What to feed my mantids?!?!?!?

[sutmaejoe]

My Mantids are getting big now, Im still feeding them fruit flies but I want to feed them house flies.

WHERE CAN I GET HOUSE FLIES FROM IN THE UK?????

Failing that can someone tell me how to raise house flies?

I know there are crickets etc or wax worms I could raise into moths....... Any help?

 

[Ruaumoko]

Try your local fishing shop buddy, Squats are houseflies or you can get Greenbottles and Bluebottles as well. If not there are a couple of online baitshops in the UK that will deliver to your door:

Heres one for bluebottles: http://www.wormsdirectuk.co.uk/acatalog/maggots.html

You could always advertise on here or a more UK/EU based Mantis forum and see if anyone has some for sale as well,

Hope that helps

 

[Ntsees]

You can always use the insects that fly to your front/backyard lights at night.

 

[sutmaejoe]

If I got maggots from a fishing shop how would I raise them into flies? Or would they raise themselves? Also what could I feed the flies? Dont really want something smelly.

Do many people feed their mantids crickets? I dont want to because they seem to prefer flies but crickets would be easier.

 

[Ruaumoko]

The crickets you find in your local Pets at home are a no-no for sure, They are often kept in cruddy conditions that mean they pass bad things onto the Mantis and end up killing them.

Raising maggots into Flies is quite possible the easiest thing ever. Get some from your bait shop, put some sawdust in the container with them and just leave them on the side in your room. Within a few days they'll have turned into castors(at this point if there smelling you can seperate them into a fresh container with more sawdust to keep the smell down) and a few days 5-12 days after that you'll have flies