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markdneck

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Can I just buy crickets or other small "bugs" at PetCo? I really don't want (my wife doesn't want!) fly cultures, etc in the house. We have both PetCos and Petsmarts within a few blocks (I work in the Petco kitten rescue program weekends) so shopping for my mantids' groceries once a week is not a problem.

What do you guys think? I don't mind feeding tuna by hand either. Sounds like fun. Maybe mantids would enjoy cat food tuna and salmon. My cats get the best, $1 per tiny can gourmet wild caught fish. They won't mind sharing

"Never believe a man who says he is the BOSS in his home ... He probably lies about other stuff too!"

 
Nothing wrong with your plan. I wouldn't recommend feeding tuna or anything like that though.

 
I know that PetCo carries fruit flies, pinhead crickets, "large" crickets, and a variety of refrigerated worms. I haven't found any houseflies or blue bottles there.

 
They have everything I will need. Live flies of all kinds, crickets, various larvae. They also have "cages", small enclosures for as little as $2.98 and the people working there were able to give advice. Good store!

 
You're not going to get a lot of advice there when it comes to mantids.

 
They don't know Mantids but they do know about all the kind of feeders they sell. It seems they do a big business in lizards and small lizards eat the same meals as little Mantids. I have been in Petsmart often buying cat supplies and equipment for my Beta tank but had never noticed the feeder bug business there until yesterday.

Teens and college kid work at Petsmart and I didn't expect then to know anythng but the store apparently does a good training job. They were pointing out habitats and substrates and feeders, etc. Anything comp;icated I'll buy from one of the dealers I see here on the site but the basi supplies I will get at closeby Pestsmart.

I see many hobbiest here are from the UK (my favorite country to visit. I wonder why that is?)

 
I see many hobbiest here are from the UK (my favorite country to visit. I wonder why that is?)
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That's a good question. I wanna know too. Maybe there are more mantises in UK so UK people see them more often and they like them...?

 
Nothing wrong with your plan. I wouldn't recommend feeding tuna or anything like that though.
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What's the matter with tuna? My mantids love it.
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I wouldn't feed mine tuna, if I were out of food I would go outside and find some insects.

 
I live in a suburban community. Everyone here sprays their lawns for harmful insects, spray bushes for other bugs and we put down arsenic and other poisons for snails and slugs in flowerbeds. I don't know what mantids' sensitivities to these poisons are compared with pest insects but I would be afraid to feed anythng from the environment lest I poison my "herd". (What is a group of mantids called anyway? Swarm? Gaggle? "Mob of mantids" has a nice ring to it!)

 
Just turn your porchlight on. It should attract a TON of moths. You can keep them overnight in a jar. If they are still alive after 6 or 7 hours, you know they are okay to feed to your mantids. If they have been in contact with any pesticide, they wont last that long.

 
What? Is tuna the staple food for your mantis(es)?
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No, but when I'm waiting for fruitflies, cockroaches, crickets ect. to arrive, that's what they eat.
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Oh I see. Makes sense. I'd like to see what happens if someone does feed their mantis tuna all their life. I mean, if it makes nice healthy mantises, I might as well start doing that too.

 
So you just put the tuna down and the mantises go and feed like a cat? I never thought I could get mantises to eat stuff that's not moving...

 
So you just put the tuna down and the mantises go and feed like a cat? I never thought I could get mantises to eat stuff that's not moving...[/quoteWhen they don't, I just spear the tuna with a toothpick and move it around a bit.
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So you just put the tuna down and the mantises go and feed like a cat? I never thought I could get mantises to eat stuff that's not moving...[/quoteWhen they don't' date= I just spear the tuna with a toothpick and move it around a bit.

So you're saying you just put tuna down and mantids come over and eat it? I find that a bit hard to believe.
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So you just put the tuna down and the mantises go and feed like a cat? I never thought I could get mantises to eat stuff that's not moving...[/quoteWhen they don't' date= I just spear the tuna with a toothpick and move it around a bit.

So you're saying you just put tuna down and mantids come over and eat it? I find that a bit hard to believe.
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I suppose it does sound a bit unbelievable, but it's true. The first few times you try it, you really have to move it around. When they finally recognize it as food, you don't have to move it around as much, although some species never learn. Like Mantis Religiosa.
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I really really need to try this one day.............................. It will definitely make feeding a lot easier if it can be done long-term.

 

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