Why not feed crickets?

[bugzilla]

Why don't people like to feed crickets to their mantis?

ATM I'm feeding mine on various sized crickets that have been fed fruit - grapes, apple, cucumber, honey etc. I also catch whatever flying insects I can find but these are in REALLY short supply atm (good, rainy, cold Welsh weather ).

I've read about curly wing flies but these look to be a right pain to rear/catch. Are they worth all the hastle.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for food items. (something frozen would be nice - if only )

Cheers

Huw

 

[macro junkie]

i think it was last year or the year before there was some sort of crickt infection or somthing,and people lost there hole stcok because of it..im in no doubt that the crickets i was feeding my adult female jade killed her..im sure if she was on bluebottle flys she would still be alive..mayby.crickets are dirty nasty things.soon as i hatched enough flys i wont be using them again! crickets kill mantids.

 

[bugzilla]

i think it was last year or the year before there was some sort of crickt infection or somthing,and people lost there hole stcok because of it..im in no doubt that the crickets i was feeding my adult female jade killed her..im sure if she was on bluebottle flys she would still be alive..mayby.crickets are dirty nasty things.soon as i hatched enough flys i wont be using them again! crickets kill mantids.

So it's a disease issue as opposed to a nutrition one?

How do you rear your flies then? does it make the type of smell I imagine it will and how do you feed them to the mantis? I find the slippery little beggers are a nightmare to handle without themescaping everywhere.

Thanks

Huw

 

[Rick]

I feed crickets 98% of the time! There is no reason NOT to use crickets. Feed them well and they make fine feeders. Every now and then someone has problems they blame on crickets and everyone freaks out.

 

[macro junkie]

I feed crickets 98% of the time! There is no reason NOT to use crickets. Feed them well and they make fine feeders. Every now and then someone has problems they blame on crickets and everyone freaks out.

i feed mine weekerbix and appple..i keep the tank extra clean..my jade started being sick last week then yesterday she died..she was in perfect condtions..79f..the only reson i can think of is it was the crickets..she had only laid 1 ooth and was adult couple of months,.

 

[Rick]

i feed mine weekerbix and appple..i keep the tank extra clean..my jade started being sick last week then yesterday she died..she was in perfect condtions..79f..the only reson i can think of is it was the crickets..she had only laid 1 ooth and was adult couple of months,.

Crickets are fine for mantids. I just put them in a tub with some oatmeal substrate and feed them leafy greens and cat food. No issues. To the original poster, don't get discouraged from this food source based on what a few people say. After all they cannot confirm crickets had anything to do with their issues.

 

[Mantida]

Basically, Rick is right. As long as you feed your crickets adequately, with a protein base (that is important, most people tend to forget crickets need protein too, and give them watery foods), and keep them clean, they'll be fine.

The problem with crickets starts when they are neglected, or bought straight from the petshop and given to the mantids. That is not a good idea, you could very well end up with a sick or dying mantis.

 

[tier]

Hi

I do not know only one german breeder (breeder, not keeper) who uses crickets. At least the crickets you can get in germany are worsest food, use them and kill your mantid.

Well, Hierodula membranacea is so rubust, they can even eat crickets without problems.

regards

 

[Krissim Klaw]

I've always thought crickets were a great prey item, and have fed them to all my mantises and never had a problem. Like Mantida and Rick said just make sure to feed them a good diet, and make sure not to feed new crickets immediately after purchasing. One other thing to remember about crickets is they are predators and are capable of killing or injuring a mantis. Normally this only comes into play if you have a weak, injured, or mantis that sheds it's skin while the crickets are in its cage. In all my years I've never had a cricket injure one of my mantises through attack so as long as your mantis is healthy, to begin with, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[blitzmantis]

just to proof their is no problem with crickets, i neglect my crickets so much, no food or water, i just leave them the box and they have not caused any problems.

 

[darkspeed]

I tend to be on the fence about this one... It is my understanding that black crickets are poisonous if eaten by other animals and really have no natural predators, which is why every year we have them around here by the millions, literally congregating around light sources to the point that the stench of thousands of dead crickets is nausiating...In my line of work (large scale food production) it is a major battle to keep them out of our facility.

Yet brown crickets are supposed to be ok. That makes me feel that there is a fine evolutionary line between the two, and that depending on the purity of the source of the crickets, that line may be crossed and one could end up with an occasional poisonous brown cricket... It may not be enough to kill a lizard or a tarantula, but Mantids are much more delicate. I know that my Ghosts would not touch crickets, and the one time I coerced one of them to eat some of one, he vomited it back up.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

I tend to be on the fence about this one... It is my understanding that black crickets are poisonous if eaten by other animals and really have no natural predators, which is why every year we have them around here by the millions, literally congregating around light sources to the point that the stench of thousands of dead crickets is nausiating...In my line of work (large scale food production) it is a major battle to keep them out of our facility. Yet brown crickets are supposed to be ok. That makes me feel that there is a fine evolutionary line between the two, and that depending on the purity of the source of the crickets, that line may be crossed and one could end up with an occasional poisonous brown cricket... It may not be enough to kill a lizard or a tarantula, but Mantids are much more delicate. I know that my Ghosts would not touch crickets, and the one time I coerced one of them to eat some of one, he vomited it back up.

Links/documentation please if you have any on black crickets (what species?) being toxic to certain predators. I've never heard of this and couldn't find anything on the web about it. I wouldn't be worried about store crickets being the dangerous variety since they are bred in captivity and a completely different line of crickets. The only worry I would have is that while in other hands the crickets could have been introduced or managed to ingest a dangerous substance that could intern effect the mantises if eaten. That is why I always give store bought crickets at least a week, to die off or clear there systems before feeding to my mantises.As for the ghosts, My male ghost had no problem tackling crickets and never showed any negative effects from his cricket diet.

 

[macro junkie]

Links/documentation please if you have any on black crickets (what species?) being toxic to certain predators. I've never heard of this and couldn't find anything on the web about it. I wouldn't be worried about store crickets being the dangerous variety since they are bred in captivity and a completely different line of crickets. The only worry I would have is that while in other hands the crickets could have been introduced or managed to ingest a dangerous substance that could intern effect the mantises if eaten. That is why I always give store bought crickets at least a week, to die off or clear there systems before feeding to my mantises.As for the ghosts, My male ghost had no problem tackling crickets and never showed any negative effects from his cricket diet.

mine has mixture of flys and crickets..there fine..got them at L3 there sub adult now

 

[bugzilla]

Thanks for all the replies.

Looks like there are lots of different experiences out there.

I was thinking that the crickets may harbour some kind of pathogen but when I think of flies this doesn't seem so bad. Krissim's info on what they have been eating seems like a more likely cause or concern :blink:

Mine will be getting a good clean out tomorrow at the very least. Role on the summer months when I can catch some nice clean wild bits and pieces :lol:

Huw

 

[Andrew]

I've been using crickets for all of my mantids that have outgrown houseflies. I haven't had any problems.

 

[Precious]

Crickets will eat newly moulted mantids, even gang up on adults. Sometimes that's just our own negligence. I've lost several Chinese nymphs to crickets recently because I wasn't paying attention. I don't like them, but I use them. I had one bite me once. Devils.

I have had some mantids sick that had a brown vomit that appeared to be associated with crix. I fed them flies, they got better and I gave them crix again and they were fine. I think the bottom line is the manitid's diet in the wild would be primarily flying insects, in most cases. So it would be common sense that flying food is best. I use a lot of crix and have had very few issues, healthy mantids, nice ooths and hatches. I still hate them.

Has anyone seen Halloween 5? I think it was 5, Michael Myers' head (I think it was Michael) exploded and all these roaches came pouring out. It looked funny to me and backed up on the DVR (it was Fearfest on AMC in Oct.) and looked in slo-mo and they were'nt roaches, THEY WERE CRIX! The same brown devils we use. That's how nasty they are. They explode out of people's heads.

Rick, could you elaborate on the oatmeal substrate? Does it help with the smell? Mine don't have substrate and I feed them Flucker's and potatos.

 

[Andrew]

I started using the oatmeal substrate, I think after I read about Rick using it. I buy a thousand crickets at a time because of my reptiles. With a couple of inches of the oatmeal, there's virtually no odor, and the crickets eat it too.

 

[Rob Byatt]

The two main reasons that crickets CAN cause death in mantids have been mentioned already; neglected crickets at home and ones bought from petshops that neglect them

HiI do not know only one german breeder (breeder, not keeper) who uses crickets. At least the crickets you can get in germany are worsest food, use them and kill your mantid.

Well, Hierodula membranacea is so rubust, they can even eat crickets without problems.

regards

Stephan is 100% correct in all of the above statements.

The Germans have always been ahead of the rest of us when it comes to breeding insects

Crickets are known carriers of microsporidians. These may be the cause of many mantid deaths after feeding them with infected crickets.

The most important point is the last - certain species are more vunerable than others. I will still use crickets (well fed ones !) for the tougher species eg. H. membranacea, Sphodromantis spp., Deroplatys spp., Euchomenella sp., Tenodera spp., . I NEVER feed crickets to more 'delicate' species i.e. ones that are more specific in their prey choices eg. Hymenopus coronatus, Pseudocreobotraspp. the Empusidae.

Since I stopped feeding crickets to Cilnia humeralis two years ago, I have had a massive increase in survival. Interestingly, adult female Plistospilota guineensis also die coincidentally after eating crickets, though this species is a pain anyway !

 

[bugzilla]

The two main reasons that crickets CAN cause death in mantids have been mentioned already; neglected crickets at home and ones bought from petshops that neglect them Stephan is 100% correct in all of the above statements.

The Germans have always been ahead of the rest of us when it comes to breeding insects

Crickets are known carriers of microsporidians. These may be the cause of many mantid deaths after feeding them with infected crickets.

The most important point is the last - certain species are more vunerable than others. I will still use crickets (well fed ones !) for the tougher species eg. H. membranacea, Sphodromantis spp., Deroplatys spp., Euchomenella sp., Tenodera spp., . I NEVER feed crickets to more 'delicate' species i.e. ones that are more specific in their prey choices eg. Hymenopus coronatus, Pseudocreobotraspp. the Empusidae.

Since I stopped feeding crickets to Cilnia humeralis two years ago, I have had a massive increase in survival. Interestingly, adult female Plistospilota guineensis also die coincidentally after eating crickets, though this species is a pain anyway !

Is there any way of cleaning/steralising them befoere feeding?