mantis first meal

[Fishe]

hi, just hatched my first ooth, chinese mantis. I released about 150 of them and kept 1. so far he is not eating, there is a small fly in there with him and an ant. do they usually have trouble catching their first meal? he is pretty scared of them even though they are half his size. any tips would be great.

 

[ToeChecks]

i use fruit flys for my nymphs. but buying a culture wouldnt be worth it for one mantis. maybe try to catch some fruitflys somehow?

 

[BugLover]

First of all, how long ago did they hatch? they won't need to eat until 2-3 days after they hatch. Also, chinese mantids have a high death rate, so you will need about 20 if you want some to reach adulthood. as food you might want to go to the petstore and buy fruitflies (they have tubes and 32 oz{?} cups). If you released the babies recently, you might be able to re-find some

 

[ToeChecks]

First of all, how long ago did they hatch? they won't need to eat until 2-3 days after they hatch. Also, chinese mantids have a high death rate, so you will need about 20 if you want some to reach adulthood. as food you might want to go to the petstore and buy fruitflies (they have tubes and 32 oz{?} cups). If you released the babies recently, you might be able to re-find some

you have a pet store that sells tubes of fruit flys?? my god are you lucky!

 

[Scruffy Aphid Herder]

Petco sells Fruit fly cultures OR you can put a slice of banana in a jar and leave it out a day or two and they should at least laying eggs in the fruit itself or just flying around in there.

 

[Fishe]

my friend has a fruit fly culture so i will get some. i was worried about the death rate, if this one dies I will wait a couple days and catch one that I released. they hatched on saturday

 

[ToeChecks]

if they only hatched on Saturday that's probably why it isn't eating. give it another day or two. then it should munch the fruit flys no problem!

 

[Krissim Klaw]

I routinely keep and raise 1-3 Chinese mantises up with little problem. Only thing I do before I slim my numbers down to the few I want to keep is make sure the nymphs in question can drink and eat properly when it comes to the digestion process. Mist some water and the nymph should eagerly take a sip and even fatten slightly. If the mantis rear stays completely flattened or it starts to vomit back up the water it drinks then I would select another nymph to raise up.

Avoid feeding ants. They have a number of defenses and are more risk than they are worth.

 

[Fishe]

Thanks, I will remove the ant. He was drinking water droplets off of himself

 

[Fishe]

He is currently eating a flightless fruit fly, thanks