# Mantis is slow and refuses to eat



## Rofufus (Dec 3, 2017)

Hey guys,

After reading up, and making preparations, I purchased a Hierodula Sp mantis about a week ago.

He seems to be in L3 or L4, and while I'm not extremely concerned about his health, there are two things that I 'm a little confused about:

1) He is really slow and clumsy. He doesn't fall off when he's hanging upside down, but other than that, his climbing is slow and clumsy, same with just walking around. 

2) He barely eats. I make sure there's always at least one (small) fly in his enclosure, which he only tries to catch once every 3-4 days or so. His abdomen is pretty flat. I tried putting him in an arena with (both still living and moving) mealworm or small cricket, but he completely ignores them.

I figured he had to molt so I didn't disturb him and stopped trying to feed him for the past couple of days, but he didn't, and is not constantly hanging upside down so I figured he doesn't need to yet.

Am I being silly, or does this sound off to anyone? Thanks in advance!


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## Bathory (Dec 3, 2017)

What temperature/humidity is he at? From what I've read males aren't as hungry as females but I've only kept females myself so don't quote me on that. My Hierodula female was L4 ish when I got her and she did fine being fed every 2-3 days, so 3 days without food shouldn't be that much of a problem. If he is refusing to eat, you can "force feed" or trigger a feeding response by cutting up a prey and putting the gooey parts up to his mouth. They may bat it away but if they're hungry they will eventually start nibbling and grab it. Good luck!


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## Connor (Dec 3, 2017)

Yeah males don’t eat as much as females but they certainly still eat a lot. Maybe try and warm him up? Not really sure what to do as I’ve never had a mantis refuse to eat/grab at prey.


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## Nanodot (Dec 4, 2017)

Does he have enough water?


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## Rofufus (Dec 5, 2017)

Thanks for the replies, I'm pretty sure the temperature/humidity is fine (room temperature 22c and I mist once a day) but I ordered a hygrometer/thermometer just to be sure.

He has enough water, I make sure to let him out and put him on my hand with a droplet of water to see if he's still thirsty after he got drops from misting his enclosure. I think it might actually have to do with the ventilation on his enclosure, even though it was recommended by the store I got it from, it only has really tiny holes in the very top, I cut open a bit of the top, applied some gauze over the part that's not missing so he has more fresh air, he hogs that spot 90% of the time now, like he really needs the extra airflow. Also ordered a new enclosure just in case, I'll post an update once I have it set up.


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## RocknessMonster (Dec 6, 2017)

Worse comes to worse, try honey dipped bugs~


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## cwebster (Dec 20, 2017)

Or cricket guts mixed with a little honey.


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## Bathory (Dec 21, 2017)

I'd up the temperature a bit if possible, depending on the species they like it anywhere from 22-30 degrees. My Hierodula majuscula is at about 25-30 and she's doing pretty good. But you may be right about the ventilation, it's easier to get good ventilation if you have venting at two different heights, so warm air rises out of the enclosure and new fresh air is sucked in. That's why many terrariums have ventilation under the doors and on the top


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