ghosts don't want to eat

[okstrat]

Purchased some ghosts from styrofoam heart here on the board. Got em quick, healthy, packed well, etc. But I can't get the little guys to eat. The only thing I had available was pet store crickets, and some were VERY small - say 1/8" to 3/16". The Ghosts are L3 and about an inch tall. They want nothing to do with the crickets, I even tore one open with tweezers and offered it to the ghosts, all who dodged and ran from it. I'm getting some wingless flies shipped in, but how long can the ghosts go without eating? If they get hungry will they eat the crickets then - they just aren't that hungry yet? Could it be from them being shipped and still getting acclimated to new surroundings?

Is there anything I can feed them 'in a pinch' while I'm waiting for the flies? I feel like someone from the Mantid Protective Services is going to come by and confiscate them.

Pete

 

[yen_saw]

Pete, if the mantis abdomen is not flat and rejecting food, likely the mantis is going to molt. Give your mantis a mist of water and keep it warm.

 

[okstrat]

Pete, if the mantis abdomen is not flat and rejecting food, likely the mantis is going to molt. Give your mantis a mist of water and keep it warm.

Thanks for the reply Yen.

All of them were acting like this... I tried to feed several different ghosts with the same results. Do they usually molt at the same time? or are they like cats/dogs where they get used to their normal food and anything new is suspect at first? I have a L3 chinese that did act this way before he molted, it's amazing that they are both types of mantises, the ghosts are like from another planet or something!

Pete

 

[yen_saw]

Thanks for the reply Yen.

All of them were acting like this... I tried to feed several different ghosts with the same results. Do they usually molt at the same time? or are they like cats/dogs where they get used to their normal food and anything new is suspect at first? I have a L3 chinese that did act this way before he molted, it's amazing that they are both types of mantises, the ghosts are like from another planet or something!

Pete

Yes mantis at younger stage tends to molt about the same time together if there are from the same batch. All the best to them on molting.

 

[okstrat]

Yes mantis at younger stage tends to molt about the same time together if there are from the same batch. All the best to them on molting.

Very interesting. I checked on them at lunch, they are warm and I've been misting them daily with distilled water. Thanks, I appreciate the wealth of knowledge you and the board in general shares with us noobs.

Pete

 

[PhilinYuma]

Just when you thought you had everything worked out, Pete, here's another though for you. You say that you have ordered "wingless flies", so I presume that you mean hydei. L3 ghosts are big enough to take house flies; I'm not sure that an L4 will even be interested in a fruit fly. As you know, ghosts like to hang from the lid of their enclosure, and they may not even recognize anything down on the substrate as food. I strongly suggest that you try them on house flies and let us know what happens. Did you ask your seller what he was feeding them?

 

[BLuEz]

Sorry to bring back up an old topic, just curious as to how your ghosts are doing? I got mine from styrofoamheart as well - what I felt at first was being picky after the first couple feedings was just stubborn ghosts. Seems like one of my females waits for the flies to become adjusted to her presence (and when I'm not looking) to eat, but in general, they don't seem to be super active hunters (with the littler ones being excepts so far).