# gonyglus not eating



## julian camilo (Apr 19, 2006)

hi. i know these "my mantid isnt eating" threads are quite common, but i've searched the forum alot (search function and manually to try to find some answers but didnt find anything i could apply to this situation). i have a pair of g.gongylodes (both L7).

the female moulted into L7 in the early hours of 16th april. she ate a waxmoth in the evening later that day, but hasn't eaten anything since. she was always the weaker of the two in terms of catching food, would never seem to make too much of an effort to go grab stuff, but she pretty much ran towards the moth and grabbed it this time.

the male moulted in the early hours of 18th april. later that day i tried feeding him a honeybee, but he was having none of it. he would look at it occasionally but would ignore it for the most part, and would sometimes run away, panicked. he still hasn't eaten anything since moulting.

i'm keeping the male just under 35C, and the female just above 40C. i tried keeping the male warmer but this didnt help, and the female cooler but this didnt help. i spray them every 2 or 3 days, but since they moulted they dont seem to be drinking at all like they used to (when i sprayed them theyd lean over to the container sides to drink up droplets and whatnot).

i've tried offering them both bumblebees, honeybees, leafcutter bees, flies (not sure what type, they looked liked small bluebottles[not houseflies or greenbottles]) from outside. up until now they have been mostly eating bluebottle flies hatched from fishing shop maggots, which they catch readily. however, my mum threw away the pupa in the fridge. i went out and bought more maggots straight away (13th april) and let some pupate in some soil, but obviously it takes time for them to hatch so ive been left with a big gap in my regular food supply. when abouts should they be hatching?

are they ignoring the bees and wild flies because they arent used to them? they dont even acknowledge them as possible food, they just strike them away and run away, or plain ignore them. granted, the bumble bee was probably too big for them, but the honeybees and leafcutter bees have been perfect size, not to mention the flies (though they may be a tiny bit on the small side but they should still make the effort no?).

so can anyone answer any of these questions or give some advice or help?

i've been out in the garden everyday with a net catching them bees and flies, and theyre having none of it. i've tried putting a strong spotlight and flourescent light outside at night to try to attract some moths and whatnot, but i've had no luck (maybe too cold and windy?). i dont know what else to do. any ideas?

thanks.

ps - sorry for how long this is, i'm not good at being concise and thought i'd give as much detail as possible.


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## Lukony (Apr 19, 2006)

I don't know if this is the problem but I just switched my mantids over to crickets from fruit flies and it took them a while to even go for them. I think they get use to eating one type of thing and don't even realize something new could be food. It also just might not be hungry. Some won't eat a week after molting I have noticed.


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## julian camilo (Apr 19, 2006)

i dont like to feed crickets to gongylus unless i really have to (its generally regarded as a bit of a no-no, i think they contain too much protein or something, either way they lead to problems in ootheca laying later in life. and anyway, they flat out prefer flying food as a general rule), and anyway i did put in a couple of crickets with each of them and they saw the crickets but other than that they just ignored them like everything else. but yes maybe its too soon after the moult. i thought this for a while but then how come to female so readily ate that moth? ive been trying to catch moths since but have had no luck. they might not be hungry i guess, but they certainly look it. thank you very much for your help. i hope those flies hatch soon :? :?


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## Lukony (Apr 19, 2006)

The moth might have been just enough to fill her up perhaps. It can be a number of things, only time will tell. As for crickets you are right as far as I can tell. It is probably close to what happens to hikers when they can only catch rabbits. Since the body can't get fat they will get protein poisoning. It might be the same way for eating crickets.


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## julian camilo (Apr 20, 2006)

well another 2 moths hatched finally, and i put ithem in with the male and female. they snapped them up pretty sharpish. i guess they just love moths and arent fond of bees or such. it makes it harder to give them a varied diet i guess, but still, they arent hungry anymore and this will tide them over til the influx of flies. thanks for your help.

not to self: start culturing waxmoths :wink:


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