Compared to the subadult stage, the adult male ghost mantis has hardly any interest in food. Handfeeding is next to impossible. He will catch a fly or cricket eat all or most of it and will leave any other prey items alone. He eats about every three days. My Gambian male eats more often than my ghost male interestingly enough. A Carolina male I caught three Septembers ago didn't eat anything at all for over a week, except for a couple nibbles when I tried to handfeed. I let him go. I have heard that adult male mantis eat little, but how does this compare to your experiences with your adult ghost males and other adult mantis males?
Ghost Male Not Interested in Food
- Thread starter MantisD
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I quit trying to force feed 10 days ago when the mantis didn't take food; it was futile. If he wants it, he can catch it himself. So amazing that one molt made the difference between a mantis that would eat like no tomorrow to one that eats so little.
About every three days, yup.
Krissim Klaw
Well-known member
My male ghost was just as fickle about eating. (Of course lot of male mantises seem fickle to me, especially in comparison to their female counterparts). I seemed to get him to eat every other day or two. It seemed to help if I fed him small prey items. He would eat more often that way and seemed more interested in the prey. He was a sweety, but a scardy cat when it came to hunting. Sadly, I just lost him three days ago to old age.
