Fruit flies too small for L3 Golden Hierodula?

[Sauromayne]

Hey guys,

My mantis just molted last night and I'm wondering if fruit flies are too small for him now.

First pic is when I first got him a week ago and 2nd pic was taken today.

If FF's are too small for him what would be a good food to give him next? I was thinking Housefly pupae but I haven't found a local shop that carries them yet. Also, I have heard that crickets are bad for mantises but is this always the case? I have a local pet shop that specializes in insects and reptiles so I wouldn't be buying crickets from like PetCo or something.

 

[Synapze]

What species of fruit flies are you feeding now? I suggest Drosophila hydei.

 

[River Dane]

As @Synapze said, if you’re currently using melanogasters, Hydei fruit flies would be the next step up. 

If you can’t find a housefly source, crickets are very contraversial. Some people stand by them, and others will never use them. The reason they’re dangerous is because of their potential to pass on a disease the mantiskeeping community calls “Black Death.” It happens when crickets are kept in poor or unfavorable conditions before being fed to a mantis. Supposedly it can be prevented by caring for your crickets as beloved pets, even if you don’t love ‘em. 

Another good substitute would be cockroaches, which most likely should be carried by your reptile store also. Most species available are not the ones that can infest your home, and escapees will probably die or never breed. 

But congratulations on the molt, good luck with the little guy!

 

[Mantis Lady]

I should feed bigger fruitflies or cricket babies. Very small roaches I havent seen at my pet store.

 

[john57]

Yes crickets are controversial. My first mantis was the  Red Armed Mantis and was a very active mantis. She happily eats the crickets that I gave her. The last cricket I gave she became sick like and lethargic. Then a few days later she went into her final molt. She was in a lot of pain for three and half weeks and she fell less than a inch but was in a tangled mess. She had huge white wings. She drag herself to find a hole in the habitat to put her head in. She did not want to continue. I buried her next to a livery rose bush.  But on the other hand it explains why I am into this hobby. The range of expressions that a praying mantis can show, the anger, fear, the joy of eating a juicy fly and the body sway back and forth. The curiosity of my ghost mantis that love a ride on my thumb upstairs and down to the basement exploring the surrounding and she head was moving all over the place. I have mantis waiting to see me again. I have a Dead leaf mantis that hanging up side down looking up and I put in a house fly in and she catch the fly before the fly hit the ground.  It was like a ball game,.

Is it true that mantis do not like crickets that have been fed with carrots?

 

[Mantis Lady]

I have heard something like that too that they dont like crickets that has eaten carrots.

My crickets gets cricket food and salad leaves. and water gel to drink. 1 of my mantids vomited of crickets so he gets instead grasshoppers and dubia goo. With the others they eat everything I give them,

 

[MantisGirl13]

I don't usually use crickets, but when I did, I did have a case of the Black Death, so I won't be doing crickets much anymore.

- MantisGirl13

 

[Mantis Lady]

I saw at my pet store baby grasshoppers too. I have had no cases that mantids die of eating a wrong cricket, I try to have different feeder insects: bought a box with grasshoppers again.

 

[Predatorhousepet]

If hydei fruit flies are too small and houseflies too big you can try stable flies. They are slightly smaller than houseflies. However, most mantids can go directly from hydei to housefly without problems. You can buy stable flies from mantisplace.com

Another alternative is red runner roaches, they can be ordered in various sizes from tiny babies to adults. I usually buy adults to replenish my colony if they get low so unfortunately I can't recommend a specific source offhand but I have had good experiences with sellers on eBay for the smaller sizes when I did order them, just be sure to check their feedback.

 

[Sauromayne]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I am using d hydei currently so I will continue to use those for the time being. I would buy the housefly pupae online but I live in Phoenix where temps get up to 110 F and I worry that if I buy them online they will all hatch en route.

I will look into the roaches though when he molts next, I'm sure my local store has them. Thanks everyone for letting me know why crickets are controversial I will probably end up avoiding them.

 

[MantisGirl13]

Glad you have a plan! Feel free to ask any more questions.

- MantisGirl13