Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I ordered a praying mantis egg case off of ebay, and it hatched today. My daughter and her friends would like to keep some of the babies as pets. I know adult mantids will eat live crickets from the pet store, but these are way too small for that.

What should we feed them? Should they be kept seperately (will they eat each other? )

Thanks in advance,

Erin

Baby mantids can be fed on flightless fruit flies and pinhead crickets. Some mantid keepers will also let them cannibalize each other. The larger survivors should then be placed in their own separate containers. I house them individually in small plastic cups.

good luck!

i don't like pinheads personally, they are harder to keep, they are more expensive, and most pet stores like petco, and petsmart don't even carry them. I think you will be happier with fruit flies.
regards,
Craig Condon
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save a cow, eat a vegetarian