Nymph feeding.

[MantisSouth]

Most have said that when an ooth hatches, there are far too many to take care of indvidually, so you let them stay in the same container for a couple molts... How is it that you guys feed them all? Taking flies from the culture and putting them in? Or what? (I've never used fruit fly cultures, or even really know what they look like, or how they work, so it's hard for me to understand how this works. )

 

[Jwonni]

i heard people put the culture in with the mantids instead of just putting some of the flies in

 

[Rick]

You can do it either way. I just tap a bunch of flies out of the vials into the tank every other day.

 

[MantisSouth]

Isn't it messy to do so Rick (Isn't there a mixture of liquid in the culture)? And hard to control the mantids/flies from going everywhere?

 

[Jesse]

The flies and mantids have the potential to go everywhere....that is why I put the mantid cage in the fridge for 10 minutes....they're usually all "passed out" by then and look dead....they sure don't move after that, making putting fruitflies in the container much easier. The mantids always recover within 10 minutes and start eating soon after.

 

[ellroy]

Does that mean you are regularly putting your mantids in the fridge Jesse?

 

[Rick]

My nymph tanks are covered by mesh screen that is taped down. I peel back one corner and place my funnel in the hole. Then I tap the vial over the funnel. The fly medium is solid so nothing but flies comes out.

 

[Jesse]

Does that mean you are regularly putting your mantids in the fridge Jesse?

Every other day (when I feed them) until they are L3.