Feeding Question

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shorty

shorty

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I am completely out of food, and because of the holiday, no stores are open within 50 miles of my house. That being the case, my mantids are going to be without food until Friday and some haven't eaten in a while as it is. So, how long can an L6-L7 male Sphodromantis lineola go without food? He is the most in need of food. The others really need to eat too, but I'm sure they'll live. He just molted today. What I'm wondering is, what can I do in the middle of winter in NW Pa for food? Is there anything I can do?

 
shorty said:
I am completely out of food, and because of the holiday, no stores are open within 50 miles of my house. That being the case, my mantids are going to be without food until Friday and some haven't eaten in a while as it is. So, how long can an L6-L7 male Sphodromantis lineola go without food? He is the most in need of food. The others really need to eat too, but I'm sure they'll live. He just molted today. What I'm wondering is, what can I do in the middle of winter in NW Pa for food? Is there anything I can do?
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You can feed them honey and mashed banana on wooden skewer or a toothpick.

You might try this: Put a garden sieve or chicken wire, or anything with a wide mesh over a 5 gal bucket or large pot. Scoop up some wet /frozen leaves, dump them in the sieve and place a heat lamp or flood over the leaves. As they dry out, the heat will cause any critters, spiders, earwigs, etc, to drop into the bucket.

Get up early on Friday morning!

 
Good suggestions, thank you. Are you sure he'll be alright, Rick, it's been over a week. He was so plump it looked like he was gonna explode, so I didn't feed him. Now it's been almost nine days and I am completely out of food! I just worry more about him because he is a giant compared to others, even the females. He's my favorite, and has the coolest colors and patterns so it would suck to lose him.

 
He should be fine. As Phillin Yuma suggested, if you ever get really desperate you can try to feed him honey. They'll also accept various forms of meat, chicken, hamburger etc.

 
-Asa said:
He should be fine. As Phillin Yuma suggested, if you ever get really desperate you can try to feed him honey. They'll also accept various forms of meat, chicken, hamburger etc.
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i found this to be true too,

hamburger patties uncooked works well for me.

 
Wow, I had no idea they could make it that long without food. I will try honey tomorrow and maybe I can find some living prey somewhere. Thanks for the help everyone. Anyone know exactly how long they can live without eating at all?

 
When you guys say feed em honey is that organic or just the store bought honey with the little bear bottle???

 
Next time it happens just go to the slums and ask for some cockroaches :) Or check out a dumpster somewhere that has a heated exhaust nearby. Maybe the dump or landfill.

I don't know if they'll eat worms, yet, but if they do you could look for a fish bait place for some, and maybe they have bugs for bait also...

It's warm enough where I live all year round that I can find some kind of bugs around, but that's a long way to take to you :)

 

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