# Convenient Feeders?



## asdsdf (Aug 29, 2007)

Doed anyone know a odorless, and fast producing culture-like-bug to use as food? It should be at least bigger than a fly, though *not too big*.( Don't be sarcastic..... ......) Fruit flies are good, but are too small. Flies, well, they stink! Crickets stink as well, and all the types of caterpillars/worms take a long time to reproduce. Does anyone know one that you can keep easily, doesn't smell too bad, and reproduces quickly?


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## hibiscusmile (Aug 29, 2007)

Rabbits, but they don't fit the catagory :lol:


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## sufistic (Aug 29, 2007)

> Rabbits, but they don't fit the catagory :lol:


LOL!


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## asdsdf (Aug 29, 2007)

....... ......... thanks  ..... ....... that really helped..... ...... ......... .... ..... ........ you know, im not playing around...... ...... ....... :?


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## Precious (Aug 29, 2007)

My fly cultures really stink after awhile, but you have to have them for the nymphs. I don't raise crix because they smell so awful, I get them from the pet store. I think I'm going to try the blueblottle flies from Grubco. There are posts about putting the larvae in the fridge and taking them out to putpate and then feed. My Chinese loves anything that flies so I'm going to give it a try.


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## yen_saw (Aug 30, 2007)

Roaches


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## Precious (Aug 30, 2007)

> Roaches


I can't bear the thought! I have to get past my inclination to scream when I see them.


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## asdsdf (Aug 30, 2007)

> can't bear the thought! I have to get past my inclination to scream when I see them.


Totally agree with you!(except the screaming part) Uhhhh....what if they got loose in the house or something? Uhhhhh.... :?

And also, precious, I finally got my Nigerians today!!!!  They are tiny, even at L2/3. How are yours?


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## Precious (Aug 30, 2007)

They are so cute. They remind me of cartoon poodles - strutting around with their abdomens curled. I use a magnifying glass to watch them stalk the flies. They're very cool, I hope your fair well!


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## OGIGA (Aug 30, 2007)

Mice reproduce quite quickly but are your mantises big enough?


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## asdsdf (Aug 30, 2007)

Awww....  No, I was intending to feed them to a Flower Mantis.


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## asdsdf (Sep 10, 2007)

Could flies be kept like FF cultures, but with bigger containers? Like a 60 oz. bottle.


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## hibiscusmile (Sep 10, 2007)

Probably, but the smell would knock you ouTTT! They don't want to eat taters and applesauce. They want to eat dead or stinky stuff. Like rotton potatoes.


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## OGIGA (Sep 10, 2007)

I heard that flies are a pain to rear. I've never tried, but I imagine that it is.


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## asdsdf (Sep 11, 2007)

Hmmmmmmmmmm.........Flies stink like mad, I know(If I do raise them, I'll probably put them outside).....but my mantids need them! I have smaller, flower mantids and there main diet may be flies. That's why I want a partly oderless feeder food that I can feed them, instead of stinky ol flies.


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## mantisfu (Sep 12, 2007)

The blue bottle flys from grubco work great and are easy, but my last couple of orders did not turn to flys well(perhaps the summer heat during shipping?)


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## OGIGA (Sep 12, 2007)

Shipping from Grubco to CA is very expensive, around $12. Maybe someone can see if they'll waive the shipping fee if you send a shipping label to them.


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## asdsdf (Sep 12, 2007)

Thanks. Are they less stinky than the other flies?


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## Precious (Sep 12, 2007)

> The blue bottle flys from grubco work great and are easy, but my last couple of orders did not turn to flys well(perhaps the summer heat during shipping?)


I was going to order larvae from Grubco but they only have bluebottles, not the smaller house fly so I ordered pupae from Spider Pharm. What mantids are you feeding bluebottles? I have L6 Unicorns that I thought would fair better with flying insects, but they seem to be a bit timid (as opposed to my Chinese). Do you think bluebottles are too big?


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## asdsdf (Sep 13, 2007)

I want to feed them to my Nigerians, or a possible flower mantis in the future. What if I got like wax worms, gutloaded, them, and coated them with honey and pollen?


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## MikhailsDinos (Sep 13, 2007)

Phyllovates chlorophaea, Will eat pretty big food items. My L6/L7 are eating very big roaches at the moment with no problem at all. So they should do well with the blue bottle flies.



> > The blue bottle flys from grubco work great and are easy, but my last couple of orders did not turn to flys well(perhaps the summer heat during shipping?)
> 
> 
> I was going to order larvae from Grubco but they only have bluebottles, not the smaller house fly so I ordered pupae from Spider Pharm. What mantids are you feeding bluebottles? I have L6 Unicorns that I thought would fair better with flying insects, but they seem to be a bit timid (as opposed to my Chinese). Do you think bluebottles are too big?


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## Nick Barta (Sep 13, 2007)

Contact spiderpharm.com, he has a fly raising net system, and can address the odor issue. Chuck is the housefly King.

Blue Bottle pupae stink worse than housefly, but if you replace the sawdust they are in once it is saturated with their "juices" it helps. If roaches make you squemish, maggots may not be your cup of tea, I see Fear Factor every time I look at them!

CHEERS!!!

Nick Barta

MANTISPLACE.COM


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## thebugwife (Sep 13, 2007)

> If roaches make you squemish, maggots may not be your cup of tea, I see Fear Factor every time I look at them!


You just have to call them fly larvae instead of maggots.....

There are containers of fly larvae in my fridge sounds a lot better then

There are containers of maggots in my fridge :lol: 

[SIZE=8pt]....and they are in a box so company can't see :lol: ....but don't open the freezer....ahhhhh[/SIZE]


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## mantisfu (Sep 13, 2007)

I feed several types with it, chinese, orchids, nigerian, etc..


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## asdsdf (Sep 13, 2007)

> Contact spiderpharm.com, he has a fly raising net system, and can address the odor issue. Chuck is the housefly King.Blue Bottle pupae stink worse than housefly, but if you replace the sawdust they are in once it is saturated with their "juices" it helps. If roaches make you squemish, maggots may not be your cup of tea, I see Fear Factor every time I look at them!
> 
> CHEERS!!!
> 
> ...


Nick,

Actually, I kind of don't mind maggots, as long as I don't hold them(Or if they aren't in my house). Just thinking of a cockroach scurrying across the floor is gross. The shiny, brown carapace. I may dislike them since when I was little, I watched some scary movie where there were like advanced cockroaches that would crawl through your skin and eat you. The movie, The Mummie, didn't help either, although now I know that they weren't cockroaches.


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## hibiscusmile (Sep 13, 2007)

I have a story about maggots. When my 2nd boy was born, he was about 6 mts old, I was working as a police officer in Cleveland Ohio, and taking care of my other son who was in school and the home and ...well you know. I was havin a nap with the baby when he woke up and I changed his diaper and went to throw the dirty one away...well I just had woken up and did not have me glasses on and when I went to throw away the old one, I thought I saw something moving around on the wall, I had a fear strike me then and there, cause I don't do maggots! I ran to get my glasses and sure enough, his father during the night (I worked 3rd shift) thru a dirty diaper in there and did not wrap it up. Needless to say, I have not been the same since. It took me hours to clean them up, they were everywhere, I called my dad and he came over to help. They were under the baseboard and all over the sink! I am a very fanatic person about cleaniness and this was awful :shock: :twisted:


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## thebugwife (Sep 14, 2007)

oooh maggot stories!

8 yrs ago or so I worked for that oh so popular coffee company, yeah know the one with the green aprons and the siren. Well coffee grounds, milk, and teenagers that don't clean up after themselves makes for one wretched maggot problem. Now mind you flies are a common problem in coffee shops, in drains and such but this was ridiculous, the tile floors were grouted with growing coffee grinds....

Which reminds me I did try using a coffee ground mixture for fly cultures, it did great! But I was afraid to feed the caffeinated flies to anything :? :?


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## Precious (Sep 14, 2007)

> I have a story about maggots. When my 2nd boy was born, he was about 6 mts old, I was working as a police officer in Cleveland Ohio, and taking care of my other son who was in school and the home and ...well you know. I was havin a nap with the baby when he woke up and I changed his diaper and went to throw the dirty one away...well I just had woken up and did not have me glasses on and when I went to throw away the old one, I thought I saw something moving around on the wall, I had a fear strike me then and there, cause I don't do maggots! I ran to get my glasses and sure enough, his father during the night (I worked 3rd shift) thru a dirty diaper in there and did not wrap it up. Needless to say, I have not been the same since. It took me hours to clean them up, they were everywhere, I called my dad and he came over to help. They were under the baseboard and all over the sink! I am a very fanatic person about cleaniness and this was awful :shock: :twisted:


You and your STORIES! You repeatedly scar me! I was a practicing dental hygienist for 10 years. One day I'm going to dust off a good "pus wabber" story and PM you with it! Pus under pressure in the oral cavity, you get the idea... :wink:


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## OGIGA (Sep 14, 2007)

> You and your STORIES! You repeatedly scar me! I was a practicing dental hygienist for 10 years. One day I'm going to dust off a good "pus wabber" story and PM you with it! Pus under pressure in the oral cavity, you get the idea... :wink:


Make sure it's a PM! Send a copy to Ian too. I'm sure he'll like it. :lol:


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## asdsdf (Sep 14, 2007)

I *think* I used to have one as a little kid.(I still had baby teeth, whew, or I would have a fake one now.) Is it a small pimplelikething that looks like a cankersore, but whiter and like a bump, on your gums? Wasn't really under my tooth though. Mine was small, less than half a cm? Dentist said that it was probably caused by bacteria getting underneath my tooth since it was loose, and could grow bigger than a quarter!) After the "operation", I had to take antibiotics... I can tell you the whole procedure, from my point of view. Dentists are such liars. I told him to give me those horibly painful shots faster, and he said he would, but it took him forever....Deeper....deeper.....it felt like it was going through my cheek!


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## Precious (Sep 14, 2007)

> I *think* I used to have one as a little kid.(I still had baby teeth, whew, or I would have a fake one now.) Is it a small pimplelikething that looks like a cankersore, but whiter and like a bump, on your gums? Wasn't really under my tooth though. Mine was small, less than half a cm? Dentist said that it was probably caused by bacteria getting underneath my tooth since it was loose, and could grow bigger than a quarter!) After the "operation", I had to take antibiotics... I can tell you the whole procedure, from my point of view. Dentists are such liars. I told him to give me those horibly painful shots faster, and he said he would, but it took him forever....Deeper....deeper.....it felt like it was going through my cheek!


There are many varieties of "wabbers" and yours was a "wabber"! They are abcesses of various origin and when untreated long enough, they require incision and drainage and they frequently...spew, for lack of a better word. Put it this way, protective eyewear is a definate plus when tackling a wabber. 8) Oh, and those injections are done quickly by hurried practitioners who don't care. Lidocaine delivered very, very slowly is almost entirely painless. The first drop numbs for the next, etc. Your doc was going deeper because he was giving you a "block" to numb a lower tooth. When you block the alveolar nerve, you have to shoot deep in a sweet spot at the back of your lower jaw. When you have an abcess, the Ph of infection toxins neutralize anesthesia. Sometimes it is literally impossible to get numb. I keep my license active, but I don't practice anymore. Everybody hates going to the dentist and the hygienist and it's a bummer.


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## asdsdf (Sep 15, 2007)

Hmmm....they just removed the tooth, since it was loose anyways, and squeezed it or something, and washed it with disinfecting stuff.


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## Precious (Sep 15, 2007)

Yup. If the tooth is permanant, a root canal is required unless it's too late. Removing the tooth effectively drains and removes the source of infection. I delt with alot of perio abcesses, gum infections from disease, those are usually different as they are already draining. I had to go in, clean out and irrigate. Yum.


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## critterguy (Oct 7, 2007)

Roaches arent that bad. Seriously! I love them. They are way better than crickets. Certain tropical species(I am working with Blaptica dubia right now) don't smell, can't climb smooth surfaces, and also breed pretty nicely and produce a variety of sizes. The adults are perfect for your real big mantids...everyone else can take the nymphs. You'd have to find another feeder for L1-L2 however.


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## OGIGA (Oct 7, 2007)

Yeah, I think roaches are good feeders too. When I lived in an apartment during college, I left food outside so that roaches would come and eat them. THen, I go out there at night, gather them up, and have mantises eat the roaches. (Good thing they didn't eat pesticides.)


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## mantisfu (Oct 7, 2007)

Precious said:


> I was going to order larvae from Grubco but they only have bluebottles, not the smaller house fly so I ordered pupae from Spider Pharm. What mantids are you feeding bluebottles? I have L6 Unicorns that I thought would fair better with flying insects, but they seem to be a bit timid (as opposed to my Chinese). Do you think bluebottles are too big?


I am feeding them to orchids, nigerians, almost everything except ghosts.


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## asdsdf (Oct 7, 2007)

OGIGA said:


> Yeah, I think roaches are good feeders too. When I lived in an apartment during college, I left food outside so that roaches would come and eat them. THen, I go out there at night, gather them up, and have mantises eat the roaches. (Good thing they didn't eat pesticides.)


 :blink:


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