Hi there, I was advised to search for my mantids Latin name and I would find useful care sheets for her breed. I did this and in the feeding section it said mealworms and crickets are the best feeders for my particular species. Now this seems to conflict with what i have been reading on this forum and indeed the UK mantid forum. Confused! :huh:
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revmdn
Well-known member
What kind of mantid?
Hi Richy. Keep in mind that not all caresheets for mantids, including ones for the same species, will be the same. Anyone in the world can write and then post or publish a "caresheet" on the Internet, regardless how much experience or knowledge they have with mantids or in general, or any species in particular. And just because you find something on the Web doesn't necessarily make it true, correct, or advisable in practice. As with most anything, there are debates and differences of opinion with the best way to feed, raise, and breed mantids. And differences in climate, humidity, available food sources, type of enclosure, etc. will add to the variety of advice you'll see. Keeping mantids is a relatively "new" hobby comparatively. Although there are a few tried and true commonly accepted guidelines for mantids in general, there are no hard and fast "rules," or a set of species caresheets that anyone can point to and say, "This is the best way." There are very few mantis "experts," and few "caresheets" written by them. You'll just have to research the best you can, and then use your own judgment to compare and glean the most pertinent and useful advice from the sources. That's one of the great benefits of this forum also... it's one of the very few places you can go to find discussions about mantid keeping and breeding, BY those who are actually doing it. This forum also has the benefit of having some of the world's best "experts" as members. Good luck in your research!
Your mantis can eat a lot of insects, just beware some are a bit dangerous, they say to stay away from Ants, and just be careful with wasps and bees & crickets, best to smash their heads before feeding so they cannot turn on the mantis, other than that u should be fine.
PhilinYuma
Well-known member
Yes, that particular care sheet was written by Evan Ngo who raised and sold mantids for about three years before giving up the hobby or at least stopped selling, but his site has been kept up and has some useful info and great pix in it.
When we keep mantids in captivity, we tend to consult our own convenience in the live foods that we give them. Many mantids, particularly those that are "camouflaged" are ambush predators and tend to eat only what flies, crawls or hops into their range, so they are unlikely to eat a number of insects routinely offered by mantis keepers, such as meal worms, cockroaches, orb spiders and the occasional goldfish that finds its way onto You Tube.
Crickets are particularly useful for someone with only a few mantids, since they can be purchased, like meal worms, in small numbers at a local pet store and kept in a shoe box (you can find a lot information about keeping and feeding crickets, sometimes mutually contradictory, by using this forum's search engine).
And as the saying goes, "your experience may vary." Hibiscusmile, who was an experienced and successful breeder when I bought my first mantids from her, mentions the dangers of feeding bees and wasps unless they have been mutilated, and Evan, in another care sheet warns never to feed them, but a friend and I (Hi, Mija!) routinely feed "undoctored" bees and wasps to mantids big enough to take them, and have never experienced any problems.
And while you are getting all this excellent advice . what are you feeding your P. aeruginosa?
When we keep mantids in captivity, we tend to consult our own convenience in the live foods that we give them. Many mantids, particularly those that are "camouflaged" are ambush predators and tend to eat only what flies, crawls or hops into their range, so they are unlikely to eat a number of insects routinely offered by mantis keepers, such as meal worms, cockroaches, orb spiders and the occasional goldfish that finds its way onto You Tube.
Crickets are particularly useful for someone with only a few mantids, since they can be purchased, like meal worms, in small numbers at a local pet store and kept in a shoe box (you can find a lot information about keeping and feeding crickets, sometimes mutually contradictory, by using this forum's search engine).
And as the saying goes, "your experience may vary." Hibiscusmile, who was an experienced and successful breeder when I bought my first mantids from her, mentions the dangers of feeding bees and wasps unless they have been mutilated, and Evan, in another care sheet warns never to feed them, but a friend and I (Hi, Mija!) routinely feed "undoctored" bees and wasps to mantids big enough to take them, and have never experienced any problems.
And while you are getting all this excellent advice
. what are you feeding your P. aeruginosa?
Then u will do fine with her! Make sure she gets enough to drink!
nasty bugger
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Mine is chinese, but I see moths rarely, with it being cool and all, but one just flew in my window, it's in the 70's farenheit here, and I tossed it in the jar, and it was hilarious the shaking the matis was doing with the moth flapping in the mantis' clutches.
Ever had a chicken flap it's wings in your face when you picked it up... probably not but I have, and it isn't too funny on the receiving end, but it's funny to watch
The mantis is still eating the moth. Seems to like it quite well
Ever had a chicken flap it's wings in your face when you picked it up... probably not but I have, and it isn't too funny on the receiving end, but it's funny to watch
The mantis is still eating the moth. Seems to like it quite well
Hey Guys, thanks again for all your help, just thought I'd give you all an update on what I'm feeding her. I purchased some red turkistan roaches from blackmelo (UK mantis forum) which I have under advisement are far better for her than crickets,they also cannot jump like crickets. Just got them today and put one in the death arena,I'll let you know how much she enjoys it, see if she gives me a wink or a thumbs up!
