-Siverfish Like Mantis Food? Is Fine?

-Hello all, what is your opinion about using Silverfish (a primitive species of insect frequently find within indoors)??

-They are capable of changing their colour from silver to dark brown depending of the light of the ambient, and theymay liberating a type of "dust" (which are their scales) maybe like a type of defensive tactic, but I dont think about these is dangerous for mantids.

-Also appear to be really easy of culturing it.

-Have you some experience feeding mantids with these insects? and actually you using them like food for mantis?

-Best regards, Roberto.

I find them in my house and if I can catch them they become mantid food. I have fed them to my mantids many times without any problems. Go ahead and serve em up.

-Rick: thank you for reply. So I will try for culturing them using the method descripted in the book "Live Food" by Schmidth et al. for culturing "firebrats" (a near cousin of the silverfish). Best regards.

Never thought of culturing them. Guess I don't want anymore in the house in case they escape.

Hi.

Try to culture firebrats. It's the best mantid food ever! Silverfish should be more difficult.

Regards,

Christian

-Rick & Christian: thank you for reply.

-Unfortunatelly I dont know where I can collecting firebrats here in my country (I need indagate where may habit this species here).

-But here in mexico city silverfish maybe is the most common pest-insect, inclusivelly more common than the typicals pest-roaches. Within buildings and homes where roaches cant be fund, sure can be funding there silverfish (for example in my home are not pest-roaches but yes are here silverfish almost inside any big gap like closets).

-Righ now I have ready for use a heavy duty bucket with vent windows for culturing silverfish (I use these same type of buckets: one for my culture of hisser roaches and one for my Acheta domestica culture). I using petrolatum jelly along windows and borders for avoid some possibles scapes.

-Thank you both for you help. Best regards.

Hello ALl,

Hola roberto,

When I find silverfish I jus put them on a plastic cup 32oz and put some paper in it, add once in a while some food, so they can eat and leave them alone. you should be able to get them going as it happen to me, without any other efforts.

regards

Fco

I have tried to culture silver fish before, it takes a long time to have an established culture but after than they will keep breeding in massive amount. Dry fish food is probably theur favorite and they do well with it.

-Francisco & yen_saw: thank you for reply and for the hints for culturing silverfish. I will take advice of these. Best regards. Roberto.