Where can I buy stable flies?

Mantidkid · Jun 15, 2017

Hey my mantis is l4 so I'm moving off of fruit flies now. I thought stable flies would be a good size but I can't find them anywhere. Also are captive bred stable flies bad for a mantis and are they nutritious and stuff like that. And also if they are bad then in what way and how/can I make them better? Thanks!

River Dane · Jun 15, 2017

I don't think it'll be easy to find them. They drink tha blood of mammals to survive. House flies would probably be better. Those are pretty much on any mantis website.

Mantidkid · Jun 15, 2017

FluffyMantid said:
I don't think it'll be easy to find them. They drink tha blood of mammals to survive. House flies would probably be better. Those are pretty much on any mantis website.

Would you know how to look after them as pupae because I looked at some care sheets but I didn't understand. What should I feed the flies? When I put the pupae in the fridge when I take the pupae out how long does it take them to hatch? How often should I feed my l4 a fly? How m

often should I take a fly out of the fridge, basically just a care sheet but really detailed what you need to do. Can you recommend any or would you be able to do it yourself. I know it's a lot to ask so you don't have to write one. Thanks! I am just really confused.

River Dane · Jun 15, 2017

@Mantidkid Basically, you can order them online in packs of mostly 100-200. They should be stored in the fridge and can be kept there for 3-5 weeks before they die. They will remain pupa until they are taken out of the fridge or die. When you take out a pupa, it will emerge as a full-grown fly a few days later. It's recommended that you buy new flies every 3 weeks so you're mantis doesn't starve in the event that your pupae die early. There's really no care involved unless you want to breed them, but that's very hard to do, and I was told it smells like death.

Someone recommended to try breeding black soldier flies instead. They don't get too big, as far as I've been able to tell. About an inch as adults. They're incredibly slow, and they don't bother trying to escape getting picked up. They rarely even fly.

As larvae, they're decomposers, so you just get a bin, put in some soil and fruit, and you're good to go. You can add new fruit and leaves whenever the old stuff starts looking bad. When they emerge from the pupal stage into adulthood, you can use them as feeders, or keep them as breeders (just leave a few adults in the bin). I don't think the adults need to eat anything. I'll try finding Teamonger's post about this, it's really in-depth.