# How can I feed Mantises when I'm away from home???



## Mantiskid (Dec 13, 2011)

I currently have 8 Mantids (4 C. pictipennis + 4 Religiosa), and as my family and I will be out of town for the Holidays, I was wondering how I could ensure my Mantises are getting fed while I'm gone.Any ideas?


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## lunarstorm (Dec 13, 2011)

The same thing you'd do for a dog or cat, have a friend or family member check on them. Ideally, someone would come over at least every other day to mist them. If they're big enough to eat houseflies or bluebottles, buy some pupae and drop a few into their container every day for a few days leading up to your trip.

Example:

Three before I leave: drop 3 bluebottle pupae into their habitat.

Two days before I leave: drop a few more bluebottle pupae.

The day before I leave: add a few more.

Thus the flies will hatch in stages while you're gone and the mantis will eat just fine.


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## sinensispsyched (Dec 13, 2011)

Maybe a close neighbor or friend?


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## Mantiskid (Dec 13, 2011)

Unfortunately, I don't know anyone that could do that for me.


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## happy1892 (Dec 13, 2011)

Maybe put a lot of food in the containers. I have heard that crickets and other feeders could hurt mantids. I used to put over 30 crickets and grasshoppers in a big container for my Asian Grass Mantids.


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## twolfe (Dec 13, 2011)

Are your mantids nymphs or adults?

I travel a lot but usually have someone spray most of my mantids every other day while I'm gone. I use a method similar to what Lunarstorm said except that I use bb larvae instead of pupae. I take some out every day for 7 - 8 days so that they have a continuous supply of flies hatching for a week. I did this while I was home once to test to see how it works. It worked fine except that I had a slightly lower hatch rate for the ones that were placed in enclosures under heat lamps (b. Mendicas).


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## Precarious (Dec 13, 2011)

I do the same with bb pupae.

If they are smaller you can put them in a net cage with a fruit fly culture. Leave a hole in the lid so fruit flies wander out and get eaten. If you have to keep them separate create smaller containers with fruit flies and their food.

Also feed them a lot leading up to your trip and leave plenty in when you leave.

Misting is the only thing I depend on anyone to do.


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## Termite48 (Dec 13, 2011)

If you cannot have someone there once in a while to mist them, one thing you could do is either or both of these. Add a potted plant to the enclosure, and make sure that there is plently of water in it and in a small container under it so the overwatering can act as a water reservoir and provide humidity as it evaporates. If you have a net cage or similar you can place a small plastic cup on top of the enclosure over the plant and make a pin hole in the bottom of the cup and this will dispense more water as you leave it. The additional idea is a tray of pebbles placed on the bottom of the enclosure. You place enough water in the tray of pebbles so it will give off moisture as it evaporates. I would turn down the heat a couple of degrees which will cause everything including the mantids metabolism to slow down a bit. They will not require as much food therefore. These are just some thoughts. They might not work for you.


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## lunarstorm (Dec 13, 2011)

How long will you be gone? if you just feed them well prior to leaving and you'll only be gone for 1 week or less, your chief concern should be their moisture and humidity. Rich's suggestions are good. If you have a humidifier, that might be a solid option too?


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## CoolMantid (Dec 13, 2011)

If they are not adults leave flies but if it is, add crickets and flies. they can go about a week and a half without food. Buut i recommend leaving food.


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## Rick (Dec 14, 2011)

How long exactly? I've went out of town for a week and it was never an issue. Feed them as much as possible the few days before you leave. Leave extra food in with them if you want. If they are very fat when you leave and it is no longer than a week they will be fine. Make sure the substrate is nice and moist too before you leave. Anything less than a week for a fat mantis is a non issue. Enjoy your vacation.


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## Mantiskid (Dec 15, 2011)

Tammy Wolfe said:


> Are your mantids nymphs or adults?
> 
> I travel a lot but usually have someone spray most of my mantids every other day while I'm gone. I use a method similar to what Lunarstorm said except that I use bb larvae instead of pupae. I take some out every day for 7 - 8 days so that they have a continuous supply of flies hatching for a week. I did this while I was home once to test to see how it works. It worked fine except that I had a slightly lower hatch rate for the ones that were placed in enclosures under heat lamps (b. Mendicas).


I have Nymphs.


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## Mantiskid (Dec 15, 2011)

Rich S said:


> If you cannot have someone there once in a while to mist them, one thing you could do is either or both of these. Add a potted plant to the enclosure, and make sure that there is plently of water in it and in a small container under it so the overwatering can act as a water reservoir and provide humidity as it evaporates. If you have a net cage or similar you can place a small plastic cup on top of the enclosure over the plant and make a pin hole in the bottom of the cup and this will dispense more water as you leave it. The additional idea is a tray of pebbles placed on the bottom of the enclosure. You place enough water in the tray of pebbles so it will give off moisture as it evaporates. I would turn down the heat a couple of degrees which will cause everything including the mantids metabolism to slow down a bit. They will not require as much food therefore. These are just some thoughts. They might not work for you.


Thanks for the suggestions, Rich.But since my Mantids are still Nymphs, couldn't they drown if I put a tray of water in their container?

P.S. It would be impossible to fit a potted plant in the enclosure, as I house the Mantids in 16 oz. cups! :lol:


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## Termite48 (Dec 15, 2011)

In 16 oz. cups, one could still use the pebbles with water idea, but with the additional window screen material placed over the pebbles so that small nymphs could not even get to the pebbles and therefore not to the water either. For the lack of size in the container one does sacrifice the possibility of a potted plant. When you do get a larger eclosure for mantids you can then incorporate the plant idea, if you like. It does make humidity a lot easier to achieve. I am rearing a young female Panther Chameleon also and the potted Hoya Vine not only provides humiity to the enclosure, but it gives the Chamy a place to hang from and climb on when she wished to bask or move around. Where are you in CA. I am in Carson, close to Long Beach.


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## Mantiskid (Dec 15, 2011)

Thanks for the additional ideas.I live in the bay area, near SF.

P.S. How do you add the list of all your Mantids at the bottom of all your replies?


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## CoolMantid (Dec 15, 2011)

How do you do that?


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## lunarstorm (Dec 15, 2011)

Edit your profile (one way is to click your username in the upper right portion of the page and navigate through the dropdown). From your user profile, the "Signature" tab is what you're looking for.


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## sporeworld (Dec 16, 2011)

The "wishlist" on the bottom of the signature is a pretty clever idea!

As for the trip, all the ideas above are good. But careful if you use a dripper, that there's drainiage in your enclosure, in case of accidents.

if you're keeping the Creos communally, then leaving food becomes more critical (so they don't go cannibal on ya). If they're still L1-L4, you can get by on just Fruit Flies, and you can easily have someone feed them these (not as nasty as some other critters), or, in a pinch, you can put the enclosure over the fruit fly container with a common hole, and let them walk up at will. Or, put the mantids in a larger enclosure, and just put the Fruit Fly container inside it - with the lid just barely cracked open.

For crickets, remember, crickets can't scale the face of a smooth plastic cup, but Creos can. So, with a little design work, you can have space for the crickets at the bottom to hide, and opportunities for the creos to adventure down to pick them off. This works well with considerably smaller crickets.

If using deli cups, consider Humidity Foam at the bottom. A good drenching sould last you 3 or 4 days, assuming they aren't baking under a heat lamp. If you DO use heat lamps, put them on a timer.

But, if possible, skip all this and just find a good bug-sitter.


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## Mantiskid (Jan 1, 2012)

Thanks for all the help. I ended up just leaving some FFs in each enclosure, which worked out fine.However, I did find a lot of dead flies in the containers when I came back from vacation. Any suggestions for keeping the flies alive longer?


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## twolfe (Jan 1, 2012)

Did you put a culture in the enclosure or just the flies? How long were you gone?

I create smaller cultures for when I'm going out of town. Instead of leaving the lid off, I cut a small hole in the cloth lid so that the flies can come and go. I create them in advance so that I have larvae, pupae and flies in the cultures so that more flies will hatch while I'm away.


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## Mantiskid (Jan 3, 2012)

Tammy Wolfe said:


> Did you put a culture in the enclosure or just the flies? How long were you gone?


We were gone for about 3-4 days.And no, I didn't put a culture in the containers.I don't think I could fit one in the enclosures, either, because I'm keeping the Mantids in deli cups.

P.S. What is the "recipe" for the stuff that you put in the Fruit Fly cultures?


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## twolfe (Jan 3, 2012)

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7715&amp;st=0

Here's a link to a discussion on ingredients. I use both commercial mixes and make my own.

The full established cultures I add are to the net enclosures. However, I do add little sample cups with some food for the fruit flies in them for shorter trips. I make a small hole in the lid for the flies to go in and out. It works well unless they are under a heat lamp. Then they often dry out too fast.


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