason the grubs and post vomit flies are fine, its just before they have puked out their stomach contents they are potentially harmful.


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## yen_saw (Jun 27, 2007)

Thanks for the info captainmerkin. I have never used blowfly before. The Houston Museum breeds them, the larvae feed on flesh, yucky and smelly stuff. A potential disease-carrying fly.


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## OGIGA (Jun 28, 2007)

> > If you have fresh fly pupa, place some into the cage and it should provide your mantis some food for the next few days while you are away.
> 
> 
> My mantid ate the pupa :lol: . But it was just a weird case.


I fed pupae to my mantises before. THe shell is really hard but the inside is nice and juicy. When my mantises are hungry and I only have larvae, I feed them larvae too.


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## Asa (Jun 29, 2007)

> > > If you have fresh fly pupa, place some into the cage and it should provide your mantis some food for the next few days while you are away.
> >
> >
> > My mantid ate the pupa :lol: . But it was just a weird case.
> ...


The pupa is not as beneficial as the flies though...


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## yen_saw (Jul 3, 2007)

Found out from Chuck (spiderpharm) that all kinds of flies emerging from pupa excrete waste accumulated during the puparium stage, the excretion does content high concentration of amonia. Although it might not affect the mantis feeding on it, it is better to wait and gutload your flies with nectar, honey, sugar, etc before letting them go into the mantis cage.


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## wuwu (Jul 3, 2007)

> Found out from Chuck (spiderpharm) that all kinds of flies emerging from pupa excrete waste accumulated during the puparium stage, the excretion does content high concentration of amonia. Although it might not affect the mantis feeding on it, it is better to wait and gutload your flies with nectar, honey, sugar, etc before letting them go into the mantis cage.


but how can you do that when you're on vacation?


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## Asa (Jul 3, 2007)

Put the pupa and some food in a place where the mantids can't get it, but the flies, when they hatch can easily escape.


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## yen_saw (Jul 4, 2007)

> > Found out from Chuck (spiderpharm) that all kinds of flies emerging from pupa excrete waste accumulated during the puparium stage, the excretion does content high concentration of amonia. Although it might not affect the mantis feeding on it, it is better to wait and gutload your flies with nectar, honey, sugar, etc before letting them go into the mantis cage.
> 
> 
> but how can you do that when you're on vacation?


It wouldn't hurt the mantis once a while. although it is not as nutritious as gutloaded flies.


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## babynik14 (Jul 13, 2007)

i wasnt able to feed mine for over a week ..and she wasnt even FULL FULL.. and she was fine


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