Mantis refusing to eat

[Bugsy Malone]

First off im not 100% sure what exact type of Mantis I have. I think its a African Mantis (Long slender green body with plump abdomen area, smallish head and arms). Around 5-6cm in length. His name is Vlad..

Food = brown cricketts, medium sized.

Was kept in a jungle jar but looked a bit cramped. Now lives in a small tank of around 10"x10"x18" in height. Bark substrate on the floor, a few twigs and fake leaves organised coming out of a pot at the centre of the tank. Now the tank itself has a built in light which I have on that does provide some warmth. Ive put some aluminium mesh at the top of the tank and a piece of paper to deflect some of the light away from the Mantis. Sprayed daily with tepid water.

But he (if it is a he), is refusing to eat, I have even produced crickets by tweezers which he just gets annoyed at and "bats" them out the way. The crickets have even taken to crawling on the mesh at the top of the tank with him, litteraly sitting next to or on his foot. He will look at them but doesnt seem bothered about eating them. Taking into account I have had him around 7 days he has not eaten. Is this normal?? ill try and get some pictures of his tank on here if its helps. Not sure what to do really??

any ideas?

 

[hibiscusmile]

Does it have wings? If so it is an adult and if it has seven or eight segments on its belly it is a male, male adults do not eat much, but does like water each day. If it has less than 7 segments and has wings it is a female and may be going to lay its ootheca. If no wings, it is going into a molt and will not eat, just leave it be without food but continue with water, should molt then any time now. gee, that typing tired me out :lol:

 

[angelofdeathzz]

7 day's is awhile ,2-3 day's is normal. if you want to get him to eat you can split the cricket in half and then put the gooey wet part up to his mouth with tweezers and he should grab on and eat( hint: they like the non butt section the best most of the time) Good luck.

 

[Bugsy Malone]

Just checked...it has 7+ segments on its belly. Daft thing was hangning there with a cricket litteraly underneath it! As for wings this is going to sound daft but i cant see any, dont really know if they are hidden etc I have taken a few pictures and ill see if i can upload some....watch this space..

The tank looks quite bright in those pictures. Thats the camera...its actually not that bright, just wish my camera could show it properly!

Anyone have an idea what species it is? Plus is it a full adult. Sorry for all the questions!

Many thanks!

 

[hibiscusmile]

aW! it is still a little one, not an adult, take food out of its house, it is going to molt and leave it be, mist container with really warm water not hitting it. It will molt any time now. Can't see photo good enough to give id of kind.

 

[Bugsy Malone]

Cricket removed (it had turned white??), now the Mantis is back in its home which has been sprayed with warm water. Ill let you know what happens...if anything.

 

[Bugsy Malone]

Also, ive just checked the temp. Its 72-74f inside the Mantis's home.

 

[Rick]

The temps are a bit cool, but should be ok. The mantis is likely about to molt soon. Don't disturb it. THe cricket molted and that is why it was white.

 

[Katnapper]

Like Rebecca and Rick said, most likely reason for no appetite is because of an impending molt. Don't worry about the mantis starving to death if it doesn't eat for a few days in a row. I'd offer prey each day, but remove it if the mantis obviously is showing no interest or an aversion to eating... then try again the next day (if it has not molted yet). Keeping prey items in with mantids while they molt can be dangerous if not fatal. The mantids are totally helpless while actively molting and can be injured or killed by the prey knocking them down or by being eaten themselves while helpless.

If your mantis molts, wait a day or two afterwards before offerring food. The mantis won't be hungry yet anyways, and this gives them time for their fresh new exoskeleton to harden.

When a mantis refuses to eat, also check and make sure the prey item isn't too large. Even a starving mantis will bat away and avoid a too large prey item.

Best of luck!

 

[hibiscusmile]

Keep us updated, the cricket will want some dinner now too!

 

[Findarato]

Yes, all I wanted to tell you about your mantis, has already been said by the others. What comes to mind is 1. It looks exactly like mine, which are Hierodula membranacea.

one of mine molted yesterday morning after 7+ days not eating, i was very happy to see this, and he has eaten 2 crickets since that. Tell us how it goes with your Vlad. Molting often happens during the night. maybe because of higher humidity when temp is slightly reduced.

 

[Bugsy Malone]

Seriously....many thanks for all your replies (Can allways tell a good forum by how quick you get replies {I'm a member of a few})

Still nothing, ive allways wondered about putting a heat matt at the back of its enclosure, but not sure if that would make it too hot?

Im still spraying it enclosure (not the mantis directly tho), ill offer it a cricket with a pair of tweezers and see if it wants it, that way i wont have to chase it round his home! and if that doesnt work ill try a meal worm.

As for the crickets, they are loving eating all bran, like its going out of fashion! lol

 

[Bugsy Malone]

Still hasnt eaten or molted. I offered it a smallish sized cricket with tweezers yesterday, Vlad got annoyed batted it about 6 times and ran off (never seen him move as quick..) to the side of his tank. So thats 11 days without food....

Getting more worried now...!

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Have you tried breaking the food in half and putting the guts up to and on his mouth? it worked for me with a adult male Gongy that would not eat and after that he took two more feeders from tweezers.

 

[Bugsy Malone]

Update....

Got back from work this evening (forgot to look at the tank this morning), wheres my little Mantis gone, theres a bigger one (with small ish wings) in there now!! Yep its moulted!!! :clap: Fascinating that something that big could come from a smallish mantid, quite a bit bigger in size. Ill try and get a few Pictures if i can.

Its looking more like a Hierodula membranacea even more now. Some things ive read have said that this species can be a bit aggresive, ive not experienced that, hes tame and readily walks on my hand ( I dont attempt to pick him up).

Thanks for all the help guys, you lot know your onions (or Mantids) thats for sure!!

Lee

 

[Findarato]

Update....

Got back from work this evening (forgot to look at the tank this morning), wheres my little Mantis gone, theres a bigger one (with small ish wings) in there now!! Yep its moulted!!! :clap: Fascinating that something that big could come from a smallish mantid, quite a bit bigger in size. Ill try and get a few Pictures if i can.

Its looking more like a Hierodula membranacea even more now. Some things ive read have said that this species can be a bit aggresive, ive not experienced that, hes tame and readily walks on my hand ( I dont attempt to pick him up).

Thanks for all the help guys, you lot know your onions (or Mantids) thats for sure!!

Lee

congratulations, for you and Vlad!

Reagrding aggressions, my Hierodulas show that only towards each other, never me. I use to take them out of enclosures sometimes, and they sit on my hand and look around for some minutes. Then I put them back again. Usually they look for food soon after that, so maybe small trips make them hungry.

If Vlad has small wings now, he is subadult, and has one more molt to go. Then he will have big wings.

 

[Bugsy Malone]

Put a cricket in with him this morning, so if he's hungry he could have a good munch