Honey for Mantis

[Mantis Man13]

Whenever I feed my mantis flower power (special pollen/honey supplement for mantises) she will only eat a little. Should I put the honey on her food to make her eat it?

 

[Aryia]

When I feed supplements I dip their regular food into a honey/powder mix, though remember, a little goes a long way for such a small creature : )

 

[mantisboxer]

when i feed my t.sinensis tommy honey i put one small drop on a skewer and wave it around like its prey then he attacks it and eats the honey off the end its fun and effective

 

[Krissim Klaw]

There is no reason to force a mantis to eat honey/pollen in large quantities. For ease of use you can lightly dust your feeders before feeding, but no need to go crazy with it.

 

[Mantis Man13]

It is not dust though, it is very sticky.

 

[Ranitomeya]

You can try feeding it to the feeders you're using to gutload them.
A pollen and honey product should be frozen to keep the pollen's nutritional value from dropping as quickly and to prevent it from spoiling from being in contact with honey.

 

[Mantis Man13]

I have had my pollen/ honey product for over a year ad it hasn't been frozen... is this bad? Also, I have no idea what things to gut-load flies and moths with or how to gut-load. What bugs are best to feed a mantis?

 

[Ranitomeya]

Have you at least refrigerated it? It can and will go bad if not stored properly.
Pollen rapidly loses nutritional value if not frozen and stored properly and when honey is mixed with other substances, it can easily go bad. Try smelling the product--it may have spoiled already and would explain why the mantis doesn't like it.

Flying insects are best, but you can feed insects such as roaches, crickets, and grasshoppers if you've raised them yourself--it's not advised to feed them wildcaught roaches, crickets, and grasshoppers.

 

[Mantis Man13]

My honey/pollen smells bad. So what do I do? Buy some more? How should I refrigerate it?

 

[Aryia]

As far as I know, liquid honey doesn't go bad. The powder will turn sticky when it's exposed to any type of humidity since it's trying to turn back into liquid honey. Most powdered honey is literally sugar + low percent honey. I store my bee pollen powder in a plastic jar in the refrigerator. My liquid honey and honey powder I just leave in a cupboard where it's dry.

I would say if it does smell bad I would toss it. How long have you had it ? I've had mine for at least half a year and it still looks the same as the day I got it.

 

[dmina]

My mantid go nuts for honey..

I put it on the tip of a skewer.. then while they are lapping it up.. I lift it above their head .. and it looks like they are slurping it down.. next time I will try and get a video.. they are so cute...

 

[Mantis Man13]

I have had it for 1 and 1/2 years, Aryia. It is a bee pollen and honey product.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

My honey/pollen smells bad. So what do I do? Buy some more? How should I refrigerate it?

If it smells bad I would toss it. Straight up honey does not need to be refrigerated. Since this is a mixture I would ask the person you are getting it from how to best store it if there are no directions on the product itself.