Delicious live food for your CPs

[larry]

When I have too much of these and my Mantids can't eat em all, my plants get a delicious treat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuFvarTWvz0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8_vsv20rZc

 

[Adam]

Awesome!

 

[pappydew]

I can stand the actual flies...but maggots? Nuh uh...

 

[UnstuckinTime]

I would be worried about the flies getting out and roaming free about the house!... not that we dont have that already here, but i wouldn't want to make it worse!

 

[larry]

These flies are flightless, so you don't have to worry about them infesting your house

 

[uphwiz]

back in the first of the season , when i was feeding my mantids id spill quite a few in the sarrs.
mabye thats why my purps look so good this year

 

[swords]

This reminds me, I need to make up some FF cultures, if my ghost ooth is fertile I'll be needing food in about 1 - 3 weeks.

Did you ever get your housefly colony started Larry? It's so easy to order blue bottle pupae every month I rather do it this way $9 a month and no work I can handle.

I hatched wax worm moths but they don't hardly move, they nestle in a corner and stay there the mantids barely noticed 'em at all. Regular outooor moths fly all over the terrarium rousing the mantids interest.

 

[larry]

This reminds me, I need to make up some FF cultures, if my ghost ooth is fertile I'll be needing food in about 1 - 3 weeks.

Did you ever get your housefly colony started Larry? It's so easy to order blue bottle pupae every month I rather do it this way $9 a month and no work I can handle.

I hatched wax worm moths but they don't hardly move, they nestle in a corner and stay there the mantids barely noticed 'em at all. Regular outooor moths fly all over the terrarium rousing the mantids interest.

I attempted it. I put some rotting cat food into a 1 liter soda bottle and left it outside. The flies came and laid eggs. Soon there were huge fat maggots crawling through the rotting stinking mess. I plucked some maggots, washed them and put em in a container to pupate. A few weeks later, I had large greenbottle flies. I won't ever be doing that again, it was so disgusting and oh the stench! I wonder what the neighbors must of thought.

I can't bring myself to pay $6 shipping for $3 worth of flies. I've been breeding crickets and keeping roaches. Got thousands of small crickets, perfect for my mantis to munch on. My B. lateralis eggs won't hatch, it's been like 6 weeks. I finally have one B. discoidalis molt into adulthood. It's just a matter of time before they are able to start breeding. I'm hoping to pick up some more roaches at the upcoming reptile show. Them hissers are so cool, was tempted to buy some to keep as display roaches.

 

[swords]

Are lateralis common feeders? The fancier roaches (like the question mark roach) who lay eggs often take many months (6+) to hatch. B. dubias are live birthers who put out new nymphs every 4-6 weeks but they are so shy and non-moving they just burrow and hide I'm rather dismayed with that aspect of them.

I just sold my whole bin of hissers for herp store credit. I wish I'd have known you wanted some I would have sent you a couple big pairs first. I didn't have anything that would eat 'em due to their enormous size.

 

[larry]

The lateralis are very common feeders, my favorite. About the size of a cricket and super fast and active, attracting lots of attention to themselves. Unlike other roaches, they are not flat and low to the ground. They're nicely shaped for easy grasping from a Mantis. And also, they don't burrow, which my discoids do.

 

[Eden Marel]

THat's a little gross lol, but I buy mine crickets and flightless fruit flies.