Excuse My Ignorance

[BigDazz]

Hello Forum Family,

Although this forum is a great place for information most of you guys keep a lot of Manthis so must information is about starting cultures and breeding but with my one and only little lady that is overkill and gets confusing for someone in my situation.
As we know Fall is here and living in Cali most insects will go into hiding soon so I need ur help with adjusting my food source...

Ths guy I bought my mantis from supplied me with BB flies and I have maybe 20 left but they have been in the fridge for a little over 3 weeks now so I'm not sure how much longer they will last... 

I'm thinking about getting the small cricket pen and keeping 10-15 at a time and hopefully that will cut down on most of the negative things I've read about (smell, escapes. .. etc) 

I'm very lucky to live only 5 blocks away from Rainbow Mealworms so I have a few choices for food...

1.Crickets

2.Dubia Roaches

3.Bluebottle Fly Spikes

My biggest issue and question about crickets would be that since they're not flyers and my vivarium now has grass is it possible for them to hide and remain there forever or are they active enough to move around and make their way up a plant or branch for her to notice... I have NO knowledge of them at all lol... Can they climb glass???

Also can someone please give me the good and bads of keeping the feeders on this list???

All help is much appreciated... Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Crickets can't climb glass nor slick plastic but they can jump. Often people suffer from escapees because they try keeping them in a tiny enclosure that the crickets can easily jump out of. The common petstore ones Acheta domesticus will hide at times, but they come waltzing out soon enough, exploring the cage you put them in and looking for food. I always relate them to being the fat domesticated chickens of the insect world.

Having seen your enclosure however it will still likely be a challenge for your mantis to catch the crickets because there is so much shrubbery for them to hide in. Also, if you put any adult females in your enclosure they will likely lay eggs (especially if you don't provide any substrate in your feeder cage). I've seen female crickets that are starving forgo food to immediately plant their ovipositors and start laying when they were denied soil in their previous enclosure. If the soil stays moist and the cage doesn't get too cold the eggs will hatch and you will be teaming with baby crickets.

Dubia roaches also can't climb glass and are super easy. No noise, far less smell than crickets. Personally I think they get a bit big for mantis feeders although some like to feed the nymphs and then leave the adults to reproduce.

One alternative is you can offer feeders like crickets/roaches outside of the tank or in a separate feeder cage. You can also offer them via tongs directly to the mantis. If you have 100 mantises this can be a pain, but with just one it only takes a extra minute or two.

 

[BigDazz]

Hmmmm Thanks for the response... I guess crickets are out and roaches as well due to the shrubbery. 

 

[CosbyArt]

As Krissim said crickets and roaches would likely hide in the plants long before your girl would even see them. Many keepers who have vivariums find feeding their mantid in a deli cup is a good solution.

Also as either feeder can not climb well if at all, a shallow feeding dish can be placed in your vivarium for your mantid to eat captive prey from too (about a 1" to 2" sided containers would work great). Your girl should quickly figure out the feeding dish and then it will be much easier for you both. If you do Dubia roaches, buy the juveniles as the adults are too large (and the smaller Dubia are softer too).

Regarding the bottle fly spikes/maggots, they will need to be fed and taken care of until they are ready to pupate into flies. So if that is something you want to try feel free, but most don't want to bother with it as it takes awhile, can stink, and some have issues getting them to pupate at all or hatch as flies.

Your right about the time length you can keep fly pupae in the fridge. After the 2nd week the flies that will hatch starts to greatly decrease, and after the 3rd week very few will hatch. Any pupae that appear black have rotted and are no good.

 

[BigDazz]

@CosbyArt That's a great idea... I'm a little confused what's a "concertina"???

 

[CosbyArt]

@CosbyArt That's a great idea... I'm a little confused what's a "concertina"???

Spell-checker apparently, that is to be containers (I corrected the above too).

 

[BigDazz]

@CosbyArt Ok wheeew!! I tried googling it before I asked and this popped up lol 

I will look for a small glass one that I can sit inside... Once again that is a great idea... One last question... Is this technique only for roaches since crickets can jump?

 

[Krissim Klaw]

If you are supervising when feeding you can likely get away with the container method with crickets too. They aren't the swiftest creatures and tend to reserve most of their jumping when actively being chased. They will likely scramble around the container for quite a bit before attempting to jump. Unlike the roaches though they can and theory get out so that is always a possibility. Personally I like to use the little plastic Dixie cups. Toss in a roach/cricket into the bottom and hold it up toward the mantis so it can see down in. The mantis will reach right in and snag their meal. As Cosby mentioned, mantises have the ability to retain information and can learn what gets them food so after doing something a couple times the process becomes fast and easy. My current girl has learned to sit and let me pop fruit flies into her mandibles like candy.

 

[BigDazz]

@Krissim Klaw Thanks! With all this information it seem like the logical food source will be roaches... I can buy a dozen or so at a time and keep them in a little critter keeper and feed my girl whenever necessary. 

Maybe even make a small project out of the bowl... Use some type of glue and cover the outside with moss so it will blend in and can remain there until the flies come back. ?

 

[CosbyArt]

@BigDazz Yeah the accordion wouldn't do much for your girl.

It will work with both crickets and roaches just fine. I actually first read about the bowl method from a chameleon forum, and the feeder of choice was crickets in the photos.

 

[BigDazz]

Here's a little bowl I'm thinking about using (well it's actually a top to a jar) it's about a inch deep 3 inches wide and it's a smooth glass... Figure I can sit the lip in the substrate about a inch and cover the rubber with moss... about time the roach or cricket realize where it is it will be too late... What do you guys think? 

 

[Orin]

I've used feeding dishes with chameleons but never considered them for mantids. It should work with a large mantis but if the roaches don't move much she may never be enticed to check out what's in the bowl.

 

[CosbyArt]

@BigDazz That may work fine, try it out and see how it works for you. It all just depends on if your girl is able to grab a feeder easy enough from it or not.

Orin has a good point about mantids require movement to see prey. Any feeders that you put into the feeder dish should be active for several minutes or more, but your girl will need to be close by and paying attention. If she's anything like the one I have a few times doing it and she should catch on, and likely come running to the feeder dish.

 

[ashleenicole]

Since you're just feeding the one mantis you may be able to get away with hand feeding her crickets or roaches with a pair of feeding tongs. Right now I just have the three mantises, so hand feeding doesn't take me very long. 

 

[BigDazz]

@Orin & @ashleenicole Thanks!

@CosbyArt I was thinking about that... I saw a video on her with someone playing with a laser pointer... Maybe I'll use one to coax her... She's very inquisitive!!! 

 

[CosbyArt]

@BigDazz The laser might be a perfect way to introduce her to the dish. Let us know how it works out.

 

[BigDazz]

I definitely will!

I have a few weeks of warm weather here so I'm hoping to catch some wild flies with my homemade trap... I'll post it tomorrow before I try it out... How long does regular house flies last in the fridge??? 

 

[CosbyArt]

I definitely will!

I have a few weeks of warm weather here so I'm hoping to catch some wild flies with my homemade trap... I'll post it tomorrow before I try it out... How long does regular house flies last in the fridge??? 

Sounds good

Keeping hatched flies in the fridge? Honestly, any flies I catch I use as feeders right then. If you leave the flies you don't need in the fly trap they will live just fine in there for at least a few days or more (depending on moisture/food and not in direct sunlight). I never felt a need to try keeping them in the fridge as they do fine in the trap, and more are caught anyway.

I've read some keep them in a fridge though, and if you do you have to let them warm up to room temperature every 2 days and offer them water/honey or milk, once they eat they can be placed back in the fridge; otherwise, they will die due to lack of food/water. Seems about a week is tops on life if they are kept fed and in the fridge (but at room temperatures the life span is 2 to 4 weeks as a adult fly).

 

[BigDazz]

Ok great news, I have a creeter keeper that will wotk perfect... Do I still use the refrigerator method to slow them down in order to catch and feed?