J
julian camilo
Guest
hi. i know these "my mantid isnt eating" threads are quite common, but i've searched the forum alot (search function and manually to try to find some answers but didnt find anything i could apply to this situation). i have a pair of g.gongylodes (both L7).
the female moulted into L7 in the early hours of 16th april. she ate a waxmoth in the evening later that day, but hasn't eaten anything since. she was always the weaker of the two in terms of catching food, would never seem to make too much of an effort to go grab stuff, but she pretty much ran towards the moth and grabbed it this time.
the male moulted in the early hours of 18th april. later that day i tried feeding him a honeybee, but he was having none of it. he would look at it occasionally but would ignore it for the most part, and would sometimes run away, panicked. he still hasn't eaten anything since moulting.
i'm keeping the male just under 35C, and the female just above 40C. i tried keeping the male warmer but this didnt help, and the female cooler but this didnt help. i spray them every 2 or 3 days, but since they moulted they dont seem to be drinking at all like they used to (when i sprayed them theyd lean over to the container sides to drink up droplets and whatnot).
i've tried offering them both bumblebees, honeybees, leafcutter bees, flies (not sure what type, they looked liked small bluebottles[not houseflies or greenbottles]) from outside. up until now they have been mostly eating bluebottle flies hatched from fishing shop maggots, which they catch readily. however, my mum threw away the pupa in the fridge. i went out and bought more maggots straight away (13th april) and let some pupate in some soil, but obviously it takes time for them to hatch so ive been left with a big gap in my regular food supply. when abouts should they be hatching?
are they ignoring the bees and wild flies because they arent used to them? they dont even acknowledge them as possible food, they just strike them away and run away, or plain ignore them. granted, the bumble bee was probably too big for them, but the honeybees and leafcutter bees have been perfect size, not to mention the flies (though they may be a tiny bit on the small side but they should still make the effort no?).
so can anyone answer any of these questions or give some advice or help?
i've been out in the garden everyday with a net catching them bees and flies, and theyre having none of it. i've tried putting a strong spotlight and flourescent light outside at night to try to attract some moths and whatnot, but i've had no luck (maybe too cold and windy?). i dont know what else to do. any ideas?
thanks.
ps - sorry for how long this is, i'm not good at being concise and thought i'd give as much detail as possible.
the female moulted into L7 in the early hours of 16th april. she ate a waxmoth in the evening later that day, but hasn't eaten anything since. she was always the weaker of the two in terms of catching food, would never seem to make too much of an effort to go grab stuff, but she pretty much ran towards the moth and grabbed it this time.
the male moulted in the early hours of 18th april. later that day i tried feeding him a honeybee, but he was having none of it. he would look at it occasionally but would ignore it for the most part, and would sometimes run away, panicked. he still hasn't eaten anything since moulting.
i'm keeping the male just under 35C, and the female just above 40C. i tried keeping the male warmer but this didnt help, and the female cooler but this didnt help. i spray them every 2 or 3 days, but since they moulted they dont seem to be drinking at all like they used to (when i sprayed them theyd lean over to the container sides to drink up droplets and whatnot).
i've tried offering them both bumblebees, honeybees, leafcutter bees, flies (not sure what type, they looked liked small bluebottles[not houseflies or greenbottles]) from outside. up until now they have been mostly eating bluebottle flies hatched from fishing shop maggots, which they catch readily. however, my mum threw away the pupa in the fridge. i went out and bought more maggots straight away (13th april) and let some pupate in some soil, but obviously it takes time for them to hatch so ive been left with a big gap in my regular food supply. when abouts should they be hatching?
are they ignoring the bees and wild flies because they arent used to them? they dont even acknowledge them as possible food, they just strike them away and run away, or plain ignore them. granted, the bumble bee was probably too big for them, but the honeybees and leafcutter bees have been perfect size, not to mention the flies (though they may be a tiny bit on the small side but they should still make the effort no?).
so can anyone answer any of these questions or give some advice or help?
i've been out in the garden everyday with a net catching them bees and flies, and theyre having none of it. i've tried putting a strong spotlight and flourescent light outside at night to try to attract some moths and whatnot, but i've had no luck (maybe too cold and windy?). i dont know what else to do. any ideas?
thanks.
ps - sorry for how long this is, i'm not good at being concise and thought i'd give as much detail as possible.
