# Josh's Frogs flaked on my feeders... alternatives?



## Viceroy (Aug 28, 2021)

need something to feed my breeding group of 10x L2-L4 p. paradoxa so i don't have to manually forage for food. i would prefer something simple to culture for myself.


----------



## ceojac (Aug 28, 2021)

https://bugsincyberspace.com/product-category/food-live-feeders-caging/fruit-fly-products/

I would try purchasing some feeders from here. Fruit flies are good for smaller nymphs but the larger ones will certainly prefer something a bit bigger like house flies. You can buy house fly pupae and store them in a fridge for a few weeks, taking them out to hatch (takes 1-3 days room temp) as needed. You can even just put a pupa into the enclosure with the mantis and allow it to hatch out in there for easier feeding. There will be duds every once in a while so I usually put a couple in with each of my mantises to hatch out, replacing them as needed every few days.


----------



## Viceroy (Aug 28, 2021)

i would just have the same DOA problem from him. probably need to try and pick something up locally, or make my own culture i guess?


----------



## hibiscusmile (Aug 29, 2021)

Try my small stable flies, smaller than house, bigger than hydei. Ghost at that size can take the houes flies too.


----------



## Viceroy (Aug 29, 2021)

where can i buy, and will they survive transit?


----------



## Introvertebrate (Aug 30, 2021)

Viceroy said:


> where can i buy, and will they survive transit?


Her website is on her profile.

http://www.mantisplace.com


----------



## agent A (Nov 22, 2021)

Rebecca and spider pharm are great places to get houseflies from in a pinch

if you need a lot of hydei in a pinch, loose flies from fruitfly shop or hydei cultures from rainbow mealworms are my go-tos!

ghosts are odd little buggers. they eat and eat and eat but grow so slowly. talk about an inefficient metabolism!

ok there's nuance there

remember that all organisms use enzymes, which have certain thermal optimae. i bet room temp isn't the best for rearing ghosts; perhaps they'd grow much more rapidly at 85F? not sure


----------

