Reptile & Amphibian Forums

All my mantids died; I gave them fruitflies, they couldn't catch them. Do they need maggots?

And I mean baby praying mantis'.

A baby praying mantis can eat any smaller soft bodied insects. As long as the insect you're giving it is smaller than the mantid itself and as long as it doesn't have a hard shell, your mantid should be fine.

Alot of people will use fruitflies but they will remove the wings before giving the flies to their baby mantid. I'm guessing mosquitos could do the job too but again , remove the wings if your mantid is still a baby.

Once your mantid has molted a few times, it gets alot easier to feed it since it can start feeding on bigger and more crunchy bugs like crickets, grasshoppers and mealworms.

Some people will feed their adult mantid with spiders and wasps but i wouldn't recommend it. Wasps can definatly defend themselves and even if the mantid is bigger and stronger , you never know whats gonna happen for sure and it's the same for spiders. And besides, spiders can make great pets as well so i don't like the idea of using them as feeders

Well on second thought , some spiders are so tiny ,i'm guessing they could represent a good way to feed your baby mantid . If you ever try that, make sure you stay close for as long as the spider is free in the container just to make sure you don't get any bad surprises when you come back. Such as finding your mantid entangled in the spider's web.

You might want to add a wet sponge in your baby mantid's container so she can drink from it. If you dont' have a sponge, you can myst one side of the container once everyday. Don't myst the whole container unless your pet is close to maturity because they can drown from a high lvl of humidity so she does need a dry spot in the container . Also, don't forget to add some twigs or small branches and also a couple of leafs because mantids are climbers and they use leafs as camouflage. It does help them to ambush they prey.

If you realy can't remove the wings from the fruitflies without killing them, the twigs and leafs will definatly help your mantid in catching them.

The last tip i could give you, is to use a very small container to keep you baby mantids. That way, if they miss their target, they can siply try again and again untill they catch the fruitfly or whatever else you gave her. If the container is too big, it's alot harder for the mantid to run after those flies you're giving her.

Thats about all the knowledge i can share about mantids hehe. Evrything i said here does apply to any species of mantids .

I wish you good luck with your futur pets.

Have a nice day

Krawll

I just caught a Chinese Mantid(I think) and it ate up my walking stick and had a juicy little cricket from the pet store for dessert