# Fit to Burst?



## braidsta (Jun 14, 2006)

hiya peeps.

3 days ago I fed my female african3 fair sized crickets in one sitting and even now its fat.

the plate type things on her abdomen are slightly pulled apart, showing this pink 'skin' that looks like thin tissue paper... she has one band of this towards the back end thats bright orangey-red.

I heard that female african mantids are greedy and can munch through a lot but did I overdo it?

she's drinking water fin etc, even tapping on the glass watching the crickets move about when I was sorting their tank out.


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## Lukony (Jun 14, 2006)

Most mantids like grandis will do that. They eat to the point of where you will see black or red inbetween their stomachs. I wouldn't worry too much about it.


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## 13ollox (Jun 14, 2006)

mine are like it , there fine ! Nothing to worry about . just wait a couple of days before feeding her once again . if she is that fat she might be ready to produce an ooth ( will only hatch if she's been mated )

Neil


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## Peekaboo (Jun 14, 2006)

You probably have nothing to worry about.

However, don't let her eagerness towards food let you think she's hungry. These guys have been known to eat till they literally burst.


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## Rick (Jun 14, 2006)

That is normal.


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## AFK (Jun 14, 2006)

> You probably have nothing to worry about.However, don't let her eagerness towards food let you think she's hungry. These guys have been known to eat till they literally burst.


seriously? you mean they really don't have a mechanism to stop eating? what does it look like when they burst?


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## Rick (Jun 15, 2006)

> > You probably have nothing to worry about.However, don't let her eagerness towards food let you think she's hungry. These guys have been known to eat till they literally burst.
> 
> 
> seriously? you mean they really don't have a mechanism to stop eating? what does it look like when they burst?


They are not going to burst. Mine right now looks like she is going to burst and can still eat a large meal.


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## Jwonni (Jun 15, 2006)

my african when ready to lay and full of food looked like she was gonna burst but was fine

although i have heard stories of mantids eating till they burst and i think it is usually certain species but dunno which


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## Peekaboo (Jun 15, 2006)

> > > You probably have nothing to worry about.However, don't let her eagerness towards food let you think she's hungry. These guys have been known to eat till they literally burst.
> >
> >
> > seriously? you mean they really don't have a mechanism to stop eating? what does it look like when they burst?
> ...


Actually yes, some mantdis will eat till they burst. I've experienced this first hand. The very tip of the abdomen will rip open and their innards will protrude. This isn't something they can heal from and will die from it after a few days.


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## AFK (Jun 16, 2006)

> > > > You probably have nothing to worry about.However, don't let her eagerness towards food let you think she's hungry. These guys have been known to eat till they literally burst.
> > >
> > >
> > > seriously? you mean they really don't have a mechanism to stop eating? what does it look like when they burst?
> ...


that is pretty disgusting. how could a species evolve with no mechanism to tell it that it's full?????


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 16, 2006)

its called relying on your owner mechanism. just think in the wild a full mantid will probably shy away or hide from food, in a tank where can they really hide, instinct tells them to just grab and eat


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## Peekaboo (Jun 16, 2006)

Yes, unfortunately I was a fairly new mantid keeper at the time, and was unaware that mantids would eat until bursting. At this time I was also told that astroturf was a good substrate, and mantids get their moisture from a wet sponge.

That was a bad pet shop I went to.


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