Starting to get nervous

Ratmosphere · Dec 9, 2016

My L4 ghost mantis hasn't eaten since Sunday. It is now Friday and I'm starting to get nervous. I ran out of fly pupae but just got some on Tuesday. They're with me waiting to hatch. In the mean time I tried offering my mantis crickets but it isn't interested. How many more days until the pupae hatch? I don't want to lose my mantis. :wacko:

Ranitomeya · Dec 9, 2016

As long as it isn't newly hatched or hasn't recently molted since its last meal, it should be fine. Mantises can last a decent while without a significant meal unless they're already starved or empty from a recent molt.

If you're worried, you can give it some sugar in the form of sugar solution or honey to give it an energy source in the meantime. The most important thing is to make sure that mantises are well-hydrated if they have no available food since they normally get some hydration from prey items.

crabbypatty · Dec 9, 2016

@Ratmosphere You can cut your feeder in half and smear some of its guts on your ghost's raptors or mouth, sounds totally gross but it worked with my ghost. He refused to eat, I hand fed him mealworms for awhile.

Pseudoharpax · Dec 10, 2016

Give them banana. It works perfectly with Ghosts. Lots of years ago I had a huge problem with live food and my ghosts fed for the time of 2 molts only on banana and they survived!

Ratmosphere · Dec 10, 2016

Crushed the heck out of a cricket (felt bad about it) and offered it to the mantis like @crabbypatty said. She started to eat it immediately. Very thankful for the help; the mantis is my favorite in my invertebrate collection so far. I can't afford to lose her!