# mantis half-eating



## stablebum (Sep 15, 2007)

My Chinese eats a moth's head and thorax but not the abdomen anymore. Anyone know why?


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## Precious (Sep 15, 2007)

Is he/she getting old? Mine's doing the same. I think his days are numbered. I have to practically force him to eat.


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## Kriss (Sep 15, 2007)

Many of my mantids eat half meals, espeacially adult males, its not unusual.

How do you force a mantid to eat? :?

You shouldn't have to try and do that, they eat when they are ready.

Lack of appetite is not always a sign that the mantid is on its way out. 8)


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## Precious (Sep 15, 2007)

Gimp is on his way out. He's old and rickety. He has just steadily slowed down over the last month. He falls, moves sooooooo slowly and isn't interested in eating. He pays no attention to food unless I make it easy and even then I have to hold it to his mouth, he gets a taste and acccepts the food and eats a bit and then throws it down. I pick it up and we do it again. He gets a few bites every day. I've tried letting him "get hungry" no difference. Sometimes I find him stuck at the bottom of his terrarium struggling to get back to the top. I put in a parrot ladder.  I don't mind taking care of him. He's always been a fun bug.


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## the mantinator (Sep 16, 2007)

my male chinese hasnt eatin in three days.But last night he caught two crics one after the other.


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## Mantida (Sep 16, 2007)

That's pretty normal for males. In my experience, all my chinese males did that. They always leave something behind - most of my adult male chinese never really had a full meal.



> He pays no attention to food unless I make it easy and even then I have to hold it to his mouth, he gets a taste and acccepts the food and eats a bit and then throws it down. I pick it up and we do it again. He gets a few bites every day. I've tried letting him "get hungry" no difference.


I had that kind of problem with my first and now deceased chinese who came out of his molt with his forearms tense. The last joint on the forearms couldn't move so he couldn't hunt. I had to kill and puncture the food item and put it up to his mouth parts to get him to eat it. I usually held the prey for hours until he finished. :roll:


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## stablebum (Sep 21, 2007)

She's a Chinese female, and ate a whole butterfly today and half of the second one. She's really fast when she wants to be, so I don't think she's getting old. At 3.5 in, maybe 1.5 butterflies is sufficient?


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## hibiscusmile (Sep 21, 2007)

It's more than I could eat! :lol: sorry  and yes that's plenty, don't forget to mist them.


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