Kinda random....

[ismart]

They don't? Based on what? I kept widearms for over a year and guess what was the only thing they ate? You got it, crickets! Nothing wrong with them eating crickets people. Treat your crickets as well as your mantids and you won't have issues.Based on this being my fifth generation of wide-arms. At one point last year i had 60 of them all in there own seperate enclosures. mainly fed on crickets whitch i feed on gutload cricket food. There water was changed daily. I had begun to lose quite a few wide-arms on a daily basis. The only thing i changed was there diet from crickets to flies. After that the overall survival improved. It's also possible the gutload cricket food i was purchasing may not have proved to be the best food after all. Rick what do you feed your crickets exactly? And do you raise them as hatchlings or store bought? I have actully gone as far as taking crickets completly off my mantid menue. Just for having to many problems. It is a pain though to feed larger mantids on blue bottle flies. My women wont let keep roaches.

This wide arm was raised on crickets her whole life and so were several others. Look how sickly she looks!

I have also raised wide-arms to adulthood on all but crickets, and have sucsessfully breed them to another generation on crickets. I still did lose quite a few as well to crickets. For a person who only has a few wide-arms i just dont think it's worth the risk. I'm not trying to scare people into not using crickets to feed there mantids. I just think there not the best food for wide-arms.

 

[Tiara]

I guess you do not want to take my advice. If you use crickets get them from a good source (not your local pet store) and feed them good. House flies/bluebottle flies are great however good luck feeding an adult female just on flies.

Dont take it like that Rick, I am just covering all my bases here. I know they are just bugs, but I really do have an attachement to them as silly as it sounds. I did get the crickets from a pet store, because I tried dubias and they were scared and fruit flies dont seem to fill them. I just want to do what is best for them. I am trying to take what everyone says and make sure my other two stay healthy! You guys are all experts to me here! Any help is good. Im going to try to stay away from crickets, because you said they are what they eat and I dont know what they ate. Maybe my mantids just dont do good on these crickets ( and I went this route before and NO WAY am I breeding those stinky mofos again!!) So I will try the dubia again, I have some other breeds too I will try. But everyone thank you for your help.

PS Adult females... What is good to feed them for future reference?? I feed my larger (IDK what instar) Indo Pacific mantid larger dubia or fuscas. OK??OR NO???

 

[bassist]

Wide arm adult female will take dubias and probably the larger roach species most people say they'll eat anything.

 

[Rick]

Dont take it like that Rick, I am just covering all my bases here. I know they are just bugs, but I really do have an attachement to them as silly as it sounds. I did get the crickets from a pet store, because I tried dubias and they were scared and fruit flies dont seem to fill them. I just want to do what is best for them. I am trying to take what everyone says and make sure my other two stay healthy! You guys are all experts to me here! Any help is good. Im going to try to stay away from crickets, because you said they are what they eat and I dont know what they ate. Maybe my mantids just dont do good on these crickets ( and I went this route before and NO WAY am I breeding those stinky mofos again!!) So I will try the dubia again, I have some other breeds too I will try. But everyone thank you for your help.PS Adult females... What is good to feed them for future reference?? I feed my larger (IDK what instar) Indo Pacific mantid larger dubia or fuscas. OK??OR NO???

Thanks. Well if your only source of crickets is a pet store then I understand. I get them online from breeders. In your case once they outgrow the flies go with roaches if you can. The males can probably stay on flies for their entire lives.

 

[Tiara]

Okay guys, Something is fishy around here. I woke up this morning and the other L3 is dead. The L4 is fine. ######????!!!

 

[ismart]

What conditions are you keeping them in?

 

[Tiara]

In a vile with a fake plant leaf for them to hang on with damp paper towel on the bottom. I keep it just damp enough if you were to press your finger on it, it would be damp, but not wet.

 

[Rick]

In a vile with a fake plant leaf for them to hang on with damp paper towel on the bottom. I keep it just damp enough if you were to press your finger on it, it would be damp, but not wet.

Vile screams small to me but I may be wrong. Can you post a pic.

 

[ismart]

Vile screams small to me but I may be wrong. Can you post a pic.

+1

Air flow may not be to good either. A pic would be very helpful.

 

[Tiara]

He has plent of room to hang upside down and molt. I am not sure how to post pics but I will give you the measurements? Maybe that will help?? 3 1/2 tall and 2 diameter. The top is like a plastic rubbery material with about 20 holes drilled into it. The same thing I have my A. formosa nymphs in. If you go to thortonplastics.com (NO www. just type it in like that) it is the 40 dram size, so you can see the pic. If it was ventilation wouldnt it have killed them sooner?? I have had them for about a month??? And, silly question, but doesnt the bigger one need more air?? He is doing fine??!! AHHHHH!!! I seem to be a professional at killing these poor little bugs!!!

 

[Hypoponera]

Your container may be a bit on the small side, but not too bad. And you have plenty of ventilation. How warm are you keeping them? My first attempt with wide arms failed as I could not keep them warm enough! I am not sure of the optimal temp, but I now keep mine at 84-85F and they are doing OK.

And don't take it too badly! We all started as pros at killing these critters too.

 

[Rick]

He has plent of room to hang upside down and molt. I am not sure how to post pics but I will give you the measurements? Maybe that will help?? 3 1/2 tall and 2 diameter. The top is like a plastic rubbery material with about 20 holes drilled into it. The same thing I have my A. formosa nymphs in. If you go to thortonplastics.com (NO www. just type it in like that) it is the 40 dram size, so you can see the pic. If it was ventilation wouldnt it have killed them sooner?? I have had them for about a month??? And, silly question, but doesnt the bigger one need more air?? He is doing fine??!! AHHHHH!!! I seem to be a professional at killing these poor little bugs!!!

It sounds too small. One of the best containers you can use are the 32 oz deli cups with the vented lids.

 

[bassist]

It sounds too small. One of the best containers you can use are the 32 oz deli cups with the vented lids.

Best invention for mantis keeping ever.

 

[Rick]

Best invention for mantis keeping ever.

Yep. I bought a big batch several years ago and never needed to buy them again. Small species can live their whole life in these while the bigger ones will need to be moved out at some point.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Oh my Dear T! the container is too small and close, they need to move around a bit and have some air flow, send me your address dear and I will send u some containers with lids to try them in!

 

[Tiara]

I had them in canning jars, Quart size, and they seemed lost, they hardly ate, it seemed too big? Maybe I just didnt give them enough time to adjust. My larger one is doing fine and so are my A. formosa nymphs. IDK........ I will transfer them to bigger containers today. Thanks guys. Now another question... my ooth that I bought from yensaw hatched sunday. How the heck do I get the little buggers separated?? They are jumping all over the place!!! I havent even tried opening the container. :blink:

 

[Tiara]

Oh my Dear T! the container is too small and close, they need to move around a bit and have some air flow, send me your address dear and I will send u some containers with lids to try them in!

LOL its funny that you said T, (Tiara is my puppys name) that is what we call her!!!! I will pm you my adress. Thanks!!

 

[PhilinYuma]

I had them in canning jars, Quart size, and they seemed lost, they hardly ate, it seemed too big? Maybe I just didnt give them enough time to adjust. My larger one is doing fine and so are my A. formosa nymphs. IDK........ I will transfer them to bigger containers today. Thanks guys. Now another question... my ooth that I bought from yensaw hatched sunday. How the heck do I get the little buggers separated?? They are jumping all over the place!!! I havent even tried opening the container. :blink:

Yeah, I had an ooth from Yen hatch last week. If it's a big ooth with lotsa babies (mine was Giant Asian) just toss the whole thing, pot and all (if course, it's a good idea to open the pot once it's in the cube!), into one of those 12" butterfly cubes (that you can buy at any American mantis store, like Mantisplace :lol: ) and give them lots of excelsior or raffia to scamper around on. I dump at least one pot of mels in there per day. I check to see if there are any left in the cage, and if not, it's feeding time again!

 

[Katnapper]

Yeah, I had an ooth from Yen hatch last week. If it's a big ooth with lotsa babies (mine was Giant Asian) just toss the whole thing, pot and all (if course, it's a good idea to open the pot once it's in the cube!), into one of those 12" butterfly cubes (that you can buy at any American mantis store, like Mantisplace :lol: ) and give them lots of excelsior or raffia to scamper around on. I dump at least one pot of mels in there per day. I check to see if there are any left in the cage, and if not, it's feeding time again!

I disagree with Phil.... <_< I'd carefully place it, rather than toss it! :lol: And be ready to zip it right back up when they all come pouring out, lol. Otherwise, I agree! Unzip just a little bit and use a funnel to shovel the fruit flies in. Have fun with all of your little ones. Oh, a chopstick or wooden skewer is indispensable when wrangling nymphs individually too!

 

[PhilinYuma]

I disagree with Phil.... <_< I'd carefully place it, rather than toss it! :lol: And be ready to zip it right back up when they all come pouring out, lol. Otherwise, I agree! Unzip just a little bit and use a funnel to shovel the fruit flies in. Have fun with all of your little ones. Oh, a chopstick or wooden skewer is indispensable when wrangling nymphs individually too!

O.K. Katt! Carefully toss it, though tiny nymphs are much more resistant to the "natural shocks that flesh is heir to," than we give them credit for. Also, when "wrangling nymphs" it's not a bad idea to have a bushy paintbrush handy, too. It's called an oval mop, if you have to buy one, and Michael's has them cheap (thanks for the idea, Mija!). You can use it dry or with a little spit on it to mop up those babies!