Graceface's Mantis family

[MantisGirl13]

Congrats on the molt! She is a beauty!

- MantisGirl13

 

[Graceface]

It's been a while since I last posted an update, so... 

With Jane passing away on Christmas eve, I have no adult female Orchids currently. 

Zarana just molted to L6 a few days ago, and I have 4 L4/5 females now, too. 

I just received 10 L1 Orchid nymphs. Really cute to get to see the lil Kung Fu babies! One was DOA, one isn't doing well today, but the others seem fine. 2 molted overnight, so 3 of them are now at L2. The red and black didn't last long, but I'm glad I got to see it I need to get some pics uploaded to Photobucket to show you guys

Still no more adult Ghosts, but it's only a matter of time. I have 2 subadult females, 3 subadult males, and a presub male that should be molting any day now. Can't wait to see more wings

 

[hysteresis]

@Graceface

Sorry for Jane. I meant to follow up and ask how she was doing.

So cool that you work with the orchids. I hope you get your succesful pairing and many ooths!

 

[Graceface]

@Graceface

Sorry for Jane. I meant to follow up and ask how she was doing.

So cool that you work with the orchids. I hope you get your succesful pairing and many ooths!

Yeah, I'm still pretty bummed about Jane and the loss of all my adult females (one by one). I'm hoping whatever afflicted the females won't be an issue going forward. It seemed like a disease, with the rapid onset and brown spots. I'm deep cleaning all the enclosures and the aquarium with bleach before I use it again, just to be safe. I've tweaked anything I can think of to eliminate any other problems.

Meanwhile, my males are chugging right along like tanks, lol. Fingers are crossed for Zarana and my other girls. 

Adventures in feeders: I had a bad batch of houseflies, which caused me to run through my Blue Bottle supply faster than anticipated, resulting in a domino effect feeder shortage. More flies are ordered, but I have none now! Soooo, today I bought and fed small crickets until my next batch of BBF's arrive. I wasn't sure if they would go for crickets, since I only feed flies typically. Today I learned that in a pinch they will totally eat crickets. Fun times at Grace's house! 

 

[hysteresis]

@Graceface crickets all over Orin's book. Responsible feeding of crickets is fine. All my mantids have gone for them. The trick is to have something that allows the crickets to climb towards the mantis.

I remember being all paranoid when we lost "Mantissey", our first eva'.

I'll never feed crickets carrots again though. Nor the dubias. Although, a few experienced breeders say there's nothing wrong with feeding feeders carrot. 

Le sigh...

Your new ladies will be fine. You've done all there is to do!

Flies... ive only fed ones caught in the house to the europeans. I haven't bought the black soldier flies yet. What constitutes a bad batch of flies? 

 

[Graceface]

@Graceface crickets all over Orin's book. Responsible feeding of crickets is fine. All my mantids have gone for them. The trick is to have something that allows the crickets to climb towards the mantis.

I remember being all paranoid when we lost "Mantissey", our first eva'.

I'll never feed crickets carrots again though. Nor the dubias. Although, a few experienced breeders say there's nothing wrong with feeding feeders carrot. 

I lost my 1st ever mantis to crickets and decided to avoid them as feeders. Flies are their preferred food and they won't hurt a mantis.

Why not feed crickets carrots? 

@Graceface. What constitutes a bad batch of flies? 

They didn't ever hatch, that makes em bad. 500 non hatched fly pupae

 

[hysteresis]

Mantissey OR Mantissy. I never resolved that. LoL

I lost my 1st ever mantis to crickets and decided to avoid them as feeders.

Me too.  Maybe.  Probably not.  It was @MantisGirl13  that pointed out to me that if we had Mantissy for six weeks, he could have simply died of old age. That was my first ever topic.

I know my mantis care regime has developed. He just might've lived a bit longer under better care. Lola too! I no longer think carrot-fed crickets killed him.

Why not feed crickets carrots?

I found posts like these. Mantissy didn't vomit that I saw, and I was observant. But he did just keel over in the middle of the night.:

https://www.mantidkingdom.com/are-crickets-bad-for-mantids/

"I did however notice one problem. If I fed my crickets carrots, the mantids would vomit a bit. This usually would not kill them, but they did seem to get a little sick. This would happen just about every time with a few species (wahlbergii, desiccata, mendica), especially if I used crickets straight from a petstore or as soon as they arrived in the mail. Most cricket suppliers use carrots for moisture. Now I wait a day or 2 before using new crickets. I gutload them with my own food and use water crystals for moisture. I should also note that I only use light colored, healthy looking crickets as feeders."

[COLOR= black]https://www.instructables.com/id/Raising-praying-mantises/[/COLOR]

"The most important thing with crickets is be sure that they were not fed on carrots! Crickets that are fed carrots become poisonous to mantises. Within a week of eating carrot-fed crickets, the mantis's mouth will turn black and then will expel a black viscous liquid either orally or anally, followed by death. Luckily, Petco and other major pet stores do not feed their crickets on carrots. ..."

[COLOR= rgb(85, 85, 85)]You can find posts that go on for miles about this.[/COLOR]

They didn't ever hatch, that makes em bad. 500 non hatched fly pupae

Broken flies. LoL.

Yes, that's a problem, hey? I need to make it over to the reptile store and buy some flies.

 

[Graceface]

@hysteresis Oh geez! I've heard of people having issues with crickets so I just decided to avoid them to be safe. Bellatrix (adult female Ghost) was eating a larger one and we saw her trying to eat a piece of something out of its guts that looked like plastic. We removed it from her mandible to be sure, but I don't like this. It was blueish green and I think it was sponge bits; pieces of the water sponge they included in the container. Not cool. Petco in my town doesn't have loose crickets, just the prepackaged mostly dead ones. Small town living at its finest! I actually don't mine flies one bit, but the crickets bother me on many levels. 

All the mantises I keep eat flying insects and could happily live their entire lives eating flies (which is fine by me). I have considered trying to raise moths as feeders since they are bigger than flies typically, but I have yet to look into it or locate a source of moths. Plus, I worry their fuzzy bodies and large wing mass would be mostly inedible

 

[hysteresis]

Bellatrix (adult female Ghost) was eating a larger one and we saw her trying to eat a piece of something out of its guts that looked like plastic. We removed it from her mandible to be sure, but I don't like this. It was blueish green and I think it was sponge bits; pieces of the water sponge they included in the container. Not cool. Petco in my town doesn't have loose crickets, just the prepackaged mostly dead ones. Small town living at its finest! I actually don't mine flies one bit, but the crickets bother me on many levels. 

That's wild hey? the reptile stores I frequent, as well as the Petsmarts in our area use water crystals and cricket chow. I've never seen anything like that! How upsetting!

I have considered trying to raise moths as feeders since they are bigger than flies typically, but I have yet to look into it or locate a source of moths. Plus, I worry their fuzzy bodies and large wing mass would be mostly inedible

We caught different moths in the summer for the europeans and the results were always the same: Little wings in the bottom of the enclosure! 

The mantises sure liked them, though. In general, I think mantises love flying prey... really sets them off! That's why I want some flies for them too.

 

[MantisGirl13]

Broken flies. LoL.

Haha  

@Graceface I am sorry to hear about Jane. I hope your new babies are doing well and that you have some breeding successes with the next few to molt to adult! 

- MantisGirl13

 

[Graceface]

That's wild hey? the reptile stores I frequent, as well as the Petsmarts in our area use water crystals and cricket chow. I've never seen anything like that! How upsetting! 

Yes, here is a photo of the sponge they included as a water source. The offending material rescued from Bellatrix's mandibles was the same color as the sponge 

I love flies as a feeder. Idk how hard it is to find flies in Canada. Blue bottles are great and I never worry about them harming my mantises in any way. The mantises seem to love them, too. A few have been thoroughly confused by the crickets. Bellatrix had no qualms grabbing and devouring a larger 'medium' sized cricket. She is fat now. The orchids ate them, but the males weren't too keen on hunting them off of the floor. The girls were happy to eat, as usual. They are bottomless fly pits and seem to never get full from L5 through sub adult

 

[Graceface]

Haha  

@Graceface I am sorry to hear about Jane. I hope your new babies are doing well and that you have some breeding successes with the next few to molt to adult! 

- MantisGirl13

Thanks @MantisGirl13 I'm trying to heal the heartbreak of losing Jane, Letty, and Heidi with Kung Fu babies! I have some L4/5/6 girls doing well now, so I have hopes it will be fine this time. 

 

[Graceface]

Here are a couple of pictures of my lil L1 Orchids for your enjoyment 

 

[hysteresis]

@Graceface

Looks like a little candy mantis!  

You're so fortunate!  That's sooOoOooo cute! 

 

[hysteresis]

Yes, here is a photo of the sponge they included as a water source. The offending material rescued from Bellatrix's mandibles was the same color as the sponge 

I've never had anything like that when I buy crickets. The water crystals I see where they're kept are clear.

Idk how hard it is to find flies in Canada. 

I know a reptile store where I can buy black soldier fly cups, so I think i'm taking the boys fly shopping tomorrow. We didn't make it out today.

Maybe pick up an Exo-Terra for Noël too.

If I tried a bit harder, i'd likely find a BBF breeder. I'm running out of dubias (not immediately) and need to pick some up too. Lots of listings for them.

Anything is possible in the Toronto area.

 

[Graceface]

I've never had anything like that when I buy crickets. The water crystals I see where they're kept are clear.

Yes, I use the clear water crystals for my flies. Petco sells them in the form of Fluekers cricket feed, which are just yellow dye and vitamin water soaked crystals, but the crickets they sell don't use them as a water source. They are clearly eating the sponge material. If I'd had more time, I would've flushed the cricket's systems for a few days, but the whole reason I got them was being in a pinch and needing feeders now. In the future I will flush them before feeding, having seen the potential consequences firsthand. 

I know a reptile store where I can buy black soldier fly cups, so I think i'm taking the boys fly shopping tomorrow. We didn't make it out today.

Maybe pick up an Exo-Terra for Noël too.

If I tried a bit harder, i'd likely find a BBF breeder. I'm running out of dubias (not immediately) and need to pick some up too. Lots of listings for them.

Anything is possible in the Toronto area.

Idk how big Black Soldier Flies are on the scale. Are they bigger than houseflies? The same size? 

I like blue bottles because they are very large. I wish I could somehow get the horse flies I see around here I the summer to breed without dead things and feeding blood. They are big AF! Maybe I can catch some when it warms back up. I worry about feeding wild caugh bugs to my captive ones. Don't want them to get sick or something 

 

[hysteresis]

Yeh, parasites.

Adult BSF reach 5/8" to 3/4".

They look like wasps a bit.

Should work.

@Aristalochia says they're slower flying.

I figure that that will make it easier for Noël to take them.

Roland and Randall the rhombos too, after a couple molts.

 

[Graceface]

Yeh, parasites.

Adult BSF reach 5/8" to 3/4".

They look like wasps a bit.

Should work.

@Aristalochia says they're slower flying.

I figure that that will make it easier for Noël to take them.

Roland and Randall the rhombos too, after a couple molts.

I just Googled them, and they are a creepy looking bunch! I'll stick to my BBFs

 

[hysteresis]

I just Googled them, and they are a creepy looking bunch! I'll stick to my BBFs

 fair enough!

 

[Graceface]

Exciting news! Hazel, a female Ghost Mantis, is an adult! She is a pale yellow now, but before her final molt she was a coppery brown/tan. So beautiful

I snapped a few photos, but they are all not great my phone doesn't like to focus on small things. I'll take some better ones later this am and post for you guys. I was just too excited to not share the news right away!