Put feeding crickets in same cage as mantis?

[kbfprivate]

I've always had good luck feeding mantises crickets and usually buy them at Petco in batches of 20 or 30. Because my wife will only allow me to have one large cage for the mantis, I usually leave the crickets in the plastic box with the cardboard inside for them to feed on. Usually about half of the crickets end up dying in the plastic box over the span of a few weeks.

I'm curious whether the crickets would last longer if they lived in the same cage as the mantis. I usually drop 1 or 2 crickets in the cage per day for my mantis. Would s/he gobble them up too quickly if 20 crickets were wandering around in his cage? Would his feeding habits be thrown off?

Thanks!

Noah

 

[d17oug18]

i do that all the time, and if you put potatoes and scrap veggies they live forever. if your cage has places for your mantis can escape(the crickets cant reach it) then its fine, BUT! crickets in mass have the ability to eat mantises, which happens some times. Mostly to non adult mantises.

 

[PhilinYuma]

I've always had good luck feeding mantises crickets and usually buy them at Petco in batches of 20 or 30. Because my wife will only allow me to have one large cage for the mantis, I usually leave the crickets in the plastic box with the cardboard inside for them to feed on. Usually about half of the crickets end up dying in the plastic box over the span of a few weeks.

I'm curious whether the crickets would last longer if they lived in the same cage as the mantis. I usually drop 1 or 2 crickets in the cage per day for my mantis. Would s/he gobble them up too quickly if 20 crickets were wandering around in his cage? Would his feeding habits be thrown off?

Thanks!

Noah

I agreed with Doug's answer and wasn't going to add anything, but then I noticed the cardboard comment. Are you just feeding your crix cardboard? It, egg crate, is put in there to give the crix somewhere to hide. It has no food value. So feed yr crix fruit and veggies for moisture and carbs, and some dog or cat food for animal protein so that they are less likely to attack each other or yr mantis, and they'll live longer, though if they are very small, expect them to double in size every week or so.

Also, perhaps I should mention that guys who live alone are "allowed" to keep as many mantids and crickets and dogs and chameleons, etc as they want.Think about it!

 

[kbfprivate]

Thank you so much for the good information. I will move my (L4 - he's shed at least 3x in last month) mantis to a larger cage as he seems to be moving around a lot more. I'll also start dumping all the crickets into the cage and throw in some fruit. I'm still at the point where I'm picking up smaller crickets, so 20 of them (hopefully) won't be able to overthrow the mantis.

My mantis will be stoked to have more space to roam

 

[angelofdeathzz]

I feed my crix Guinea pig food(pellets) that I moisten with water it contains all a cricket could need plus more. You can get a small amount in bulk at most pet stores and its cheap, loaded with vitamins and other good stuff. I've had bad experience's with veggies an fruit, if there's to much they all died in a short time from to much moisture I think, but I keep the crickets in their own little container 10x10x6, 20-30 at a time, and feed them one at a time to my budwings, as I don't want them snacking on my mantids legs or worse.

If you put fruit in your tank you WILL get ff's in no time and possibly other unwanted pests...

In the end I LIKE FLIES !!!

 

[Arwen9]

I don't use fruit either.

with my Petsmart card, I get these:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753954

So far, it's worked wonders. I've got food, water, and vitamins in cubes that last pretty long time. You just have to mist them occasionally as they dry out. (which, if you're misting your tank, is no problem)

So far I've actually had a problem with not enough crix dying. lol. Right now half of my stock molted to adulthood, so I have to feed them to my adults and not the smaller ones. Good problem I suppose.

Liz

 

[hibiscusmile]

I have ordered cricks from www.rainbowmealworms.com a few times now and cannot be happier with these crickets, big, fat, and only out of a thousand, a couple die offs, which is great, cause dead cricks smell, live ones dont. I make my own food for them, with dog and cat food ground up and fish food, and other things, they love it! the day I get them, I have to feed them twice as they go right thru it. I would really be careful putting in more than a couple cricks with him.

 

[kmsgameboy]

As long as your mantis is an adult and it has a spot where it can hang out away from the crickets I would think it would be ok. I wouldnt do it with a mantis that needs to molt though.

 

[crucis]

Hmmm i think putting live feeder insects in with a mantis is alright, but i (personally) wouldn't leave more than a handful inside at a given time because it just isn't natural. It could lead to over-eating (wild mantids never know when they'll land their next meal, so they stuff their faces whenever possible) and even desensitization to the movements of live prey. The latter could occur when a mantis is too full to eat and yet is exposed constantly to live food. It would hunt with far less enthusiasm after a while.

Also (as has been mentioned above) crickets are really dangerous to have around when any other insect is moulting. They have no qualms about cannibalism if they feel the need for some protein or additional moisture, and a moulting mantis would suit them just fine... They are powerful insects in their own right; have strong jaws and a stronger kick.

If you really have to leave the crickets in with the mantis, i think it'd be a good idea to give them enough hiding places so that they don't stray into the mantid's field of vision too frequently.

Just my two cents' worth