# Spiny mantis scared of prey sometimes



## Thea (Nov 8, 2020)

My spiny flower mantis (L5) freaks out sometimes when I offer her live crickets with tweezers. Sometimes she'll strike without hesitation, and other times she'll literally run all around the enclosure and freak out. The crickets are pretty small, and they're not fed anything harmful like carrots (I work at a pet store so I know what exactly they feed with and I just nab 1 or 2 crickets whenever I need them). Is this a common occurrence? It’s not something that happens before a molt or something either. I want to say it's a good 50/50 chance that she'll freak out.


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## MrGhostMantis (Nov 8, 2020)

Don’t feed crickets in general. They carry bacteria and parasites when not cleaned enough. Switch to flies, roaches, or moths. You can add the occasional mealworm or superworm.


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## hibiscusmile (Nov 8, 2020)

A lot of mantis don't like certain things, some of mine do that even when I pick up the container, makes me feel bad.


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