They aren’t eating

[HempKnight]

I decided to feed my Europeans tonight at around 9 pm. They hatched out yesterday morning. I read that your are suppose to feed them 24 hours after they hatch out but it looks like not one of them is eating. I am feeding them 1 week old crickets and they are about half the size of the mantis. Is this common and I am freaking out for no reason or am I doing something wrong already? Oh, I also misted them down lightly tonight.

Mark

 

[bluebman52]

I had the same issue when my othecae hatched. Give them a couple of days, they will come around.

A lot of them will just get freaked out by the food and run away for a couple of days until they realize "hey, thats food, and i'm hungry"

 

[HempKnight]

That what I thought but I had to check. THANKS!! 8)

 

[Rick]

Don't worry about it. Sometimes they don't eat. Just put the flies in there and let them be. They will eat when they're ready.

 

[Butterfly]

I gave all my nymphs FF's when they were just hatched. I had tried a couple teeny tiny crickets but they were too scared in the beginnign so the little guys are still on FF's and the bigger ones a few sheds ahead are on pinheads.

 

[OGIGA]

Be careful with crickets. If the mantises aren't eating the crickets, the crickets might end up eating the mantises.

 

[HempKnight]

Well this may sound strange but fruit flies creep me out. I deal with giant tarantulas and snakes bigger than me all day long but as soon as it comes to tiny flies I freak out. Plus the fruit flies are bigger than the crickets so I don't know why they wouldn’t eat them. There is no way that I can pull out every little pinhead in there tank haha. I guess we will see what happens.

 

[ShibaTheFox]

OGIGA Crickets are More or less Herbivores they almost never eat meat only if they are on the verge of dying.

 

[OGIGA]

OGIGA Crickets are More or less Herbivores they almost never eat meat only if they are on the verge of dying.

Umm, maybe they are, but they get pretty crazy. Cannibalism and swarming is common. You can ask Rick... he uses crickets to feed his mantises.

 

[Asa]

OGIGA Crickets are More or less Herbivores they almost never eat meat only if they are on the verge of dying.

Really? I've lost more than a few mantids that way. Just the primordial struggle for life, I guess.

 

[Rob Byatt]

If you feed crickets, especially black ones, I can guarantee that you WILL lose some mantids to them.

Rob.

 

[Asa]

If you feed crickets, especially black ones, I can guarantee that you WILL lose some mantids to them.Rob.

Black crickets... hmmm. Never had them.

 

[HempKnight]

There is no difference between black crickets and regular crickets. Crickets are vicious. They eat anything. I tell all of my customers to not swarm there reptiles with crickets because they annoy the animal and they can harm them.