Idolo cannibalism =(

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brancsikia339

brancsikia339

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Yesterday, my 3 L4 idolos were perfectly fine and living with eachother. Last night, one moulted to L5. As soon as that happened, he caught and killed my L4 female! Now my L4 is jealous of him. This was unusual, since they are communal, so i decided to share it.

 
Once there's a decent size difference between them i guess no matter how communal they are, they will attempt to find any meal available.

Just as Rick said in a post somewhere around here, all mantids are cannibals, ones more than others

 
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Domanating said:
Once there's a decent size difference between them i guess no matter how communal they are, they will attempt to find any meal available.

Just as Rick said in a post somewhere around here, all mantids are cannibals, ones more than others
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1+

 
Strange? They usually don't eat for a day or so after a molt if well fed before hand, how big is the enclosure? I would think if it was that hungry so soon after a molt you may want to feed them more but it could just very well be just bad luck, sorry to hear about your loss.

 
Can def happen but rare for Idolos I would say.

It is weird after molt and if you had plenty of food...even when mine go low never had a problem....be glad you have a male :p

 
angelofdeathzz said:
Strange? They usually don't eat for a day or so after a molt if well fed before hand, how big is the enclosure? I would think if it was that hungry so soon after a molt you may want to feed them more but it could just very well be just bad luck, sorry to hear about your loss.
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The enclosure is 12" x 12" x 12" I thought it was really weird too, but it happens.

xxFaultxx said:
be glad you have a male :p
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ik i was at least happy to have a male and female left.

 
Yes, Yens method is the v-notch type, and a good one if you have the magnification and a willing mantis, I tell them to sit and stay -Haha-

 
Mine did that the other day too, really pissed me off! opps! bad granny ma! So I have almost all of the in seperate cages, but waiting for a delivery so I can finish.

 
Yikes! Sorry to hear about that, kind of sucks... I guess the only way you could get around this is to very carefully try to keep communal mantises only grouped by instar, and the second it looks like one is getting ready to molt, move it to another container...

 
I'm sorry to hear this.

maybe this story should be shared in the Idolo thread just to help warn others that while it might be rare, it can and does happen.

Harry

 
Yeah, that was not MY experience. And I can't remember any Idolo eating the same day they molted. Way too soggy. Are you sure you've fingered the right suspect?

 
Sporeworld said:
Yeah, that was not MY experience. And I can't remember any Idolo eating the same day they molted. Way too soggy. Are you sure you've fingered the right suspect?
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Oh definitely. He was even his right-after-moulting coloration when I found him. He also had 1 foot attached to the skin. He got it out, though.

 
It happened again. I come home with my flies hatching, and i look into the cage. There, I see the abdomen of my female idolo. Thats it. Her male ate her. Now I only have a stupid male. I can't even get an infertile ooth with him!

 
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Wow you have horrible luck... how much do you feed them per day? I'm sure you will be able to buy another female off someone. Maybe keep them separate until they are ready to mate as your male seems to be super aggressive.

 
maybon said:
Wow you have horrible luck... how much do you feed them per day? I'm sure you will be able to buy another female off someone. Maybe keep them separate until they are ready to mate as your male seems to be super aggressive.
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We ran out of food for a few days. My parents refused to get me another idolo because of the shipping prices. They're up to $30 per package

 
brancsikia339 said:
We ran out of food for a few days. My parents refused to get me another idolo because of the shipping prices. They're up to $30 per package
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No way around it your male is under fed if he's eating others, to avoid this they MUST eat every day, PM me about a female if you'd like...

 

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