Feeding spiny flower nymphs Pinheads??

[omar morsy]

Hey folks

despite the fact that I now have a total of 6 melanogaster fruit fly cultures I again ran out!

i went to my local pet shop and purchased tiny pinheads. I’ve placed 2 or 3 pin heads in each little cup. 

Have anyone of you had experience feeding pinheads to a nymph? Was this a mistake? Should I try my luck with Hydei instead? 

I’m confident that in 3 or 4 days my melanogasters cultures will have more fruitflies. I’m just trying to find a solution for now!

 

[hysteresis]

Dude beware. If the pinheads get a hold of the nymph after a molt, that's the end.

These spinys are what, L2 now?

I wouldn't have done that. Better to try the hydei.

 

[hysteresis]

And even if it's not an immediate molt risk, the crickets may still injure a nymph with just one or two chomps. 

If there's prey in there, just one in proximity can startle a molting nymph enough to fall and mismolt.

If this ever happens, pick it up by the molt very gently and hang it up somehow to complete its molt. Dont just lay the nymph down to dry.

 

[omar morsy]

Holy $h!t !!!

they were born 10 days ago so they should be moulting between now and the next 5 days. 

I will remove them all now and replace them with 1 or 2 Hydei until more melanogasters are produced. 

Thank you Hysteresis

 

[omar morsy]

How many days can a Nymph go without eating do you think?

 

[hysteresis]

How many days can a Nymph go without eating do you think?

Have they molted to L2 yet?

Seriously. Try the hydei. Save the pinheads for a subsequent instar. They'll keep indefinitely. Feed em fish flakes and apple.

The spiny nymphs can likely go a couple days, but ive never kept L1/L2 of any species yet.

Someone else should advise beyond that.

 

[omar morsy]

I’m removing them right now. Bloody melanogasters won’t hatch in time. 6 cultures and I still run out!!

 

[omar morsy]

Have they molted to L2 yet?

No not yet! Once molted to L2 I’m going to switch them to Hydei 

 

[MantisGirl13]

Ya, I would not suggest pinheads. As well as being a molting hazard, they can also carry harmful bacteria. Stick with the ff! I hope they all have successful molts!

- MantisGirl13

 

[omar morsy]

Done and done, that took a while. Good news is before I was done I can see already a few Nymphs munching away the Hydei.

thanx for the great advice. I feel much better now.

 

[hysteresis]

Here's an idea for future reference...

If we as keepers believe that mantids get used to handling, maybe they also gain confidence with succesive hunts. 

Maybe a round of melanogaster is all it takes to open them up to hydei.

As long as they can grapple the prey, and deal with the physics of grappling that prey, things should go well.

 

[omar morsy]

Well that’s what I initially thought. After the first few rounds of melanogasters, I did in fact switch them back to Hydei because I have soooo many cultures. But sadly, no.

they seem to be skiddish and jump out of the way of the Hydei. I had thought that they were munching away earlier but it was just a few. Most however seem to ignore them all together. As if they are not even hungry.

now they could be approaching their first molt. If by tomorrow I see no molting or still see no progress in feeding, I’ll attempt to hand feed each one  or think of some other solution. I’m worried a second day of no eating and I might start losing my babies.

 

[omar morsy]

Here's an idea for future reference...

If we as keepers believe that mantids get used to handling, maybe they also gain confidence with succesive hunts. 

Maybe a round of melanogaster is all it takes to open them up to hydei.

As long as they can grapple the prey, and deal with the physics of grappling that prey, things should go well.

6 cultures of melanogasters and no fruitflies at all to show. So damn frustrating!

 

[omar morsy]

For future reference, I will purchase 2 or 3 cultures a month in advance!

 

[omar morsy]

This is what each culture looks like. I got a small heater blowing warm air at 78 Fahrenheit.

i do hope they hatch by tomorrow

 

[hysteresis]

You done right.

My new hydei culture hasnt produced any larvae yet. Theyre all busy doing the wild thang, and there may or may not ve eggs, but no larvae.

I may have to buy another culture just to feed from next week for the ghosts and spinys im receiving. 

 

[MantisGirl13]

This is what each culture looks like. I got a small heater blowing warm air at 78 Fahrenheit.

i do hope they hatch by tomorrow

View attachment 11900

Your culture should pop in a day or two! 

- MantisGirl13

 

[ohaple]

Crickets are fine, but can be dangerous if left unattended. We always use crickets when we are between fly shipments. We put a cricket near the mantis on the lid (turned rightside up) and let them catch it. If the mantis doesn't eat it while we are monitoring, the cricket is removed so there is no risk of an accident during a molt. Makes feeding take a while longer, but we have never had an issue with it. If the cricket runs, we continually put it back near the mantis until it is caught. If the mantis shows no interest, we give up after about 5-10 minutes and try the next day.