Hey guys, I like in Australia, as you know (WA). Anyway, I had some baby mantis hatch out the other day, so I grabbed a few of them and am keeping them (separated) in a few of the enclosures I had for scorps. Anyway, they're not eating and I've tried everything; wingless fruit flies, pin head crickets, even the meat suspended from a string - what gives? Any advice is welcome.
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Mantid help
- Thread starter requiemsong
- Start date
Are you misting the enclosures every day? They need to drink even if they run away from prey at the moment. They should go after fruit flies when they are ready, some will eat right away and some will not, just keep a couple of fruit flies available in each enclosure so they can eat when it's time. It will probably be a while before they take tiny crickets. Make sure they have some twigs or screen mesh to hang upside down from in their enclosures because they molt and spend the bulk of their lives hanging upside down. They will need enclosures that are at least 3 times their height so 4" sub adult mantid should ideally have a tank with at least 12" clearance so it can hang upside down and stretch out however it needs to perform it's shedding. If it gets impeded during a molt it can become stuck in it's old skin, crippled or even die.
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Hey guys, thanks for the quick response. They're eating now; well, most of them are now, anyway. Yeah, I've been making sure to mist daily - just goes in with my other morning routines and yes, they have enough space, but not too much and have made sure they have areas to hang from when they need to.
