In a Perfect World

[dmina]

OK.. I am a newby here and have been reading for days.. LOL

I have not come across this request yet.. If I missed it, then I am sorry to repeat.

I am preparing for chinese & european mantids.

So in a perfect world... What would be an ideal feeding routine, for optimal health & growth?

From emerging nymphs to adult mantid.

example:

L1 to L3 = 3 to 4 FF every other day

L3 to L5 = Mon. 7 to 10 FF Wed. 2 meal worms

I have no idea on the numbers, but I was hoping someone would be able to help breakdown a feeding chart?

Thanks:]

 

[Rick]

You would need to feed more than a few fruit flies every other day to an L3. That may be okay for an L1 but you really don't have to give them a set number each feeding. For L5 forget fruit flies, you should be moving up to things like bluebottle flies, crickets, roaches.

My best advice is to pay attention to the abdomens of the mantids. If the mantids are plump you're likely feeding enough. If the abdomen is thin and flat you need to feed more. I prefer to keep them looking plump but not where they look like they are about to burst (they won't). There is no set number/amount of feeders to give a mantis. You have to figure out what works best but I've found watching how plump the abdomen is to be the best way. If the abdomen is stretched to the max skip a feeding for that mantis and feed a bit less next time.

 

[Ntsees]

...So in a perfect world... What would be an ideal feeding routine, for optimal health & growth?
From emerging nymphs to adult mantid...

You have to understand that in nature, a mantid (or should I say any organism) does not wait until lunch or dinner before it can eat. Predators eat at every given opportunity because they do not know when the next meal will come along.

 

[dmina]

Thank you, I understand in the wild they need to eat when given the opportunity to ... but in a cup not so much.. So I want to feed them most efficiently.. I have read (I can't remember what insects were mentioned but) "feed this only as a treat once a week" - "this insect is full of protien" - "this one has no nutrition" So I am looking for a good balance of food I should be looking for or ordering. Trying to get myself set up for success.

example:

L1 to L3 = 3 to 4 FF every other day

L3 to L4 = Mon. 7 to 10 FF Wed. 2 meal worms Fri. 7 - 10 FF Sun. 1 Butterworm as treat

Thanks for the input

 

[Rick]

Thank you, I understand in the wild they need to eat when given the opportunity to ... but in a cup not so much.. So I want to feed them most efficiently.. I have read (I can't remember what insects were mentioned but) "feed this only as a treat once a week" - "this insect is full of protien" - "this one has no nutrition" So I am looking for a good balance of food I should be looking for or ordering. Trying to get myself set up for success.

example:

L1 to L3 = 3 to 4 FF every other day

L3 to L4 = Mon. 7 to 10 FF Wed. 2 meal worms Fri. 7 - 10 FF Sun. 1 Butterworm as treat

Thanks for the input

I've never subscribed to anything like that. My advice on amount is a good guide. As far as what to feed you should try and find out what the mantis eats naturally. You have to be somewhat generic though because it would be near impossible to replicate a natural diet in some species. If you are really that concerned about making the diet as good as possible you should catch wild insects for feeding. These are opportunistic predators so they will eat nearly any insect they can capture. Generally most people don't have time to capture wild insects to feed their mantids.

What you need to know is that there are no hard and fast rules. We're not talking about feeding the family dog here. Feeding a variety of food is always best but isn't always practical. I've done fine feeding many species a diet exclusively of crickets. Pay attention to what you feed your feeders as this is important. If your feeders have a proper diet than for the species you mentioned they would do fine on crickets or roaches with some flies thrown in and the occasional mealworm. I think you are over-complicating it really.

 

[Crazy4mantis]

I used about 3-5 fruit flies a day for L1-L3, 1-2 house fly for around L4-5, 1-2 bluebottles for L6-subadult.

adult females will eat whatever they can get a hold of as they need to develop eggs and ooths. Give them some extra food. Adult males do not eat much at all as they have no growing to do or eggs to lay, they are fine with like a bb a day or even every other day.

flower mantis species can eat bees at subadult-adult. Don't give these to non flower species as they can't handle them and can get stung. Also, honey bees are endangered so don't catch these.

Stay away from wild crickets because they can sometimes make a mantis sick. Captive bred ones are fine, and are good staple feeders. don't put too many in as they can attack the mantis.

You can skip feeding for a day or two if you're busy but feed extra the next day.

you should vary the diet. I'd supplement mealworms, roaches, crickets, flies etc. randomly.

wild caught food is always more nutritious but if you can't catch stuff than feed your feeder insects something nutritious (honey for flies, veggies/cricket mix for crickets, etc.) to help complete the diet.

Always take out uneaten food as the mantis could be getting ready to molt and food in the cage can disturb the process. do not feed if the mantis appears to be molting.

there is no set "schedule" for feeding. the mantis will eat whatever, whenever. just make sure food is not too big.

I hope that wasn't confusing

 

[dmina]

I've never subscribed to anything like that. My advice on amount is a good guide. As far as what to feed you should try and find out what the mantis eats naturally. You have to be somewhat generic though because it would be near impossible to replicate a natural diet in some species. If you are really that concerned about making the diet as good as possible you should catch wild insects for feeding. These are opportunistic predators so they will eat nearly any insect they can capture. Generally most people don't have time to capture wild insects to feed their mantids.

What you need to know is that there are no hard and fast rules. We're not talking about feeding the family dog here. Feeding a variety of food is always best but isn't always practical. I've done fine feeding many species a diet exclusively of crickets. Pay attention to what you feed your feeders as this is important. If your feeders have a proper diet than for the species you mentioned they would do fine on crickets or roaches with some flies thrown in and the occasional mealworm. I think you are over-complicating it really.

LOL yeah I tend to over compicate a lot of things... now I am understanding.. there is a little OCD in me.. I just don't want to be cought behind, before I even get started.

Thank you Crazy4mantis not confusing... I was getting really excited about all the different kinds, better slow down and figure out the two I am working on now..

Thanks I guess I just have that nesting thing going on while I wait for the ooths to hatch...