Having a problem with this lately. It is affecting all species but not all individuals. Only common link between all of those affected is crickets. Crickets have been my main food source all along and I have not had this problem. It is even affecting those mantids who have been fed some wild caught food. I usually feed my crickets "spring mix" which is a mixture of leafy greens. I have always fed them that without this problem in the mantids. Thinking maybe it might be the problem I started feeding the crickets ground up cat food. The problem persists in the mantids. Any suggestions?
Mantis diarrhea
- Thread starter Rick
- Start date
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garbonzo13
Well-known member
Hey Rick, think maybe it's just a sudden change in food. Kinda like eating healthy and going to McDonalds....humans tend to get the squirts. Hey man just a guess.
infinity
Well-known member
sure it's diarrhea? it could be a drop of water mixing with the frass at the bottom of the cage?
how about the water? maybe the water ur using to spary the mantids has something in it that they dont agree with? to much clorine(spelling) maybe filters dirty i dont know, but water might be it. if not then maybe one was sick and you didnt realize it and then you spread it to some others.
how about the water? maybe the water ur using to spary the mantids has something in it that they dont agree with? to much clorine(spelling) maybe filters dirty i dont know, but water might be it. if not then maybe one was sick and you didnt realize it and then you spread it to some others.
summerland
Active member
try to vary your cricket diet and see... I would take them off pet food.. i don't even feed my pets the commercial foods because of rancid ingredients, and i don't feed my crickets my organic pet food because of the carrot content...sorry if this isn't very helpful.
PseudoDave
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I was wondering if maybe the gutload that the crickets were getting could be responsible, still may not be but certainly worth exploring...
It seems whenever I give my mantids crickets, they get the runnies also. But they don't with roaches or moths, or flies. I finally gave up on crickets partly because of that. I always just bought the crickets from a pet store, so maybe it was what they were feeding them there.
Hi.
It seems to me to be the "vomiting desease" that appeared a while ago. It originates mostly from the crickets, seems to be a mass desease in cricket stocks that spreads to the mantids. A bad thing, even flies sucking on dead infected crickets may get it, so a mantid eating such a fly gets it, too. It seems to be a protozoan, some kind of gregarine sporozyte called Nosema.
Infected mantids regurgitate a reddish fluid and smear it on all the plants and walls of the jar. Infected mantids may be cured sometimes by higher temperatures and drier conditions, but in all cases I had they were later infertile as adults.
That's why I do not feed crickets anymore, just flies, Thermobium, wax moths and roaches, sometimes locusts.
Regards,
Christian
It seems to me to be the "vomiting desease" that appeared a while ago. It originates mostly from the crickets, seems to be a mass desease in cricket stocks that spreads to the mantids. A bad thing, even flies sucking on dead infected crickets may get it, so a mantid eating such a fly gets it, too. It seems to be a protozoan, some kind of gregarine sporozyte called Nosema.
Infected mantids regurgitate a reddish fluid and smear it on all the plants and walls of the jar. Infected mantids may be cured sometimes by higher temperatures and drier conditions, but in all cases I had they were later infertile as adults.
That's why I do not feed crickets anymore, just flies, Thermobium, wax moths and roaches, sometimes locusts.
Regards,
Christian
Hmmm seems to make the most sense. I guess I don't know which end it's coming out of really. It is affecting some but not others. Seems to be affecting H. Grandis the most out of any of them. My turtle eats the crickets and he is fine. I got the crickets from the same vendor as always and I am feeding them the same stuff. So are the mantids able to recover or should I destroy the affected mantids along with the crickets?
Thanks
ellroy
Well-known member
If this is the case it's something that needs to be well researched, I'm sure we could all help by keeping records on feeding etc but I know not everyone has the time to do that.
I have only ever given my mantids crickets once, the rest of the time they have been fed on fruit flies and wild caught house flies and crane flies and 2 of my mantids produced vomit on the same day. This was months after they had eaten a cricket and has not happened again since. I'm hoping this is just a couple of dodgy flies in my case.
Would it be possible to run a 'vomit' thread where people can report if and when it occurs with their mantids. Perhaps if we use a standard format ie:
Mantid Species: .....................
Food type: .....................
Source of food:................... (may help to pinpoint dodgy batches of crickets)
Cricket food:....................
Duration of sickness:...................
Treatment?: ...............................
There might be some other info people might think would be valuable but it could help build a picture of whats going on.
Just an idea, might prevent people losing mantids unneccessarily,
Alan
I have only ever given my mantids crickets once, the rest of the time they have been fed on fruit flies and wild caught house flies and crane flies and 2 of my mantids produced vomit on the same day. This was months after they had eaten a cricket and has not happened again since. I'm hoping this is just a couple of dodgy flies in my case.
Would it be possible to run a 'vomit' thread where people can report if and when it occurs with their mantids. Perhaps if we use a standard format ie:
Mantid Species: .....................
Food type: .....................
Source of food:................... (may help to pinpoint dodgy batches of crickets)
Cricket food:....................
Duration of sickness:...................
Treatment?: ...............................
There might be some other info people might think would be valuable but it could help build a picture of whats going on.
Just an idea, might prevent people losing mantids unneccessarily,
Alan
infinity
Well-known member
YAY!!! I can now speak from experience!!! - although my mantid having a bout of projectile sh!tt!ing is not exactly a good thing...
but ok,
Species: PW
Food: recently a mixture - brown crix and craneflies
Prey's Food: crix fed on *Reptiluxe* - craneflies... (wait, i'll ask them)
Source of food: fresh out packet *livefoodsdirect*
Duration/ time: acute
Colour: (gonna sound obvious) lightish brown
Temp: about 20*
Humidity: 30-40% (hadn't sprayed for a while)
Other notable points: Possibly overfed?...
but ok,
Species: PW
Food: recently a mixture - brown crix and craneflies
Prey's Food: crix fed on *Reptiluxe* - craneflies... (wait, i'll ask them)
Source of food: fresh out packet *livefoodsdirect*
Duration/ time: acute
Colour: (gonna sound obvious) lightish brown
Temp: about 20*
Humidity: 30-40% (hadn't sprayed for a while)
Other notable points: Possibly overfed?...
Hi.
Rick wrote: "... Seems to be affecting H. Grandis the most out of any of them. My turtle eats the crickets and he is fine. I got the crickets from the same vendor as always and I am feeding them the same stuff. So are the mantids able to recover or should I destroy the affected mantids along with the crickets?..."
It's a complicated thing, because there is a lack of data regarding this illness. We hypothesized Nosema due to several similar symptomes in locusts and bees, but is it really Nosema? Further, some mantids are vomiting without having eaten any cricket, especially when kept too warm. Is this Nosema too, or another desease? Do these get infertile, too? Well, maybe I'll know more about this point in the future, I have a stock of young D. lobata that had smeared some fluid in their cage, seeming to be otherwise still fit, though. I'll know if they had become infertile when the ooths will be to hatch... or not.
However, verts do fine with any crickets, it does not affect them.
When the mantids do not die massively, just separate them from the others and keep them under prospection. But clean all affected jars very well or throw them away.
Infinity wrote: "... my mantid having a bout of projectile sh!tt!ing..."
Mantids sometimes spray a yellowish bunch of fluid out of their anus, that's when they are well-fed. They may regulate their water and/or Nitrogene level like this. That is normal and has nothing to do with the case above.
Regards,
Christian
Rick wrote: "... Seems to be affecting H. Grandis the most out of any of them. My turtle eats the crickets and he is fine. I got the crickets from the same vendor as always and I am feeding them the same stuff. So are the mantids able to recover or should I destroy the affected mantids along with the crickets?..."
It's a complicated thing, because there is a lack of data regarding this illness. We hypothesized Nosema due to several similar symptomes in locusts and bees, but is it really Nosema? Further, some mantids are vomiting without having eaten any cricket, especially when kept too warm. Is this Nosema too, or another desease? Do these get infertile, too? Well, maybe I'll know more about this point in the future, I have a stock of young D. lobata that had smeared some fluid in their cage, seeming to be otherwise still fit, though. I'll know if they had become infertile when the ooths will be to hatch... or not.
However, verts do fine with any crickets, it does not affect them.
When the mantids do not die massively, just separate them from the others and keep them under prospection. But clean all affected jars very well or throw them away.
Infinity wrote: "... my mantid having a bout of projectile sh!tt!ing..."
Mantids sometimes spray a yellowish bunch of fluid out of their anus, that's when they are well-fed. They may regulate their water and/or Nitrogene level like this. That is normal and has nothing to do with the case above.
Regards,
Christian
