Ghost Cannabalism

[glock34girl]

Fed Smith and Wesson this afternoon. Wes ate a lot of fruit flies and two big drops of honey. Smith stuck his foot in honey and groomed it off. I left for a few hours and returned to see that Wesson ate Smith. I found half if him at the bottom of the enclosure. What did I do wrong? I have kept the humidity up. The flies sent with them didnt hatch so I've been offering wingless fruit flies. Wesson proved to be a pig today which I was happy to see. Smith only ate the first night with me about 05 days ago. His arm was stuck in an open position but he was moving along. Not sure what I did wrong. :-(. Kinda sad and disappointed. I know these are supposed to be the "easy" ones.

 

[Malakyoma]

Fed Smith and Wesson this afternoon. Wes ate a lot of fruit flies and two big drops of honey. Smith stuck his foot in honey and groomed it off. I left for a few hours and returned to see that Wesson ate Smith. I found half if him at the bottom of the enclosure. What did I do wrong? I have kept the humidity up. The flies sent with them didnt hatch so I've been offering wingless fruit flies. Wesson proved to be a pig today which I was happy to see. Smith only ate the first night with me about 05 days ago. His arm was stuck in an open position but he was moving along. Not sure what I did wrong. :-(. Kinda sad and disappointed. I know these are supposed to be the "easy" ones.

It sounds like even though he ate a lot, he didn't eat quite enough. a mantis will eat until its full, and if Smith looked tasty to a hungry Wesson then Wesson will definitely grab him.

 

[glock34girl]

Dang! There's still food rolling around in the enclosure. He could have at least went for the fruit flies! Lol geeze. Lazy ba@$&@&!

 

[hierodula]

ouch, now you know. In the world of the mantis, there is no such thing as a communal mantis. Also clever name, smith and wesson

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Mantises eat other mantises. I would suggest not to bother keeping only two or three mantises together, especially if you plan to name them. Most people that do communal set ups have a large group of unnamed mantises housed together so if a few are lost to cannibalism along the way it isn't a problem. There is no reason to take the risk if you only have a handful of mantises you plan to name and get attached to them.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Shes right of course, I will note, you need another baby to help you over your sad grief!

 

[glock34girl]

Mantises eat other mantises. I would suggest not to bother keeping only two or three mantises together, especially if you plan to name them. Most people that do communal set ups have a large group of unnamed mantises housed together so if a few are lost to cannibalism along the way it isn't a problem. There is no reason to take the risk if you only have a handful of mantises you plan to name and get attached to them.

Good point

 

[glock34girl]

Shes right of course, I will note, you need another baby to help you over your sad grief!

Haha! Yeah I do. I will need a lot more. Go big or go home, I guess.

 

[Mvalenz]

I had a ghost that was a victim of cannibalism. He was also mismolted in a leg and wasn't eating much. Natural selection?

 

[glock34girl]

I had a ghost that was a victim of cannibalism. He was also mismolted in a leg and wasn't eating much. Natural selection?

I was kinda thinkin that too. He could move around but was slow so maybe he couldn't get away in time. His abdomen was super thin so Iam guessing he wouldn't have lasted long anyhow.

 

[hibiscusmile]

I think they empty their selves when going to molt, I mean who wants old poop moving into a new home? :tt2: