Cricket Brutality???

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Hmm, I always thought that the good part of the cricket is the thorax. It's just my guess though since that's where all the organs are.

 
I saw a cricket attacking a prey twice its size - when they are hungry, they are really desperate - yes, a cricket can do such damage to a mantis - especially if the mantis is well fed and won't attack the cricket.

My friend lost one of his Tenoderas - it was eaten by a much smaller cricket. I myself prefer to cripple a cricket, or pierce it with a needle and only then give it to a mantis.

A cricket attacked my O. Distinctus, but it was a very bad move on its part, hehehe.

 
I'm like Rebecca - lose the legs, unless the cricket is really small, then only one at a time. I was astonished when I lost a mantid to crix. She was just gone. Vanished. On meticulous inspection, I found a small part of her thorax and wing buds. When you said you decapitated them, I was thinking maybe they still got around but you do it for hand feeding. Whatever it takes. Crix are my last choice, though I use them regularly, I always use crix much smaller than other prey that the mantid may be up to. I dont' like them. They even eat each other. Maybe I should research them so I can have a greater respect for them. I try to have respect for all life, but I have trouble with crix...they also seem sort of mindless. They squirm about like they have to be somewhere urgently - like little idiots.

 
I've never had problems with crickets attacking my mantids and never 'moderate' or 'alter' them. I just throw them in there, and if the cricket isn't attacked within a minute I take it out and try again the next day or a few hours later.

I always give my cricks 24/7 access to food and water and rarely have cannibalism issues also, including when one of their fellows are in the middle of molting. The crickets I use for my mantids are generally much smaller than the mantid itself; like a 1/2 inch cricket to an adult female/male.

The only reason really for a cricket to be able to attack the mantis is if the cricket is malnourished or the cricket is of quite a formidable size compared to the mantis.

 
IMG_0769.jpg


Look at that juicy piece of cabbage in the background! Look at the torn cricket near the front... The container was only used for 3 days! Evil crickets.... <_<

 
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asdsdf said:
IMG_0769.jpg
Look at that juicy piece of cabbage in the background! Look at the torn cricket near the front... The container was only used for 3 days! Evil crickets.... <_<
Click to expand...
Approx. how big are those cricks in inches?

I'd try some fish food/dog food for them. The protein seems to calm their cannibalism/biting down a lot. :p

 
To be safer, I'd feed crickets that are 1/2 to 3/4 an inch (3/4 being the max size I'd go for).

Yea, I give mine half-eaten bugs that my male mantids leave behind or any other excess body parts I find after my feedings. The crickets seem to enjoy it. They don't usually go for live food unless they're really ravenous. Half eaten things that have exposed body fluids attract them a lot.

 
Yikes!

Do you think crickets would try to eat an ooth?

My mantids hang out on the screen tops of their cages, and the sticks I have in there don't reach up high enough for the crickts to get at them (so for the mantids, it's a little like fishing - just read down and strike)....But if one of the girls lays an ooth on one of the sticks, i don't want it to get eaten.

 
Schloaty said:
Yikes!Do you think crickets would try to eat an ooth?

My mantids hang out on the screen tops of their cages, and the sticks I have in there don't reach up high enough for the crickts to get at them (so for the mantids, it's a little like fishing - just read down and strike)....But if one of the girls lays an ooth on one of the sticks, i don't want it to get eaten.
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I would bet they would eat it, so moving the ooth might be a good idea ..

 
Crickets are more than capable of killing a mantis, particularly one that is weak or just not hungry. I have seen many, many cases over the years of crickets killing mantids.

OGIGA said:
Hmm, I always thought that the good part of the cricket is the thorax. It's just my guess though since that's where all the organs are.
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Kinda true, but you are thinking of flying insects - the thorax cotains all the flight muscles so can be the msot nutritious part.

 
I take excellent care of my crix, nutritious food, nice clean Cricket Quencher with calcium for water supply. They STILL eat each other and they devoured my beautiful mantid. So you haven't had a cricket incident, YET. I hope you never do but do not imply that our crix are somehow malnourished or too big for the mantid if we have problems. They are evil and I always have to have an eye on them.

 
Precious said:
I take excellent care of my crix, nutritious food, nice clean Cricket Quencher with calcium for water supply. They STILL eat each other and they devoured my beautiful mantid. So you haven't had a cricket incident, YET. I hope you never do but do not imply that our crix are somehow malnourished or too big for the mantid if we have problems. They are evil and I always have to have an eye on them.
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That's strange. I don't know, maybe it's the bloodline. Been keeping crickets for 7 years and never had cannibalism issues or problems with 'em eating mantids. Like you said I hope I never have this problem either. :blink:

I'm not really implying that they are malnourished or too big for the mantid if you have problems, I'm giving suggestions on perhaps why it's happening since it isn't to me.

 

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