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i cant find grasshoppers on that site, and i have never seen them for sale as livefood, but if you do manage to get hold of them then i imagine they would be fine as feeder food, size permitting (the only grasshoppers i have seen have been in the fields, and they have been fairly small, around 1", no more than 2 inches). i have never known them to be bred as feeder food so don't know if they would stink or not, i would imagine not especially.
i am in london too, do you know enfield? theres a place called crews hill in enfield where i usually go to get livefood. they do most livefood you can think of (and that has been mentioned in this thread) including recently pinkie maggots (greenbottles). theres a pet shop in lewisham that does livefood (well, crickets and locusts, i cant remember much else). also a couple of years ago i went to a reptile shop in walthamstow that had some livefood. hopefully other london dwellers can point out more places. and then of course there is always online! but those are the only bricks and mortar london places i know of. well, enfield is cutting it a bit fine, its basically the countryside... but you can get the overground there from highbury & islington (and i THINK kings cross). hope this helps.
EDIT: i left out my favourite feeder food! and thats bluebottle flies. i get them (in maggot form, but the shop also sells casters/pupae... not sure if they would hatch, maybe they are treated in some form to keep them casters? just a guess, i imagine this would be useful for fisherman if the casters never hatched out) in tubs from a fishing shop in north finchley. i'm sure armed with the yellow pages/yell.com and a bit of ringing around you could find a fishing shop nearer to you that stocks maggots too. theyre really great mantis food!
i am in london too, do you know enfield? theres a place called crews hill in enfield where i usually go to get livefood. they do most livefood you can think of (and that has been mentioned in this thread) including recently pinkie maggots (greenbottles). theres a pet shop in lewisham that does livefood (well, crickets and locusts, i cant remember much else). also a couple of years ago i went to a reptile shop in walthamstow that had some livefood. hopefully other london dwellers can point out more places. and then of course there is always online! but those are the only bricks and mortar london places i know of. well, enfield is cutting it a bit fine, its basically the countryside... but you can get the overground there from highbury & islington (and i THINK kings cross). hope this helps.
EDIT: i left out my favourite feeder food! and thats bluebottle flies. i get them (in maggot form, but the shop also sells casters/pupae... not sure if they would hatch, maybe they are treated in some form to keep them casters? just a guess, i imagine this would be useful for fisherman if the casters never hatched out) in tubs from a fishing shop in north finchley. i'm sure armed with the yellow pages/yell.com and a bit of ringing around you could find a fishing shop nearer to you that stocks maggots too. theyre really great mantis food!
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libertine101
Active member
I agree with macrojunkie, I tend to my crickets once a week and have no problems with smells. Just make sure you keep your cricket container as dry as possible I think, letting little to no moisture in there.
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Joe Caruso
Active member
Enfield? Lewisham? Walthamstow? Good God man, are you trying to get me shot?
Anyway, the 'maggot' option seems like a good one. If they'll work, what about mealworms? (I've heard wax worms are too high in fat to be used as a day-to-day feeder, so I'm assuming they're not a good idea).
i'll give you lewisham and walthamstow but enfield?! well maybe youre thinking of the town part, but crews hill is WAY out of the way, basically countryside, full of retirees and the rich, and very little chance of getting shanked or shot
while waxworms are not good as a day-to-day feeder, if you keep them for a while they will pupate and eventually hatch into waxmoths, which are another good feeder. i am not sure if these would be good as a staple but certainly to add some variety they would be good. also they are slightly bigger than bluebottles so they can be useful for fattening a mantis up (like before mating, or before laying). one thing i would say about them is they are more active at night than during the day. so you may find you dump a waxmoth into the mantis container, and it will scurry around for a few seconds before finding a little nook or crevice to settle in, and will then not move again for hours/until night. however this is no big problem, i would reccommend them!
EDIT: just to make sure, i didn't mean i feed maggots to mantids. while i've done it in the past once or twice in REALLY hard up times, i would deffinitely not reccommend you use them as a staple. i meant i feed flies. anyway, if you do a search theres plenty of topics on flies. good luck!
while waxworms are not good as a day-to-day feeder, if you keep them for a while they will pupate and eventually hatch into waxmoths, which are another good feeder. i am not sure if these would be good as a staple but certainly to add some variety they would be good. also they are slightly bigger than bluebottles so they can be useful for fattening a mantis up (like before mating, or before laying). one thing i would say about them is they are more active at night than during the day. so you may find you dump a waxmoth into the mantis container, and it will scurry around for a few seconds before finding a little nook or crevice to settle in, and will then not move again for hours/until night. however this is no big problem, i would reccommend them!
EDIT: just to make sure, i didn't mean i feed maggots to mantids. while i've done it in the past once or twice in REALLY hard up times, i would deffinitely not reccommend you use them as a staple. i meant i feed flies. anyway, if you do a search theres plenty of topics on flies. good luck!
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do you mean the one on the high street, is that still going? i remember going a year or so back but when i've been past on the bus i havent spotted it recently.
