What to feed?

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Mantidforum

Help Support Mantidforum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
C

cybereyes

Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Hey guys, new poster here. I found a small Mantid out in my backyard and decided to keep him for a while. I bought a small plastic fish tank and put some branches in there with a few leaves on them and put him in. He seems to hang upside down most of the time on tank and has only hung out on the branches a few times. My problem now is that I decided to buy him some fruit flies to eat since I never know when I am going to be able to catch a fly for him, but he doesn't seem to be interested in eating them. I didn't think they would be so small either. I bought the D. Hydei because they said they were the biggest ones that they had, but when they came in the mail they seem more like fat gnats. Do they get any bigger? My Mantid seems to love house flies and usually has them eaten within a few minutes of introducing them into the tank, but he seems more irritated with the fruit flies than hungry for them.

Also Ive noticed that he has been starting to turn really brown. Is he getting ready to molt? Im just worried that he might be sick. I'm not sure what species he is really, but I have included a picture of him eating a fly in the window. Sometimes I let him set in the window for a while and he seems to really enjoy sitting there and looking outside. So much so that its really hard to get him back in the tank because he will keep crawling up my arm to avoid it lol.



 
Last edited by a moderator:
[SIZE=12pt]Hello Cybereyes from another "newbie" to the forum! [/SIZE]

Your little mantis is about the same size as several of mine, and they will still eat even the D. Melanogaster fruit flies. They do get more excited over house flies though, and I think perhaps the fruit flies are harder for them to catch now that their own bodies are getting so much bigger. (butter finger syndrome :lol: )

You didn't say if you got flightless D. Hydei or flighted...but I would presume that would be a factor as well. Those little fruit flies are faster than a house fly which makes them even harder to catch.

Also, they tend to wait until their prey is very close to them, and if the fruit flies aren't walking within an inch of them they sometimes won't go to the trouble to try to chase them down, especially if they know that there is a possibility of a big fat juicy house fly instead.

I hope some of the "veterans" of the mantid hobby read your post and impart their wisdom and expert knowledge for you because I am still new to the mantid hobby and don't really know all that much.

 
spicey said:
[SIZE=12pt]Hello Cybereyes from another "newbie" to the forum! [/SIZE]Your little mantis is about the same size as several of mine, and they will still eat even the D. Melanogaster fruit flies. They do get more excited over house flies though, and I think perhaps the fruit flies are harder for them to catch now that their own bodies are getting so much bigger. (butter finger syndrome :lol: )

You didn't say if you got flightless D. Hydei or flighted...but I would presume that would be a factor as well. Those little fruit flies are faster than a house fly which makes them even harder to catch.

Also, they tend to wait until their prey is very close to them, and if the fruit flies aren't walking within an inch of them they sometimes won't go to the trouble to try to chase them down, especially if they know that there is a possibility of a big fat juicy house fly instead.

I hope some of the "veterans" of the mantid hobby read your post and impart their wisdom and expert knowledge for you because I am still new to the mantid hobby and don't really know all that much.
Click to expand...
Thanks for responding, and I'm not sure what is up with him, or her, but I've seen the fruit flies walk right around him and he just seems irritated by it and moves out of the way like he don't want them touching him. I hope he eventually starts eating them, just so it will be easier to feed him. Right now I basically have to leave the back door open and wait for the flies to eventually enter and catch them and put them in for him. So far I've had him for about two weeks and I've caught a fly or two each day and put them in, but on rainy days or when it starts to get colder it may not be so easy. So I'm a little worried about how to feed him. The fruit flies just walk all over and he just watches them and when they get near him and walk almost on top of him he just backs off like as if he is grossed out by them. I'm currently trying to catch another fly to put in there, but worried that he will not get enough to eat if I can't catch enough of them each day. I wish he would eat the fruit flies, then all would be good.

I ordered one of the containers with the fruit fly food and about 100 or so fruit flies in it so they breed. That part is good, but if he wont eat them, then I'm stuck with trying to catch house flies.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
[SIZE=12pt]I have a sneaking suspicion that it may not be a matter of "what" you are offering, but that it just might be getting ready to molt. Mine usually despise the fruit flies or any other food for a day or two before an upcoming molt. Also, the average molt time for a well fed nymph seems to be approximately every 10 days to 2 and a half weeks...so it just might be that time again.[/SIZE]

Once again, I'm only a beginner, and I hope one of the veterans will impart their knowledge so you don't have to rely solely on my limited knowledge.

 
Guess you guys missed the intro forum. ;)

He is not interested in the fruit flies because he is too big for them. Houseflies or bluebottle flies are what he needs. Most mantids hang from the lid instead of any branches you put in there. In fact, the sticks can become a problem during molting.

 
You could order house fly pupae from spiderpharm or some other place.

 
bassist said:
You could order house fly pupae from spiderpharm or some other place.
Click to expand...
well thats an idea. I will have to do that I guess. I did try the crickets when I first got him. I went to the pet store and bought about 10 really small crickets, but he never ate even one from what I could tell. The house flies though he's all over.

 
and you can also go outside if its warm out and use a net to catch insects and such and you need to buy the right size of crickets for the size of the mantis as a rule of thumb to follow is if the insects head is as large as the mantis head then thats the proper size to use in feeding!

 
massaman said:
and you can also go outside if its warm out and use a net to catch insects and such and you need to buy the right size of crickets for the size of the mantis as a rule of thumb to follow is if the insects head is as large as the mantis head then thats the proper size to use in feeding!
Click to expand...
I just bought some fly pupae and a new cage for him, and I got lucky and caught two more flies in the house and put them in there today. I think he is getting ready to molt though. He has starting hanging on the branch and is looking even more brown. Hopefully he will get the flies soon so at least I know he has eaten. I think its been a couple of days because I was trying to introduce the fruit flies and haven't really caught any house flies.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
it is recommended that you spray the tank just before a moult just to be on the safe side. There are few indications that a mantis is coming up to moult apart from a worrying tendency to stop eating for sometimes weeks at a time. Then one morning you glance into the tank, to find your mantis has moulted and everything is alright after all. It can be quite a relief!

 

Latest posts

Top