# Scary crickets...



## stablebum (Aug 26, 2007)

I have a big black cricket in with my mantis. Are the black ones (it's about 3/4 of an inch) too dangerous for a mantid to handle? I DID just see a mantis eat a mouse on TV, but my mantis is 3 in. long and not one of the giant ones. This is my first mantis, so please help me


----------



## hibiscusmile (Aug 26, 2007)

Hello Stablebum, from what I read here the majority says it is not safe. I think if you live where you know there is no insecticedes being sprayed around the home and you watch to see if the mantis takes and eats it you should do ok. You have to be careful, a cricket that big can eat the mantis!


----------



## OGIGA (Aug 26, 2007)

People here have said that black crickets are more vicious than the yellow-brownish kind. If the mantis doesn't eat it right away, I'd take it out.


----------



## Rick (Aug 27, 2007)

If the mantis can physically handle grabbing the cricket it is fine. I feed mostly crickets. I use a lot of insects I catch outside for food.


----------



## stablebum (Aug 27, 2007)

I checked on her, and after 6 hrs, she hasn't touched the black cricket, so I'm going to go get her some smaller brown ones. Can anyone tell me why she isn't eaing? Her last meal was a white moth yesterday. Thank-you!


----------



## Rick (Aug 27, 2007)

> I checked on her, and after 6 hrs, she hasn't touched the black cricket, so I'm going to go get her some smaller brown ones. Can anyone tell me why she isn't eaing? Her last meal was a white moth yesterday. Thank-you!


Could be about to molt or if an adult may be about to lay an ooth.


----------



## stablebum (Aug 27, 2007)

I saw a female outside who was pregnant, and she was fat. My mantis is skinny, and she seems really distressed about being in the tank, but it's the perfect size, and I have a moth and little butterfly in there she doesn't pay any attention to. She always climbs up the glass and scratches at the top and just sits there when she stops. If she doesn't eat for a day or two more, think I should just give up and set her free? I do not want her to die because of my lack of experience---mantids are too cool. Gosh, I hope it's a molt!


----------



## joossa (Aug 27, 2007)

> I saw a female outside who was pregnant, and she was fat. My mantis is skinny, and she seems really distressed about being in the tank, but it's the perfect size, and I have a moth and little butterfly in there she doesn't pay any attention to. She always climbs up the glass and scratches at the top and just sits there when she stops. If she doesn't eat for a day or two more, think I should just give up and set her free? I do not want her to die because of my lack of experience---mantids are too cool. Gosh, I hope it's a molt!


If you recently caught it from the wild, then it may be undergoing stress and won't eat for a while. Every mantid I catch from the wild takes about 2-3 days to get used to his/her new home (in their tank/container). During those first days they tend to be restless as if trying to find a way out; they move around a lot and are very alert and jumpy. Afterwards, though they settle down and become quite tame.

Your mantid may be experiencing this. If so, then I would give it some time to settle down. Do not leave out the possibility of molting (as stated above). Also, I should note that sometimes some mantids won’t be interested in terrestrial prey items like crickets; some prefer flying insects. If this is the case, just go outside during midday and catch some houseflies with a wide mouth jar.


----------



## sufistic (Aug 28, 2007)

Ditto joossa!


----------



## stablebum (Aug 28, 2007)

Thanks so much for the fly suggestion. At least they're constantly on the move so she has a chance to catch them near her. I'll post if she eats the flies I'll give her today. How do you catch them in a jar? I'm assuming some sort of fly-bait, like food. I walk dogs as my job...so I know I can attract a few in my own way :wink:


----------



## stablebum (Aug 29, 2007)

The two house flies were gone this morning. They either escaped or she ate every last bit of them.


----------



## Precious (Aug 30, 2007)

I use crix but I _hate _them. :evil: I had a lovely Pink-Chocolate colored Chinese female that I raised from an ooth. She was a pet. Loved to be out of her cage, watching the tele and so on. She ate right up to her moult so I didn't see it coming (and even though I'm a novice, I was watching). There were crix in her cage, she moulted and they ate her. It was like she vanished. I found only her shed skin. Her name was Precious. Creepy, huh?


----------



## stablebum (Aug 30, 2007)

So sorry to hear that! What does a molt even look like? Do they sort of shed their skin? I want to take the crickets out if they're dangerous to her when she molts!


----------



## stablebum (Aug 30, 2007)

Woah sorry, just re-read the tell on Precious, and you said that they shed their skin. Hehe nevermind my noob question!


----------



## sk8erkho (Aug 31, 2007)

Hello Stablebum!! I had the honour of actually watching my mantis molt two weeks ago from start to just about finish. Woo!!! I must say it was a creepy but somewhat awesome experience. My little H.Grandis had only molted twice before that so he was only about 1 3/4". Just before he was ready to molt (they normally stop eating) but this guy ate up until the day before which is why I was almost uncertain about the molt. It was the fact that he was all lethargic and stuff. I usually hold them and they are alert and looking around and all but that night he just laid there on my hand. Then I notice it trying to get into position (hang upside down) on my thumb. When I put him in the tank it began maybe a little less than an hour later. He hangs from his hind legs mostly and begins wiggling and vibrating his thorax, abdomen, until the skin kind of busted open at the sides. Then he began to wiggle and slide forward out of the skin slowly. At one point I could not tell what part was the mantis and what was the skeleton. Weird sight at that point. But then as the skin pulled backward and his body began to emerge from the skin you could see his bright green colour as if he were glowing in the dark. His body was wet and really soft at this point and as I continued to watch it almost looked like he was stuck because he stopped moving. I panicked and ran to the computer to ask forum members what could be done if he were stuck should I intervene at such an early point or leave him. By the time I got back he was done. There was only the skin still attached to his butt. That was where the problem was. As he pulled away I saw a bit of flesh sort of pull with him and to this day his behind is still a bit ruptured but he is fine as is. So. A bit long winded but that's what a molt sort of boils down to. It was really weird just before he molted how much of his new body was stuffed in that small exoskeleton especially his wings. They are quite long now but before they were only little buds. He is now maybe 3" long!!!! Amazing!!!!  

Oh yeah, like the other members suggested get that big dude out of there!!!! :shock:


----------



## OGIGA (Aug 31, 2007)

If the skin is still stuck to the mantis' butt after molting, I just add a little water and give it a little tug. That takes care of it pretty well.


----------



## stablebum (Aug 31, 2007)

My mantis has been hanging from the lid of the tank and quivering randomly for the past 2 days. Is she going to molt soon or is there something wrong with her? She has been eating fine. She's hanging by 4 feet though.


----------



## Precious (Aug 31, 2007)

She's probably moulting. My Chinese started to look sort of powdery and moved very little for awhile before moulting. The later the moult, the longer their wait. Four feet is a long fall. Might want to look into that.


----------



## stablebum (Sep 1, 2007)

She hasn't molted and has stopped quivering randomly. She also refuses to eat, and tucked her head into her forearms and spazzes whenever I try to touch her...


----------

