She ate poo!

[Dinora]

I used the search engine but couldn't find anything about these little guys eating poo so I gotta ask...

Ok, I was just staring at my mantis after I fed her about a gazillion fruit flies. :mellow:

I love to sit there and watch her eat! :wub:

It's really the only time my orchid is active, the rest of the time she's very still.

Anywho... after eating about 4 fruitflies she caught a 5th fruitfly then held it in one hand as she leaned in looking at a small bit of feces and snatched it up and ate it WHILE she was still holding her 5th fruitfly!!!

She then turned to the wiggling fly in her hand and ate that, too. <_<

I've never seen either of my mantis eat poo before this... should I be worried?

Thanks,

Dinora

 

[cloud jaguar]

some humans eat dirt and this is called Pica or somesuch. *Never heard of eating turd though. Perhaps she needs the fiber? Or used it as spice? perhaps those fruitflies really don't taste that good after all and she needed to cleanse her pallete? i would definitely offer her a small breathmint though. my s. californica did something similar after she oothed but she just ate the ooth bits stuck on her parts.

 

[Dinora]

LOL

Mantis Breathmint! I wonder where I would buy some?

 

[Rick]

She didn't eat it on purpose. Sometimes they grab at food but end up grabbing something else and start eating it. And no it isn't going to hurt anything so don't worry about it.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Once again Father Rick is right :lol: Father,... hahaha, I kill me! I just made that up...

That is one of the things I always write about, how they sit and watch their poop! Give her something bigger to eat, she is hungry and will grab anything she can that looks like food and eat it, take her to house fly level, even on the second molt my orchids eat blue bottle flies.

 

[revmdn]

I have to agree. My orchids will eat bb's with no problem. I have a small Gambian SE that eats them as well.

 

[Dinora]

Thank you guys!

I wasn't concerned about her being hungry, I just kept adding fruit flies until she stopped eating (I was actually concerned about her overeating!)

I guess it's time for my little baby to grow up to the blue bottles.

Thanks for the information.

*hugs*

Dinora

 

[nasty bugger]

Maybe the bacteria is down in her guts, and she senses that the bacteria in the 'poo' will suplement her gut and is trying to balance it that way, not my cup of...tea.

You could take a video for freaks on youtube... :lol: :angry:

 

[Frack]

lol

 

[robelgado]

OH NO. SHE ATE HER POO.

YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A MANTIS EATS POO DONT YOU?

come on I'm a NEWB AND I KNOW........

NOTHING HAPPENS

haha but I wouldnt feed it to them in a regular basis

 

[Dinora]

lol

You laugh, but at least my mantis doesn't eat chocolate covered crickets!