1st mantis hatch out of year

[Aaenson]

Do they all have the same nutritional value? One of the cheapest I've come by is chinese.

And what honestly is the nutritional value on them compared to say...a cricket?

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Do they all have the same nutritional value? One of the cheapest I've come by is chinese.

And what honestly is the nutritional value on them compared to say...a cricket?

Depends on what you feed them. What you feed the what you feed.

 

[Aaenson]

Basically mantis is fed good healthy food and so is cricket would the mantis be better then the cricket?

 

[morpheon]

Disclaimer: No mantis were harmed in the making of this post.

...Not during the making of this post, but after, i'm sure some have been harmed/ate!

 

[Chameleon Loco]

I dont know its somthing about mantis's i could never use them as a feeder how do you guys do it

 

[buddhacham]

I don't think springtails would work to good. Mantis tend to climb to the top of things and wait for a meal to come by. Not near the ground. But I'm sure it can be done.

Good to know, I was just reading online and noticed that they eat springtails. Wanted to ask since springtail cultures are also readily available, but if the mantis gravitate towards the top then that wouldn't really work.
Thank you

 

[nick barta]

Most mantis keepers start with fruit flies and then switch to blue bottle flies as soon a the mantis can handle that size food.

Once you separate the larger mantis into separate 32 ounce insect cups, feeding is time consuming, most mantis keepers drill a hole in the side and plug it with a foam plug to insert the food in without pulling the top off where the mantis hangs. See Mantisplace.com for the cups and foam plugs.

I am trying a multi-level screened cage to see if I can provide enough room to reduce canabalism, we will see how it works.

Nick

 

[SSimsswiSS]

A little time lapse

Mantis time

 

[ponders]

Great photos Steve!