l4/5? mantid not feeding!

[rebirthflame]

hi i bought 2 bed winged mantis nymphs from ebay last week (i recieved them on the 5th or 6th) one of them is in a small plastic cup with mesh netting over the top and the other i put inside my 30cmx30cmx45cm glass terrarium i bought some brown crickets from my local pet store and they havent been eating them i am worried that they might be too big for them.

when the cricket comes close they pull their 'claws' in and sway 'in the wind' then strike but they never catch them they just seem to be punching them away. it looks like they are scared of them sometimes aswell running away as soon as one approaches. i was also wodering if the cage could be too large for them to find their prey... the crikets range between 2 or 3 mm up to about maybe 1cm for the very large this is the smallest i can get locally.

one of the mantis shed as soon as it arrived and the other a few days later maybe this has something to do with it? i have ordered some curly wing flies and some fruit fly culture from the internet but im not sure when they will arrive, will this be suitable size for them? i am getting quite worried about them...

i just tried putting a crick in front of in with tweesers and it just got scared then i tried getting a little juice out of one and putting it in front of its face...its seem to be drinking something, it had a droplet on its mouth, but then it just started playing dead and dropped to the floor :|

i have a few photos of them below..........

sorry about the length and incoherance of this post but i would appreciate any advice..thanks

 

[wuwu]

mantids usually don't eat for about 2 days after they molt.

 

[rebirthflame]

its been 4 or 5 days since the first one to shed and 2 or 3 days since the second one shed

 

[Ian]

Maybe the crickets you are attempting to feed them are a little large. Flies are a good choice, aas they usually take bettwer to flying prey anyway, as opposed to ground dwellers. What you might want to try is introducing a few fruit flies see if they take to these...I have done this in the past with some of my Deroplatys, and it kick started their appetite.

 

[Rick]

Try smaller food. Houseflies are a great food. Also please introduce yourself in the introductions forum.

 

[rebirthflame]

i just got some curly wings in the post today (there doesnt seem to be many houseflies around at this time of year in the uk) i put two in with each one and they are still not feeding one of them has got alot worse and doesnt seem able to stand it just lies on a piece of wood with its abdomen on the floor. the other still seems to be ok its just hanging from the roof although earlier today i did witness it doing something strange, it was pulsating its abdomen and some kind of liquid seemed to come out in a little drop (though i cant be sure of the liquid bit) do you think i should put the really bad one out of its misery of give it a bit longer and see what happens....?

 

[Ian]

I would give it a little longer...and a spraying might also be beneficial.

Best of luck.

 

[rebirthflame]

Thanks for all of your advice guys i think one of the mantids has passed away but the other seems to be fine, i think he has eaten something either that or the flies have done a dissapearing act....

 

[Rick]

He probably ate em or they may of died. How about that intro now?

 

[Jwonni]

My Orchids when small ran away from small crickets but put a curly wing fly in their bigger than the mantids and the mantids would have em in seconds