Wow! I used to do that as a little kid, when I had fire bellied toads. I zapped the crickets with the bug zapper, and quickly carried it into their tank. My mom said back then, if any crickets escaped, I couldn't keep them anymore, since my she hates bugs, or anything alive that moves that is unhuman. Anything!
I prefer to think of it as "modification" versus "maiming".
I handle the crix ok, but when I hand feed I use forceps. It's easier for the mantis than me holding the crik. I have an old guy that I love and he can't catch his food anymore. I grab the crik by one leg - it falls off, so I go for the other. As my mantid declines, he won't take a big, wiggly crik - minus the legs it's less threatening and he will eat. I truly believe that insects are not capable of processing and/or perceiving pain as we do. I also don't think it's a good idea for society to wantonly "torture" them. My children have been taught that there is no good to come from killing harmless insects. We capture and release all of God's creepy critters. (Except the one's that we feed the mantids ) Most crix don't get "modified", it's done on a case by case basis.
Modification, sounds like a euphemism to me. That being said, my earlier post wasn't intended to come off as looking down on those who stun/kill/pull legs off their crickets before hand. I was just noting that I have never needed to do anything to crickets. Usually if my mantis is having a problem that just means I need to go down a size for them to feel comfortable. I mainly raise Chinese though so they are usually more than willing to go after crickets of any size.I prefer to think of it as "modification" versus "maiming".
But she'll scoop up the Hydei's :huh: When she's forced to feed them, though, she'll use hemostats. ).
