Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii cricket binge

[agent A]

I have a wahlbergii nymph that ate 2 crickets that were almost the size of it last night. I fed it another one this morning, it is really fat, abdomen is bigger that whole rest of body. The strange thing is, it ate half of the cricket I gave it today, now it is just holding the cricket and isn't eating it, arms spread away from body but still holding cricket. I know it wasn't just startled because I watched it for a good 5 minutes or so, if it was just startled, in less than 1 minute it would go back to munching away. Is it normal for them to just hold on to food like that?

 

[dino2]

yeah, he is full, he will start eating it again when he is more hungry, he's just saving it for later.

 

[beginner entomologist]

yeah, he is full, he will start eating it again when he is more hungry, he's just saving it for later.

+1

 

[agent A]

he ate a little more then threw it on the ground. it is a male!

 

[agent A]

1 more question. another male ate 1 cricket, after that, grabbed another and ate for a minute or two, then threw the cricket and ran away. what gives?

 

[idolomantis]

1 more question. another male ate 1 cricket, after that, grabbed another and ate for a minute or two, then threw the cricket and ran away. what gives?

LOL..... He's full, if you feed them crickets their own size or larger feed one every other day :/

Or do you want it to burt open if it drops from a large distance?

 

[agent A]

LOL..... He's full, if you feed them crickets their own size or larger feed one every other day :/Or do you want it to burt open if it drops from a large distance?

a mantis abdomen can burst when over fed? wow :mellow:

 

[PhilinYuma]

a mantis abdomen can burst when over fed? wow :mellow:

No. That's not what he said!

 

[agent A]

No. That's not what he said!

never mind, i get it now.

 

[agent A]

here is the leftover from the binge:

 

[batsofchaos]

Yeah, little dude's full. My ghost's hardly ever finish their crickets, but they're fat, plump and healthy. All it means is a little more clean-up work than if they always finished.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Like everyone else is stating they are dropping the crickets because they are stuffed.

 

[JoeCapricorn]

I'm paranoid of overfeeding my mantises, so I only give them a single cricket and only a cricket that I know they will handle. The crickets I got a few days ago are also molting and growing, so some of them are too big for the L5 African mantises. I gave one to Angel and it made him really plump! But I know he could handle it. With the smaller mantises I just feed fruit flies until they appear plump.

 

[PhilinYuma]

I'm paranoid of overfeeding my mantises, so I only give them a single cricket and only a cricket that I know they will handle. The crickets I got a few days ago are also molting and growing, so some of them are too big for the L5 African mantises. I gave one to Angel and it made him really plump! But I know he could handle it. With the smaller mantises I just feed fruit flies until they appear plump.

What do you fear will happen if you overfeed them, Joe? They won't burst! They'll just stop eating!

 

[Katnapper]

I feed until they are full and not interested anymore. And with most of my mantids, I provide plenty of food available at all times (unless complications with food orders, acquiring them on time, or problems with eclosion. Then I resort to hand feeding roaches (my back-up food source that I always have and breed) to the ones who will accept it.

 

[agent A]

oh, yeah, that reminds me. I need help with hand-feeding (hey, I'm asking for help and admiting I'm having trouble). The mantis always gets scared when I try to hand feed it. I try handfeeding wahlbergii crickets when the crickets can hide or the wahlbergii is just too lazy to persue the cricket. I take 10 inch tongs and hold the cricket by the leg and I wiggle it like it is a fly in flight but the mantis usually backs away with forelegs close to the body.

 

[Schloaty]

Paranoid of overfeeding?

Sheesh, I think I'm a major offender of overfeeding...I find they just don't eat when they're not hungry.

I always try to keep some food in the cage, since I keep my ghosts all together. They're not all that predisposed to canibalism, but I figure better safe than sorry.