How To Keep Them Free of Disease

[MantidBro]

As I keep mantids, I've realized how sensitive they really are. Each mantid I've had so far died of disease, except my Phyllocrania paradoxa, who are lucky to be under my care after figuring things out.

The first three died of black death because the water that I thought was filtered turned out not to be (apparently a new filter needed to be put in long before).

Then one died because of a bad batch of crickets.

Here's a list of things to do/not to do to increase the chances of your mantid living a longer life free of disease:

1. NO TAP WATER. ONLY FILTERED OR DISTILLED. BOTTLED WATER WORKS TOO.

2. AVOID EXCESSIVE HUMIDITY. MANTIDS DON'T NEED TO BE MISTED AS MUCH AS ONE MIGHT THINK.

3. AVOID FEEDING THEM CRICKETS OR OUTDOOR INSECTS. HAND-FEEDING THEM WAX WORMS IS A BETTER OPTION.

4. BOIL OR CLEAN ANY STICKS OR LEAVES YOU PUT IN YOUR MANTIDS' CONTAINER FROM OUTSIDE. MANTIDS BRED IN CAPTIVITY OFTEN AREN'T IMMUNE TO OUTDOOR PARASITES.

And this isn't related to disease, but mantids lose their feet when put on window screens, so this is another thing to avoid.

 

[Ruaumoko]

The most important one there is no crickets!

 

[OctoberRainne]

I've never lost a mantis to disease but I'm pretty OCD with mantids,so they get bottled water and mostly flies ect. I think you should change feeders and tidy up the homes,about all you can really do to avoid that. I don't leave them with crickets in the cages period as they put the mantis at risk for losing a part. You can use crickets and hand it to the mantis with the head removed ect. though to be safer if that is all you can find as feeders. Hand feeding is nothing when you don't have 10+ lol

 

[Malakyoma]

I've broken most of those tenants and have only lost mantids to crickets. I've since gotten rid of them. But I use tap water without problem, my room is kept humid by a humidifier and I mist once a day, and I've fed outdoor insects before (and Lots of people do. Its an amazing food source).

I've lost mantids to bad crickets before, and I've since replaced them with mealies and superworms (Haven't been able to culture waxworms yet). I also microwave any furniture I get from outside for 10 minutes. seems a little excessive and can damage the sticks sometimes but I don't want anything surviving.

Then again I'm in Canada. We have strict regulations on our tap water (Moreso than any bottled water), and Winters are incredibly dry so humidifier and misting is a necessity.

 

[Digger]

Bro,

My very long-lived Nikki Mantis has thrived on PetSmart crickets. **However** she does not get those foul beasts until they are fully gut-loaded for 48 hours with oatmeal, fish flakes distilled H2O and Flukkers. She never has wanted anything in the worm category.

Distilled water. Only.

Misting once a day and drinking water offered by hand 2 to 3 times a day due to her advanced age.

Walkies once or twice a day as time allows.

 

[twolfe]

Thanks for sharing what you've found works for you. Here are some of my thoughts.

I'm keeping about 16 different species at the moment and have a lot of mantids. The majority of my adult females live about 10 - 11 months with a few living a year or longer. I've had very few issues with "black death."

I use tap water and haven't had any issues. But I don't know if the water quality standards varies by state. A major company in Minnesota contaminated the water in my area several years ago, and we probably have the most monitored water in the state.

I have success with species once I master the amount of misting. I raise many nymphs in nets and often mist twice a day when they are L1 (unless they are Blepharopsis mendica). I would add that adequate ventilation is important.

In the summer I catch as many wild insects as I can. I don't use any pesticides in my yard. I catch moths, bees and grasshoppers. I think my females thrive in the summer. Their ooths are often much larger than the ones laid in the winter. I prefer to feed a variety of food when possible.

I don't use a lot of crickets. I used to buy them monthly from lllreptile for my frogs and would occasionally give them to my mantids. These crickets appeared to be very healthy. But I still didn't use them as a main diet for any of my mantids. I recently had to buy some crickets for my adult female Deroplatys desiccata. As a sub adult, she would eat as many blue bottle flies as I would give her. Once she molted, she wouldn't touch them and was barely eating anything. I finally tried crickets, and that is what she prefers.

I actually had a bad experience with waxworms twice now. Once was with a healthy female wahlbergii. I gave her a waxworm. The next day she didn't look so good, and there was black spatter on the sides of the enclosure. She lived for about ten days after that but never ate again. I'd be afraid to use waxworms for small to medium species, but it could have just been a bad waxworm.

I've been raising my own darkling beetles for about 10 years now to feed the birds. I also feed the larvae (aka mealworms) to mantids but it's not their main diet. Since I raise my own, I know they haven't been exposed to any growth hormones and are healthy.

Light and temperature are other factors to consider.

 

[Mr. Hyde]

... I would add that adequate ventilation is important.

In the summer I catch as many wild insects as I can. I don't use any pesticides in my yard. I catch moths, bees and grasshoppers. I think my females thrive in the summer. Their ooths are often much larger than the ones laid in the winter. I prefer to feed a variety of food when possible....

Agreed 100% on everything you said, but especially these. They are pretty tough, but saying to not catch wild food is something I disagree with. If you can catch what THEY would eat in the wild, and you are sure it's free of pesticides, I think it's actually a better option. Chinese mantids thrive around here and therefore are easy to take care of. They are used to this climate and the food around here. My Idolo on the other hand is from Tanzania originally, so I try to replicate that with environment and food. They are flower insects so, as we all know, flying insects work the best. But that is not the case for all species, and like a few others have said, I've had luck with crickets when fed to the right species and gut loaded properly.

All in all, I think it's most important to just cater to what the species requires as apposed to one set of rules for all species. temp, humidity, food, etc. Just try to recreate what they are indigenous to.

 

[TheOtherSpecies]

Thanks for the great tips everyone!

 

[MantidBro]

The most important one there is no crickets!

Yeah crickets can be a pain when it comes to feeding mantids

 

[MantidBro]

I've never lost a mantis to disease but I'm pretty OCD with mantids,so they get bottled water and mostly flies ect. I think you should change feeders and tidy up the homes,about all you can really do to avoid that. I don't leave them with crickets in the cages period as they put the mantis at risk for losing a part. You can use crickets and hand it to the mantis with the head removed ect. though to be safer if that is all you can find as feeders. Hand feeding is nothing when you don't have 10+ lol

I'm OCD with them too. I thought I wasn't doing anything wrong cause I thought the water was filtered. 3 died because of that. Then one died after eating a cricket so I definitely think it was carrying something. But once I realize why the death happened, I change what I do to prevent it from happening again. My parents bought a filter, and I'm not feeding them any more crickets. I do clean their homes so I don't think it was from that. And my male Phyllocrania paradoxa, Mostro, did get his leg bitten off by a cricket, but it was while he was eating it, so I didn't expect it to happen. I left for like one second, came back, his leg was bleeding/not working and he had dropped the cricket, which is why I figured it bit him. I really want to avoid crickets after Keek died from eating one. And true lol. I hand-feed mine cut up bits of the wax worms now since they don't tend to want to touch them. Too big/wiggly. Lol.

 

[MantidBro]

I've broken most of those tenants and have only lost mantids to crickets. I've since gotten rid of them. But I use tap water without problem, my room is kept humid by a humidifier and I mist once a day, and I've fed outdoor insects before (and Lots of people do. Its an amazing food source).

I've lost mantids to bad crickets before, and I've since replaced them with mealies and superworms (Haven't been able to culture waxworms yet). I also microwave any furniture I get from outside for 10 minutes. seems a little excessive and can damage the sticks sometimes but I don't want anything surviving.

Then again I'm in Canada. We have strict regulations on our tap water (Moreso than any bottled water), and Winters are incredibly dry so humidifier and misting is a necessity.

Yeah I'm not feeding mine crickets anymore either. I feed them wax worms now. And the tap water I was using came from the fridge, thought it was filtered, but it was over due on a new filter. There was a big chunk of nastiness in there when my parents went to replace it. I think that's why mine died from it. I didn't go from the sink. But over here, even the water from the sink tastes funky and gives off an odd smell, so it might just be where I live, I don't know. Mine never died from humidity but was told by a biologist that it can help bacteria grow (but only if it's there in the first place, I clean the cages often so). Good idea to heat up the 'furniture' lol.

 

[MantidBro]

Bro,

My very long-lived Nikki Mantis has thrived on PetSmart crickets. **However** she does not get those foul beasts until they are fully gut-loaded for 48 hours with oatmeal, fish flakes distilled H2O and Flukkers. She never has wanted anything in the worm category.

Distilled water. Only.

Misting once a day and drinking water offered by hand 2 to 3 times a day due to her advanced age.

Walkies once or twice a day as time allows.

Mine were alright with crickets for quite a while, but suddenly, I ended up getting a bad batch. It happened only once out of, like, 50 times, but it happened nonetheless, so I want to avoid crickets entirely to decrease the chances. Good idea to gut load them before feeding them to your mantids. I gut loaded mine with carrots and my mantids hated that lol. But the new batch, I gave her a cricket only a day after getting them, maybe if I'd waited it could have been better for her, I don't know if crickets can just lose their disease or parasites due to feeding though.

I find that filtered water and bottled water is good, too, though. None have died after drinking since the filter has been replaced.

I also mist mine once a day, sometimes every two days, but I give them drips of water from my finger daily.

'Walkies', lol. Mine get walkies often, haha.

 

[MantidBro]

Thanks for the great tips everyone!

Welcome!