# Nymph Annoyance.



## king_frog (Dec 7, 2007)

I recently purchased a Giant Indian Mantid from www.exotic-pets.co.uk. It came in plenty of time, but it came as a nymph! I though I was purchasing an adult, so i had all the things ready to look after an adult. My local pet shop doesn't have a supply of fruit flies. And to buy them on the internet will take too long, as the mantid currently has no food. I have sprayed it with water and hope it keeps it alive. What should i do to feed it?


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## macro junkie (Dec 7, 2007)

if u would of said sooner like yesterday i could os mailed u a pack allready hatched next day delvery..but its saturday tomorow so fasterst your get it is monday..where do u live..if u want to can drive to me i got a culture here u can have..its depneds where u live i guees,im about 1 hour from bristol..somerset its called..west country (yeovil) have u rang round every pet shop in your area?


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## Mantida (Dec 7, 2007)

macro junkie said:


> if u would of said sooner like yesterday i could os mailed u a pack allready hatched next day delvery..but its saturday tomorow so fasterst your get it is monday..where do u live..if u want to can drive to me i got a culture here u can have..its depneds where u live i guees,im about 1 hour from bristol..somerset its called..west country (yeovil) have u rang round every pet shop in your area?


Wow, drive there? Generosity!  

Is it cold already in the UK? You can go outside to catch small leafhoppers, also giant Indians can tackle small crickets, unless of course this nymph is L2 or L1.


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## macro junkie (Dec 8, 2007)

mantida said:


> Wow, drive there? Generosity!  Is it cold already in the UK? You can go outside to catch small leafhoppers, also giant Indians can tackle small crickets, unless of course this nymph is L2 or L1.


yes its freezing!no flys any where.or leaf hoppers.,i was thinking if your real desperate how about making chop suey from a cricket and feeding it him bit by bit..lmao :lol: 

how u getting on..is it ok?


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## king_frog (Dec 8, 2007)

Well it doesn't seem to be interested in any food (not tried fruit flies), it doesnt want to even try a small cricket, or half a mealworm. It just walks away, could it be molting?


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## macro junkie (Dec 8, 2007)

King_Frog said:


> Well it doesn't seem to be interested in any food (not tried fruit flies), it doesnt want to even try a small cricket, or half a mealworm. It just walks away, could it be molting?


mayby&gt;?can u get some pics?


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## idolomantis (Dec 8, 2007)

King_Frog said:


> Well it doesn't seem to be interested in any food (not tried fruit flies), it doesnt want to even try a small cricket, or half a mealworm. It just walks away, could it be molting?


try houseflies that are active things... mines can,t stop eat them :lol:


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## Mantida (Dec 8, 2007)

King_Frog said:


> Well it doesn't seem to be interested in any food (not tried fruit flies), it doesnt want to even try a small cricket, or half a mealworm. It just walks away, could it be molting?


Perhaps, is the abdomen fat or skinny?

Try cutting a mealworm in half and sticking the guts up to its face if you haven't already, it might accept food that way.


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## idolomantis (Dec 8, 2007)

mantida said:


> Perhaps, is the abdomen fat or skinny?


yes, when mantids are to fat they dont want to eat, if its not, wait a few days to see if its about to moult


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## Mantida (Dec 8, 2007)

idolomantis said:


> yes, when mantids are to fat they dont want to eat, if its not, wait a few days to see if its about to moult


If the abdomen isn't fat, then they probably will not molt (like, paper thin abdomen). But there are some mantids who have a inbetweenish abdomen, and the abdomen never shrunk within three to four days. When you see this it means the mantis is going to molt soon.


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## idolomantis (Dec 8, 2007)

mantida said:


> If the abdomen isn't fat, then they probably will not molt (like, paper thin abdomen). But there are some mantids who have a inbetweenish abdomen, and the abdomen never shrunk within three to four days. When you see this it means the mantis is going to molt soon.


i dindt mean paper thin just a normal abdomen  if mines about to molt i can see it: look at theabdomen and you'll see that it has a bit of dull colour, and they( finally) not move much anymore(mines are so active sometimes they drive me crazy  )


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## king_frog (Dec 8, 2007)

It's not eaten since it has arrived, so i doubt it is too full. And yes iv tried putting food infront of it's face. I was wondering if it was molting.


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## blitzmantis (Dec 9, 2007)

Hi everyone, i'm the real owner of the mantis but I thought I had to recieve an email to register fully &lt;_&lt; . Anyway, IT JUST ATE (ZOMG)!!! I'm happy now that I know it can eat small crix and I'd like to say thanks to all of you guys for trying to help :lol:


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## idolomantis (Dec 9, 2007)

blitzmantis said:


> Hi everyone, i'm the real owner of the mantis but I thought I had to recieve an email to register fully &lt;_&lt; . Anyway, IT JUST ATE (ZOMG)!!! I'm happy now that I know it can eat small crix and I'd like to say thanks to all of you guys for trying to help :lol:


-.- lol


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## king_frog (Dec 9, 2007)

Uhhh, i don't know who he is. I wouldn't tell such a lie &lt;_&lt; ...

Meh, Yeah it's his mantis. His lack of computing abilities are far less superior compared to mine.

Well, yeah, woo, it ate.


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## macro junkie (Dec 9, 2007)

im glad your mantid is eating..now get some pics u slacker. :lol:


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## idolomantis (Dec 9, 2007)

macro junkie said:


> im glad your mantid is eating..now get some pics u slacker. :lol:


lol


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## king_frog (Dec 9, 2007)

I don't think his camera is good enough  .


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## blitzmantis (Dec 10, 2007)

Yeah, my camera is too bad to take a visible pic of it &lt;_&lt; . Anyway, it is annoying me as it has absolutely terrible accuracy and constantly misses the crickets. It will take a lot of my time to keep it alive but i'll keep at it. :lol:


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## macro junkie (Dec 10, 2007)

blitzmantis said:


> Yeah, my camera is too bad to take a visible pic of it &lt;_&lt; . Anyway, it is annoying me as it has absolutely terrible accuracy and constantly misses the crickets. It will take a lot of my time to keep it alive but i'll keep at it. :lol:


why do they miss there food?1 of mine use to be like that untill it shed.


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## blitzmantis (Dec 10, 2007)

It is constantly on the roof and just misses the crickets I offer it coz it won't go down and find the crickets itself. What do I do? Please help you guys


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## Mantida (Dec 11, 2007)

blitzmantis said:


> It is constantly on the roof and just misses the crickets I offer it coz it won't go down and find the crickets itself. What do I do? Please help you guys


Try tilting the container to the side so the cricket can crawl closer to the mantis.

Or, you can go with a different food source, like houseflies or any other flying insect.


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## macro junkie (Dec 12, 2007)

mantida said:


> Try tilting the container to the side so the cricket can crawl closer to the mantis.Or, you can go with a different food source, like houseflies or any other flying insect.


get some flys.Rember if the cricket is to big the mantid wont go for it unless its starving.Try a smaller cricket 1/4th its body size mayby


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## blitzmantis (Dec 12, 2007)

The mantis is so small (about 3rd-4rd instar) and I have got the smallest crickets I can find which are less than 1cm long, but it still has trouble because it stays on the top all the time. It's getting cold this time of year, here in the UK, so I got a heat mat under the cage. Since it's winter, no flies are in sight. I'm thinking of buying fruit flies for exotic-pets.co.uk but the holes in the top are too big and the flies would escape, any ideas?


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## Mantida (Dec 12, 2007)

Rebecca (mantisplace.com) has a some insect cloth and housefly pupae, you could glue some insect cloth to the cage lid or put something heavy on top to keep it flat if you don't want to glue the cloth on.


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## blitzmantis (Dec 14, 2007)

I am uncomfortable when it comes to ordering stuff from places over sea ( I live in UK) but I'm probably gonna buy a culture online and find some way to cover the holes.


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## blitzmantis (Dec 14, 2007)

It just ate another cricket, luckily. I think it's just a fluke that it eats every so often and at this rate it won't ever grow.


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## sk8erkho (Dec 16, 2007)

> It just ate another cricket, luckily. I think it's just a fluke that it eats every so often and at this rate it won't ever grow.


Don't worry about it's eating habits. I have learned from the guys here at the forum that they will eat when they are ready. They won't starve to death unless you fail to supply food. They will grow and molt as they are supposed to. I live in an apartment (flat) and flies are definitely a problem for me as for them escaping and such. I have had a few mishaps as in the flies learning to fly again. But that was only because I failed to renew my batch of genetically altered files as on the net. They do eventually fly if you don't at some point reintroduce such flies. At any rate, the containers they come in usually work out fine. I have not yet tried Rick's method with the little sponge thingy inthe side of the container and then introducing the flies via a funnel into the container but again I hear it works rather well. There are all sorts of other feeding methods posted here at the forum under feeding going back a few months or so. In your spare time you may want to do a bit of research to see what fits your style and comfort.

Best of luck, and don't worry. You're in good hands here!!!


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## blitzmantis (Feb 8, 2008)

:lol: I remember this thread. My mantis was microscopic when I posted my first thread here... It's huge now!


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## king_frog (Feb 8, 2008)

And judging by your avatar, huge is 3cm


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## idolomantis (Feb 8, 2008)

King_Frog said:


> And judging by your avatar, huge is 3cm


ahahahahahahahaha LOL indeed huge wew :lol:


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## asdsdf (Feb 9, 2008)

Lol....Isn't it 2-3 inches though?


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## macro junkie (Feb 9, 2008)

qwote - I'm thinking of buying fruit flies for exotic-pets.co.uk

i hope your willing to wait 5 weeks for the culture to arive..lol..dont use that web site they suck really bad in every way...get your culture fomr here/ http://www.livefoodsdirect.co.uk/products.asp?dept=1009


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## blitzmantis (Feb 9, 2008)

Yes, it has grown quite a bit since I on here saying it won't eat, it is like 4.5cm now. Also, thanks MJ, great site, i'll get fruit flies from there when I get some griffin mantids. Last thing, is Graham a good seller?


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## Mantida (Feb 9, 2008)

blitzmantis said:


> Last thing, is Graham a good seller?


From what I heard from MJ, he is a seller with some nice mantids, but takes FOREVER to get back to you and always seems to let you down. He never answered any of my mails, and MJ said he always replied to his in 2 week periods. On top of that, he promised MJ some Popa spurca so we could do a trade later on as I want this species, and after a month from the promise Graham backed out of it.


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