Feeding schedule for baby mantids: every day or every other?

[tangerine17]

Tried searching around the forum and have found some great advice for care of baby mantises, but specifically I'm just wondering how often I should be putting FF in their enclosure. Mine are now about a week and a half old.

 

[MantisGirl13]

What species are they? Every other day to every two or three days should be fine.

- MantisGirl13 

 

[tangerine17]

Regular Chinese  Thanks for the reply @MantisGirl13

 

[MantisGirl13]

Ok. Glad to help!

- MantisGirl13 

 

[hibiscusmile]

I would feed each day, babies need more dinner than older mantis. Especially chinese , as they are pretty needy!~

 

[MantisGirl13]

I fed my Chinese every few days and they were fine. Are yours in one cage or separated?

- MantisGirl13 

 

[Jaywo]

I feed each day to every other day until L3.

 

[hysteresis]

I dont keep Chinese. 

Orchids take 5 melanos at i1 every day until their bellies are plump and stick up/out. Then, same # flies every 2nd day, unless their abdomens get flat, in which case I feed every day. At i2 i throw them on hydei, 3 or 4, every 2nd day. I separated mine the night of the day they hatched.

Communal i1 Ghosts get 50+ melanos daily. Kept communal. 

Communal i1 and i2 violins have had 100+ hydei daily. Wish I had housefly to feed.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

For small nymphs feeding daily can help keep them hydrated, which is important for shedding. For that reason I prefer every day versus every other. When it comes to feeding, how often is only half the equation as it also depends how much food you are offering. For nymphs you want them plump but not so fat looking they look like they are about to burst. Overly fat nymphs can result in upping their risk for shedding issues.