soldier flies

[paddythemic]

Does anyone else have mantids that munch ONLY PARTIALLY on soldier flies ? My giant asian and diabolicas devour house flies COMPLETELY except for the occasional wing here and there.

They are pretty dang easy to work with and I've heard that they are nutritious as worms, but what the heck?

 

[Colorcham427]

Does anyone else have mantids that munch ONLY PARTIALLY on soldier flies ? My giant asian and diabolicas devour house flies COMPLETELY except for the occasional wing here and there.

They are pretty dang easy to work with and I've heard that they are nutritious as worms, but what the heck?

The larvae (phoenix worms) are very high in calcium, but their skin is rather tough to digest.

I never feed them to my panther chameleons, however, lots of chameleon keepers do feed them off as treats.

I bet the flies would be awesome, do you culture them yourself outdoors in a compost bucket sort a thingy? lol

 

[paddythemic]

I thought about it but they seem to prefer the house flies. I will continue to use soldier flies as a backup food though, since I have a petstore for em.

perhaps they taste funny..

 

[GreenOasis]

"So, these two cannibals were eating a clown and one turns to the other and says, 'Does this taste funny to you?'"

...sorry, couldn't help myself.

-Carey Kurtz-

 

[Precarious]

Yeah, mine too. They generally leave the last nugget drop. May be because they feed on feces while they pupate. I don't know what they feed on as adults but maybe one that has been adult for a while would get eaten all the way. All that I've used were freshly hatched.

This wild female Chinese ate 2 completely, but she was a big girl.

 

[paddythemic]

I believe adult soldier flies do not eat and only live ten days.