Baby food

Danny. · May 29, 2015

Sticky said:
You can if you want, I would think the extra interaction between the two of you would be beneficial and also another way of playing together.

Feed a varied diet of flying insects no need for baby food. Beneficial how? Mantids don't play and you run the risk of injury, stress by handling her.

MantidBro · May 29, 2015

i handle my mantids all the time, it doesnt stress them out or injure them.

LAME · Jun 3, 2015

I 2nd that... I handle mine all the time as well. Ive never had any issues with injuries nor stress. Actually if you want honesty, my favorite female griffin mantis enjoys coming out and will come running at me when she catches a glimpse of my hand. Same with many of my past favorites, the more interaction your mantid(s) get with you the less it sees you as a threat.

Same with many wild life forms, you show it love and affection. Less of a threat you become.

My girlfriend has a pet squirrel (yes, a wild squirrel.) she's had now for 10 years.

Ive got a test: If you can find a location of natives in your area. Go out and collect 2 specimens. House them separately but give one daily attention for 1 week (taking it out, interacting, offer honey, roam house plants.) while only giving the other its necessities (food,water,enough room.) and see which is more likely to come out to the sight of your hand at the end of the week, rather than flee for its life like in the wild.

MantidBro · Jun 3, 2015

LAME said:
I 2nd that... I handle mine all the time as well. Ive never had any issues with injuries nor stress. Actually if you want honesty, my favorite female griffin mantis enjoys coming out and will come running at me when she catches a glimpse of my hand. Same with many of my past favorites, the more interaction your mantid(s) get with you the less it sees you as a threat.

Same with many wild life forms, you show it love and affection. Less of a threat you become.

My girlfriend has a pet squirrel (yes, a wild squirrel.) she's had now for 10 years.

Ive got a test: If you can find a location of natives in your area. Go out and collect 2 specimens. House them separately but give one daily attention for 1 week (taking it out, interacting, offer honey, roam house plants.) while only giving the other its necessities (food,water,enough room.) and see which is more likely to come out to the sight of your hand at the end of the week, rather than flee for its life like in the wild.

Thats exactly right

I had an adult tenodera that id raised... A complete sweetheart.

I go out and catch a wild adult... Im being pinched and given the defense pose every two seconds. They definitely learn to trust you. Theyre not mindless, they actually learn quite quickly.

Vespertino · Jun 21, 2015

I'm guessing baby food will also help with a mismolted mantis that doesn't seem to have much appetite? All I can get it to eat is a few bites of bug guts, then she looses interest and tries to climb up on my hand. I'm trying to get her/him (I can't tell yet) to eat more, in order to hurry along the next molt and hopefully correct the many deformities. If all it wants is a few mouthfuls I'm hoping to find better food with more nutritional bang for the buck.

Sticky · Jun 21, 2015

Try milk. I kept my adult mantis Sticky alive just fine with it. My uncle used it with his mantids and they grew up beautifully. You can mix some honey and bee pollen in it to give it extra food value.