# Still worried about overfeeding your mantis ? ........



## Rob Byatt

I did an experiment earlier this week. Birdfly sent me a load of flies. Big, fat, well fed flies. I emptied them into a net and fed the mantids that needed them.

So still left with about 100 flies, I thought I'd put a female _Cilnia humeralis _in whilst I went off to cut some wood.

So many people worry about over feeding mantids, worrying that they'll burst. No doubt this has happened, but it is rare.

This is what I came home to find......












Stupid thing ate so much that she was vomiting and had brown fluid coming from her anus :!:

My point is, it was not a problem. She is perfectly fine now :wink:

I wouldn't advice doing this though just incase !

Rob.


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## wuwu

haha nice. that's what i use my female c. humeralis' for too, garbage compactors!


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## OGIGA

Oh my goodness. That's scary.

Well, glad your mantises have food now.


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## padkison

Wow! I've wondered what would happen if I let my Ch pig out. She seems to have an endless appetite.


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## Peekaboo

> So many people worry about over feeding mantids, worrying that they'll burst. No doubt this has happened, but it is rare.


I'm one of those fantastically lucky rare ones who had a mantis that ate until his little butt end ruptured.


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## Butterfly

Im so glad that hasnt happend to me. My European female (Religiosa) would just STUFF herself she never did burst, thank goodness!!


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## Rick

Yeah people tend to worry about it way too much. I've fed them alot and never ever had a mantis burst.


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## OGIGA

I fed a nymph so much, it started bleeding from the side.


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## robo mantis

Yes i had that also


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## Horatio

:shock: I think I am glad that I took the hundreds of spiderlings out of my tank...I want my little guys to fatten up, but wow!


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## captainmerkin

was getting a little worried about this yesterday as my orchid mantis has eaten 4 large flies in a short space of time, now its abdomen is about 5 times more swolen up and looks full of flies..

hopefully it will go on a diet for a bit now!


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## OGIGA

> was getting a little worried about this yesterday as my orchid mantis has eaten 4 large flies in a short space of time, now its abdomen is about 5 times more swolen up and looks full of flies..hopefully it will go on a diet for a bit now!


I would do that all the time if I could. I think it helps make the mantis grow/mature faster.


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## captainmerkin

> was getting a little worried about this yesterday as my orchid mantis has eaten 4 large flies in a short space of time, now its abdomen is about 5 times more swolen up and looks full of flies..hopefully it will go on a diet for a bit now!
> 
> 
> 
> I would do that all the time if I could. I think it helps make the mantis grow/mature faster.
Click to expand...

it makes the little bugger look like its going to pop though !

but then again surely they would not take food if they did not have space for it? Or is that like asking an alcoholic to "just hold" that bottle of meths for a minute?


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## OGIGA

Some of my mantises just never stop eating while others are more shy. I used to have some goldfish and I learned that they don't ever stop eating until they die. I rather have the ones who don't know when to stop because they're more fun to watch and to play with. :lol:


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## Rick

You guys really don't have to worry about killing from overfeeding. I always have some mantids that are very plump. It's not an issue.


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## sk8erkho

God.........? HAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAA!! My God, that's the funniest thing I've seen yet with mantids!!!! Good God!!!! :shock:


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## AFK

Mr. Rob Byatt, for the love of science, why did you stop?! You should have kept going and see what happens! :lol:


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## Evil_Berzerker

lmao that is just wrong! ive had worries about overfeeding my new african nymph i fed like 5 small crickets in 1 day coz the guys at the petshop hadnt fed him since 3 days prior to when i bought him, then he started vomiting but he seems fine now but im still keepin an eye on him lol


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## Peekaboo

Make sure you give your sick mantis plenty of water (via misting) for the next few days. When it comes to feeding the mantis crickets, keep the crickets for approximately 24 hours before feeding. If you have a high mortality rate amongst them, they're probably bad and shouldn't be used for food.


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## Evil_Berzerker

ah ive noticed that there seems to be a alot of empty shells in ht bottom of the tub they live in but didnt notice any crickets from the next instar i know what they look like cause i actually sat and watched a few molt when i was bored, but i cant find them and there seems to be a lot less crickets moving about that when i bought it so i do think i have a disaesed batch so ill buy a new batch tomorrow if i get another batch of disased ones ill kick the pet shop in the balls and say they have shitty crickets, and btw how do i dispose of these crickets i have, i live in scotland and im worried about releasing them incase they are not a native species, i dont actually know what species they are.


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## Ben.M

Stick them in the freezer for 5 min's.(IN THE BOX :lol: )


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## Way.Of.The.Mantis

har har! a little longer might help..i pop em in for five mins and they just go to sleep..then wake up in the grasp of my mantids! Sure stops them trying to hop away when feeding time comes... :twisted:


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## luketheluke

hahahahahahahahhaa great experiment that made me laugh :lol:


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## OGIGA

Hey Rob, just wondering. How much longer did this mantis live?


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## Rob Byatt

Errr. I don't actually remeber, but she did produce a couple more ootheca. The abdomen reduced to about half that size by the next day :shock:


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## DeShawn

Overfeeding in itself isn't necessarily what causes a mantis to go boom. It is when they are nice and fat and then fall. Humpty dumpty type of deal. Or, if a nymph damaged its abdomen and it is not fully healed, and THEN it gets stuffed it will have a higher chance of oozing. Nothing really to worry about unless you know your mantid has a tough time clinging to things in its enclosure.

Love that fatty pic btw! :shock:


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