hand feeding my wild caught stagmo

[trevorrook1]

Im having trouble feeding my wild caught stagmo. She eats fine in her housing but avoids her normal moths when i try to hand feed her. You guys got any tips on handfeeding wild matids?

 

[MandellaMandy123]

Well, does she have to be hand fed? Is she injured in some way? Or do you just want to hand feed her for fun?

If you just want to hand feed her for fun, try starting with bigger food items, such as a nickel-sized chunk of watermelon or lunch meat. Try gently (very gently) grabbing her by the thorax and then pushing the food (very very very very gently) up to her mouth so she has to eat it. Once she tastes it and decides she likes it, she may be more willing to eat it. But be patient. Some mantids never like hand feeding. I've had some who will eat for a full minute when I'm forcing them to, but then as soon as I let go, they run. Also, how old is she? If you don't know what instar, size will help. Does she have wings?

Good luck with your hand feeding.

~Wolfie

 

[trevorrook1]

She isint injured in any way i just like to be a little involved lol. I found her in my backyard with full grown wings. Its been about 3 weeks so far. She hasnt molted since i got her either so im not sure if that means shes old or not. I tried hand feeding her honey in the way you described too with no sucsess lol

 

[Mime454]

I just wouldn't hand feed her if she doesn't need it/ Sometimes watching has to be good enough.

 

[trevorrook1]

Yea i know. Im not gonna force her lol. I just wanted to bond with her in my own wierd way hahaha. Sometimes i forget shes not a dog lol

 

[lancaster1313]

It might work if you try tongs or tweezers before you try it with fingers. I have had a few mantids that just won't take prey from my fingers.

 

[Rick]

Well, does she have to be hand fed? Is she injured in some way? Or do you just want to hand feed her for fun?

If you just want to hand feed her for fun, try starting with bigger food items, such as a nickel-sized chunk of watermelon or lunch meat. Try gently (very gently) grabbing her by the thorax and then pushing the food (very very very very gently) up to her mouth so she has to eat it. Once she tastes it and decides she likes it, she may be more willing to eat it. But be patient. Some mantids never like hand feeding. I've had some who will eat for a full minute when I'm forcing them to, but then as soon as I let go, they run. Also, how old is she? If you don't know what instar, size will help. Does she have wings?

Good luck with your hand feeding.

~Wolfie

Lunch meat? Watermelon? nline2long: There is also no need to grab the mantis. Somehow expose a moist part of the food (insects) to the mantids mouth using tongs or tweezers.

Or try taking a moth or small butterfly and hold it by one wing with tongs or tweezers. Once it gets flapping around bring it near the mantis.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Lunch meat? Watermelon? nline2long: There is also no need to grab the mantis. Somehow expose a moist part of the food (insects) to the mantids mouth using tongs or tweezers.

Or try taking a moth or small butterfly and hold it by one wing with tongs or tweezers. Once it gets flapping around bring it near the mantis.

+1 on all accounts.There is zero need to grab a mantis to force them to eat. It would be the very opposite of bonding with a mantis. Moths and butterflies can be hard to hand feed because it can be a pain getting enough juices for the mantis to sample when ripping them open. Sometimes a tiny dab of honey on the bug will work but I would advise simply letting her catch them on her own since she is perfectly capable of it.

 

[fleurdejoo]

Why don't you start off with just spraying some water on your hand and letting it drink?

That's pretty cool and the few I had accidentally done it with seem to like to.

Then I would try honey.

Here is my valida drinking.

 

[Digger]

I hand feed my wild Chinese all the time. That means, however, just bringing a struggling cricket, held with tweezers, within her reach. Also often water her using a saturated Qtip (enough water where she's taking up only H2O drops, rather than sucking on the cotton). Honey gets hand delivered via a Q Tip with a swab end cut off. Many species are so nuts for honey, I'm sure you could dab your finger tip and have her eat off that. Prepare for a nip.