Success hand feeding my Ghost

[ANTdrew]

I had run out of flies for my L5 male ghosty, and he hadn’t eaten for ten days (part of which he was preparing to molt). Thank God I was able to get him to take a dubia roach piece today by trying something new since tweezers were freaking him out. I stuck the piece on the end of a thin sewing needle, and he took it immediately. Best part is it was a frozen roach I had for feeding my ants. I imagine there are some risks using a needle, but I’m relieved to buy some time until my fly pupae order arrived. Just wanted to share this small victory for a newbie in case it could help others.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Sounds like the size and bulk of the tweezers intimidates him. Other alternatives: toothpicks, bamboo skewers. As a hobbyist, I've always got thin pieces of wire or carbon fiber rods lying around. Maybe straighten out a paper clip.

 

[ANTdrew]

Smart! Less risk of impalement.

 

[ANTdrew]

My fly order just came in, too.

 

[TheWolven]

I use very thing tweezers when I have to hand feed. I always make sure I have live prey available for mantises since bottleflies can be a pain. You can get a 50 ct cup of banded crickets (these are safe for mantises) from rainbow mealworms. The 1/2 size is cheap ($3) and great for smaller species like ghost mantises (adults)! Rainbow mealworms also sells bottlefly spikes which last longer than pupae in the fridge.