Eating Meal worms , Finally

[Serle]

One of my L6 Tenoderas finally caught and ate a meal worm , after moulting 3 days ago he was one flat mantid.

I have difficulty getting any to eat worms .... S

 

[hibiscusmile]

Use the tweezers and wiggle in front of him, not to close but so he can see it. If that does not work drop it in front of him so it makes 

noise, that usually triggers a response.

 

[Zeppy44]

Would opening up the guts help? Seems to have gotten several of mine to eat after doing that.

 

[Chalc]

Fat mantids are the best! What I do to feed mine mealworms is use tweezers on the end part of the mealworm, it makes them wiggle violently, or like hibiscusmile said, dropping them in front of the mealworm makes them go after it more often. Goodluck!

 

[crabbypatty]

Like @Zeppy44 said, gutting and offering the gooey part to the mantis also works. I behead and gut mine, they're so used to being hand fed they know what it is right away. @Serle you can also squeeze the worm like others have suggested

 

[Zeppy44]

?? Possible ultimate treat---fluid interior lightly dipped an a nice raw honey sauce, served at room temperature. Mildly chilled mug of honey mead. ??

Sounds tempting to me.

 

[crabbypatty]

@Zeppy44 lol, I know keepers that coat their worms in pollen with a drizzle of raw honey, so that would in indeed be an awesome treat. I'll try myself next time, uhh, for the mantis of course. 

 

[Zeppy44]

@crabbypatty    yeah     sure    for the mantis     uuhhuu   :innocent:

 

[crabbypatty]

@Zeppy44 haha, gross! I'll post about my honey test tomorrow.  B)

 

[Serle]

Me thinks that we cater to our mantids better than we do people ..

 

[spotsy99]

Yeah......we're worse than people with their dogs and cats!  

 

[Zeppy44]

Yeah......we're worse than people with their dogs and cats!  

Hey! Easy there! I resemble that remark!             Just kidding.  Well almost kidding. For several reasons I give my dog breakfast in bed each morning.

 

[Zeppy44]

Me thinks that we cater to our mantids better than we do people ..

I know I sure do! That may be part of the attraction for many of us. I just recently found out the mantis is the only insect that can turn its head. Good ability for a top predator.

 

[crabbypatty]

@Serle yeah I bought raw organic honey for them, never did for myself before, haha. I use it too but I would have bought normal cheap honey if it wasn't for them ?

 

[Serle]

@crabbypatty We can certainly tell how invested we are by how we treat little friends. I can lose 2 to 3 hours just arranging and re-arranging Mantid ''things''.  ... S

 

[Serle]

@Zeppy44  Apparently Mantids have the most human like characteristics . Not sure where that came from and I do agree especially when you see the different personalities of each ...  S

 

[Zeppy44]

@SerleAye. Even though I know better it still gets to me. The different personalities fascinate me, within one species I mean.