Help feeding newly hatched T. Sinensis nymphs
- Thread starter nheptane
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Digger
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How many L1s? If this is a normal hatch of a T. sinensis ooth, you've got maybe 50 to 200 or more L1s. Figure 5 gnats minimum (depending on the species) per nymph. I would just dump a barrel full in. You can try putting a small piece of ripe banana in the nymph enclosure to draw wild ffs. Although that never attracted enough from my experience.
nheptane
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I have 10 nymphs. The rest have been released. I wish I had a barrel full of gnats. I'm concerned I won't be able to feed them well because I'm collecting the gnats one at a time!
Are they going to die if all they have is 1 gnat a day for 3 days in a row (Feeders are being shipped)?
Are they going to die if all they have is 1 gnat a day for 3 days in a row (Feeders are being shipped)?
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My L1 Chinese ate like that for a couple of days when my cultures were at a low point. They're molting to L5 now, so I think you should be good! I also fed mine a couple of tiny ants, or any bug smaller than they were I would at least offer to them.
Putting bits of fruit in different areas in a tupperware that I could quickly close when I saw it had flies got me a couple dozen. If I thought I had some flies in the container, I'd pop it in the freezer for two minutes and see what drops.
There was also a night where I set up a white bedsheet on a clothesline with a super bright light right next to it. I got more leafhoppers than I needed, but the setup was inconvenient for me so I didn't do that again.
Putting bits of fruit in different areas in a tupperware that I could quickly close when I saw it had flies got me a couple dozen. If I thought I had some flies in the container, I'd pop it in the freezer for two minutes and see what drops.
There was also a night where I set up a white bedsheet on a clothesline with a super bright light right next to it. I got more leafhoppers than I needed, but the setup was inconvenient for me so I didn't do that again.
PlayingMantis
Well-known member
Be careful not to keep them together! They can start eating each other especially if they're hungry (and it still can happen even if they're well fed).
LAME
Tenodera sinensis (the one and only)
Agreed with PlayingMantis.
Aside from gnats... Try small moths caught from outside. Can also try smaller house flies. Just throw em in the fridge for a few minutes until they're stunned. I've left flies in there for up to 2 days without it dying. Use the "tweezer-technique" and try to handfeed that way.
if that doesn't work you could always try going to petco or any other pet store and getting some small feeder crickets or meal worms.( though personally my Chinese mantids have still yet to eat those) They're pretty cheap...
Best of luck.
Aside from gnats... Try small moths caught from outside. Can also try smaller house flies. Just throw em in the fridge for a few minutes until they're stunned. I've left flies in there for up to 2 days without it dying. Use the "tweezer-technique" and try to handfeed that way.
if that doesn't work you could always try going to petco or any other pet store and getting some small feeder crickets or meal worms.( though personally my Chinese mantids have still yet to eat those) They're pretty cheap...
Best of luck.
My Chinese wouldn't even look at the smallest crickets from the pet store until L3. Through I guess they weren't near starvation.
If you have absolutley no food for them, you could put some on potted plants. I put a nymph on my tomato and he was still there, three days and a molt later. They could leave the plant, but if there's food, they probably won't.
If you have absolutley no food for them, you could put some on potted plants. I put a nymph on my tomato and he was still there, three days and a molt later. They could leave the plant, but if there's food, they probably won't.
