Is it a male adult ghost? Because males eat very little as adults while females are ravenously hungry. If it is a male then he will probably only eat once or twice a week at most and probably only eat one or maybe two flies at a time. When he isn't hungry backing away from prey or batting it away is normal, it may seem like he is scared of prey but that's usually not the case. Adult ghosts can eat bluebottle flies no problem, that is the correct size prey for them. Houseflies will work too but they are on the small side for that size of mantis. Hydei fruit flies are far too small and are mainly only appropriate for very young nymphs, at L3/L4 ghosts are big enough for houseflies. Ghosts will occasionally drink the water droplets off the side of their enclosure when you mist but you don't need to worry if they show no interest in drinking water, they get most of their necessary fluids from their prey. However, you can try placing a droplet of water or honey diluted with water on your finger when you handle him (be careful when handling adult males, they can fly and may take off suddenly. The room should be closed to prevent escapes) or you can try offering it from a small dropper or plastic pipette. Mantises usually love honey water and besides being a treat it's a great pick-me-up if they are sluggish, weak, or sick. As long as your ghost's abdomen isn't getting extremely thin and he doesn't seem weak or have trouble balancing he is probably fine. He will catch his own food when he is hungry if you let him be, force feeding isn't needed if he is acting healthy and normal. Also, be advised that male ghosts are short-lived compared to females, they only live 6 to 8 weeks into adulthood.
Roaches head and bodies can both live several days when separated so beheading them isn't going to kill them, all it does is separate the roach into two live pieces and it might actually be worse for them if the head is going uneaten. On the other hand, roaches have an extremely simple nervous system, it is very different than the complicated nervous system of a mammal or a human. Insects don't process pain in the same way you or I do, although they do react to it...how much they actually feel is unknown. (I do agree that being killed by a mantis seems pretty brutal from our point of view. Not an ideal death but then nature isn't fair.) Stunning an insect with cold by putting it in the fridge for a few minutes first is probably the most effective way to alleviate any potential suffering but some mantises won't eat unless their prey is actively moving and may or may not be tricked into it by making it "dance" around in front of them, mantises prey instincts are set off by very specific types of movement. However, as suggested you can often get a mantis to take a pre-killed insect if you let them get a taste of the gooey insides first. While I generally prefer my mantises to hunt their own prey as you said sometimes it's necessary to tear it into pieces if you don't have anything else appropriately sized.
but breaking the head in the meantime. But I like to learn new things about mantids and their feeders.
I get it!i dont like needless suffering of prey, that is why I remove the head of insects like that if they needs to be shared
Yep, crazy huh. Not sure but I seem to recall that the main reason they die after beheading is due to dehydration. Like humans, they can only live a few days without water. They also routinely survive being microwaved for upwards of 10 minutes. There's a reason people joke that roaches will be the only life left in the evident of nuclear armageddon.
That is crazy! I don't know about them not being able to live without water because my roaches have survived for weeks at a time on nothing but a shriveled carrot.
Ok! Good to know! I will definitely look into getting better food for my roaches. Thanks!
