Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There are a lot of praying mantis's around here and I was wondering if they would be okay to feed my box turtle.He currently eats worms and reptomin floating food sticks and is very healthy.I've tried fruits and veggies but he shows no interest unless it's mixed with his other food.Will post pic soon

When I first read that I thought, "Sure, why not?" Now that I think more about it, manti have some pretty ferocious spikes on their front legs. This is what they use to capture prey. I don't know what kind of fight a mantis would put up while being eaten, but if your turtle caught one of those suckers in the eye...

To be safe, I'd refrain. Plus, manti are such a great thing to have around the garden. There are so many other food options, it seems almost a waste. But, if you're really inclined you could always pre-kill the mantis.

You know, when I was a kid my buddies always said that if you killed a stick bug, preying mantis, or chopped down a dogwood tree you could be thrown in jail for 20 years. I don't know if feeding your turtle is worth that kind of incarceration.

That's praying mantis, not preying mantis.

I would refrain from feeding one of these to my turtles Apparently they are phenomenal hunters, and quite aggressive.

I also remember being told that it is illegal to kill a praying mantis, and I have believed it for years... However, I checked around the internet, and it appears to just be an urban legend. I also searched around the Division of Fish and WIldlife website and found no mention of it in the endangered or threatened species list. Spreading that rumor was probably just a good way to get kids to leave the beneficial bugs in the garden!

Poor little hummer!

I worked in a greenhouse that had tropical plants shipped up from Florida on a weekly basis: alot of anoles and treefrogs would hitch hike on the plants.

Anyway, the greenhouse had a thriving population of anoles as a result, and, seasonally had preying mantises everywhere.

The adult anoles would eat the baby mantises and the adult mantises would eat the anoles: the latter was pretty gruesome to watch!