My brand new nymph, and a lot of problems

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Raya

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Well, my first ever mantis arrived in the post today- thank you ever so much for all the advice! You guys are briliant :D

My new pet is an African mantis, and is a week or two old. I know it's better off getting one at about the 3rd instar, but I've been having loads of trouble trying to find one anyway, and it was very cheap (most places I've seen are charging a fortune!). Turns out though I've completely underestimated how small nymphs actually are. He's not even a centimetre in length. My nicely set up terrarium is way too big for him, so he's currently sitting in the coffee cup he was sent in.

Here's the major problem though- food. My local pet shop only has crickets that are three times his size, so in a minute I'm going to the next town to see what they have. I spoke on the phone and was told they do do small food, but if that's too big they can order something smaller in on Tuesday.

So if I can't get any food until Tuesday, will he be alright? He was sent with a few dead flies, so will those keep him going until then? Are there any special things I should consider when looking after a nymph?

Heh, I feel like a new parent, too worried I'll do something wrong!

 
Raya said:
Well, my first ever mantis arrived in the post today- thank you ever so much for all the advice! You guys are briliant :D My new pet is an African mantis, and is a week or two old. I know it's better off getting one at about the 3rd instar, but I've been having loads of trouble trying to find one anyway, and it was very cheap (most places I've seen are charging a fortune!). Turns out though I've completely underestimated how small nymphs actually are. He's not even a centimetre in length. My nicely set up terrarium is way too big for him, so he's currently sitting in the coffee cup he was sent in.

Here's the major problem though- food. My local pet shop only has crickets that are three times his size, so in a minute I'm going to the next town to see what they have. I spoke on the phone and was told they do do small food, but if that's too big they can order something smaller in on Tuesday.

So if I can't get any food until Tuesday, will he be alright? He was sent with a few dead flies, so will those keep him going until then? Are there any special things I should consider when looking after a nymph?

Heh, I feel like a new parent, too worried I'll do something wrong!
Click to expand...
Mantids only take live and moving things so the dead flies won't do unless you tie a string to them and swing it around the mantis! :rolleyes:
 
A boy named Jonjoe said:
Mantids only take live and moving things so the dead flies won't do unless you tie a string to them and swing it around the mantis! :rolleyes:
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brb, tying tiny knots on flies.

Heh, well, back from pet shop. I bought the smallest things they had. It's still not ideal- they're about the size of my mantis so I'm popping them in the fridge to make them extra lethargic- but hopefully it should tide it over until Tuesday.

 
Congrats on recieving your first mantis :) . Why don't you try and catch some appropriate sized bugs outside. If that is not possible, cut up one of the feeders you have bought into smaller pieces and put it up to the nymphs mouth. With any luck it will grab it and start to eat. You really should look into purchasing a fruit fly culture.

 
ismart said:
Congrats on recieving your first mantis :) . Why don't you try and catch some appropriate sized bugs outside. If that is not possible, cut up one of the feeders you have bought into smaller pieces and put it up to the nymphs mouth. With any luck it will grab it and start to eat. You really should look into purchasing a fruit fly culture.
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Sadly it's a bit of a chilly day round here today, so nothing's out and about. Yesterday though there were aphids everywhere- shame I didn't think to catch any!

Feeding's proving a bit tricky- for saying they're lethargic the crickets still move a lot when I'm trying to catch them. Turns out my mantis is a bit of a coward too- I put a cricket in and he looked at it, then the cricket moved so he ran to the other side of the cup! :rolleyes:

I'll go with your suggestion of chopping them up (that'll be awkward). Hopefully that will encourage him to eat a little.

 
You can buy fruit flies online. I agree on people charging a fortune for what used to be very cheap when it comes to mantids.

 
TEMPORARY SUGGESTIONS

As you probably know, you really need to order a ff culture immediately (hydei) but this will not arrive for a while.

Meantime I suggest these temporary options:

1) Go outside and find a rosebush - even if chilly outside the aphids will accumulate around unflowering buds - flick them off into a deli cup. The nymph will definitely eat these.

2) Get a small container with a fairly small hole in it. Put crushed fruit in there. Put it outside. Definitely fruitflies will go in there then put them with the nymph without releasing them all in your house.

3) force feed it a cut prey item by hand as mentioned in Ismart's post

Food concentration can be a real problem if you house the nymph in a giant encllosure it will never get enough food items. For now keep it in a deli cup with a mesh lid and a sponge filled feeding hole.

Good luck!

 
Arkanis said:
3) force feed it a cut prey item by hand as mentioned in Ismart's post
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I'm trying this, but he's having none of it. Seriously, I chopped up a small cricket, offered it him and he ran a mile. Is this normal behaviour? I'll try feeding him tomorrow just in case it's because he's not hungry. Now though I've got a sodding box of crickets and nobody to give them to, argh. Maybe my fish can have some, heh.

Failing that, looks like I'm hunting for a rose bush, or very tiny flies!

 
Raya said:
I'm trying this, but he's having none of it. Seriously, I chopped up a small cricket, offered it him and he ran a mile. Is this normal behaviour? I'll try feeding him tomorrow just in case it's because he's not hungry. Now though I've got a sodding box of crickets and nobody to give them to, argh. Maybe my fish can have some, heh.Failing that, looks like I'm hunting for a rose bush, or very tiny flies!
Click to expand...
What are you using to feed the cricket pieces with? Try a long needle, or strip the paper off the end of a twist tie and use that. Try different angles of approach, keeping your big, scary hand low and as distanced as possible from his face. Make sure to have some fresh juices coming out of the cricket so he will know it's food. Lightly brush or poke his mouth with the cricket piece so that some of the gut juices get on his mouth. Once he realizes it's food and it's not a threat, you'll have an easier time hand feeding.

If you have fish, you probably have an aquarium net. Take that out and skim the grass, bushes, weeds, etc. and see what you can rustle up. You might be surprised what you can find! ;)

Oh, and I second, third, or fourth the suggestion that you buy a fruit fly culture asap. I also highly recommend going ahead and ordering some supplies for making your own cultures while you're at it. If you order the stuff all at once, you'll save on shipping in the long run. Plus, you'll have it and be ready (hopefully) when your first culture dies off. Do take the time to read up on how long it takes to produce fruit flies from a newly made culture, so you can prepare accordingly. ;) Best of luck! :)

 
Mosquitos are the key. No mantis of mine that ate mosquitos died at a young age and grew faster than other ones. Turn on a porch light outside and they should be attrackted as long as there was no rain that day!

 
Katnapper said:
What are you using to feed the cricket pieces with? Try a long needle, or strip the paper off the end of a twist tie and use that. Try different angles of approach, keeping your big, scary hand low and as distanced as possible from his face. Make sure to have some fresh juices coming out of the cricket so he will know it's food. Lightly brush or poke his mouth with the cricket piece so that some of the gut juices get on his mouth. Once he realizes it's food and it's not a threat, you'll have an easier time hand feeding. If you have fish, you probably have an aquarium net. Take that out and skim the grass, bushes, weeds, etc. and see what you can rustle up. You might be surprised what you can find! ;)

Oh, and I second, third, or fourth the suggestion that you buy a fruit fly culture asap. I also highly recommend going ahead and ordering some supplies for making your own cultures while you're at it. If you order the stuff all at once, you'll save on shipping in the long run. Plus, you'll have it and be ready (hopefully) when your first culture dies off. Do take the time to read up on how long it takes to produce fruit flies from a newly made culture, so you can prepare accordingly. ;) Best of luck! :)
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They're some great ideas. I've been using tweezers, so I'll try a needle instead. You're right, it's probably the tweezers/my hand he's scared of. I'd probably run too if a giant hand suddenly came down and tried to feed me dinner!

agent A said:
Mosquitos are the key. No mantis of mine that ate mosquitos died at a young age and grew faster than other ones. Turn on a porch light outside and they should be attrackted as long as there was no rain that day!
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I live in the UK. Mosquitos are a bit rarer here ;)

Well, went to try and feed him this morning and he's hanging from the roof of the cup. I don't want to try and shake him off, so I'll wait until later. But it's made me think- might he just be close to moulting? The only symptoms I know are not feeding and hanging upside down. He's roughly 2 weeks old, so perhaps it's just time for him to shed? I've given him an extra misting just in case.

 
Raya said:
Well, my first ever mantis arrived in the post today- thank you ever so much for all the advice! You guys are briliant :D My new pet is an African mantis, and is a week or two old. I know it's better off getting one at about the 3rd instar, but I've been having loads of trouble trying to find one anyway, and it was very cheap (most places I've seen are charging a fortune!). Turns out though I've completely underestimated how small nymphs actually are. He's not even a centimetre in length. My nicely set up terrarium is way too big for him, so he's currently sitting in the coffee cup he was sent in.

Here's the major problem though- food. My local pet shop only has crickets that are three times his size, so in a minute I'm going to the next town to see what they have. I spoke on the phone and was told they do do small food, but if that's too big they can order something smaller in on Tuesday.

So if I can't get any food until Tuesday, will he be alright? He was sent with a few dead flies, so will those keep him going until then? Are there any special things I should consider when looking after a nymph?

Heh, I feel like a new parent, too worried I'll do something wrong!
Click to expand...
order some fruit flies and message them asking them to send you an old culture. you'll get it with some of them already hatched and you'll get more and more everyday :)

 
agent A said:
If it's folded into fourths it will. Remember, this is a late L1 nymph, not a subadult to adult molt!
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It doesn't matter what stage a mantis who falls is at. Falling while molting at any stage is likely to result in death or at least some deformity if the mantis cannot get back up to hang properly while finishing the molt. Landing on a whole roll of paper toweling won't be of any help, or make a difference one way or another.

 
Well, bad news, I'm afraid my mantis is dead :( Came back and he was lying on the floor of the cup. There's no signs of shed skin, so I don't think it was a moulting gone wrong- I think it was starvation. I tried all the things suggested and he refused to eat. When he refused last night I chopped up a cricket and left some pieces just in case he might try scavenging that, but I guess not. Either he might have been sick (although he seemed pretty lively when he moved about) or something else was wrong.

Well, that's a thoroughly disheartening start to the hobby :(

 

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