Feeder setup
- Thread starter MEPOKEU
- Start date
Minihuey
Established Member
My cricket, dubia and preying mantis colony
what are in the stacked one? Thats hella sick!
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Minihuey
Established Member
realy cool set up.
I just hope I don't catch what Jay has, because I realy don't need any more bugs in my house.
Harry
It seems malicious is the person with the bugs? All my friends think im weird that I am attempting to start a roach colony.
warpdrive
Avid Member
I was speaking about how malicious is thinking of getting some mantids...
so am I, but it will have to wait as I have other projects to begin first.
as for you starting a roach colony, I think I would get kicked out of my building if my neighbors were to ever find out that I did something like that.
hell, I might even be kicked out of NY for that.
Harry
Minihuey
Established Member
I was speaking about how malicious is thinking of getting some mantids...
so am I, but it will have to wait as I have other projects to begin first.
as for you starting a roach colony, I think I would get kicked out of my building if my neighbors were to ever find out that I did something like that.
hell, I might even be kicked out of NY for that.
Harry
lol you can just walk outside and grab some!
panther888
New Member
I actually caught a few mantids out of my backyard last summer, and they ended up laying about 5 egg cases each. I had the adult females for about 7 months before they died of old age. I wasn't sure if their eggs were fertile, so I just put their empty enclosure out in the garage for future use. Well, about a month or so ago I just happened to walk by and look in the cage, and to my surprise there were about 10 baby mantids! I brought the cage in and over the next 2 weeks several hundred babies hatched out. I released almost all of them in my backyard, but did keep about 20 or so (individually housed in their own 4"x3"x3" gladware container with tiny holes drilled in top, vermiculite substrate and twigs/leaves) and I have about 50 more still living together in the original enclosure.
When they are young nymphs (L1-L3) they are less cannibalistic and can be housed together until after their second or third molt as long as they are fed adequate food. I raise my own D. melanogaster fruit flies, as it gets expensive to buy enough flies to feed these hungry guys!
You do have to make sure you maintain humidity levels as the really young ones can die easily during a difficult molt, and they should not be disturbed during this time. I feed my babies about 5 FFs a day and they hunt from day one. The adults are really easy to care for and are quite interesting to watch.
As far as difficulty hatching ooths...well, it was pretty easy for me! I didn't even do anything. I had also glued some of the cases to my fence before winter and was lucky enough to catch those hatching as well.
Here is a pic of the baby set-up I use. The smaller the better for the young ones, as they usually don't "seek out" prey, but rather wait for something to walk by and grab it. The mantid is in the red circle. Let me know if you have any other questions about raising the adults, babies, breeding FFs, etc.
I haven't actually gotten up the nerve to feed any off to my panther chameleons...they are so cool and were "pets" to me before, soo it just feels wrong. haha! Do chams really like them??
When they are young nymphs (L1-L3) they are less cannibalistic and can be housed together until after their second or third molt as long as they are fed adequate food. I raise my own D. melanogaster fruit flies, as it gets expensive to buy enough flies to feed these hungry guys!
You do have to make sure you maintain humidity levels as the really young ones can die easily during a difficult molt, and they should not be disturbed during this time. I feed my babies about 5 FFs a day and they hunt from day one. The adults are really easy to care for and are quite interesting to watch.
As far as difficulty hatching ooths...well, it was pretty easy for me! I didn't even do anything.
I had also glued some of the cases to my fence before winter and was lucky enough to catch those hatching as well. Here is a pic of the baby set-up I use. The smaller the better for the young ones, as they usually don't "seek out" prey, but rather wait for something to walk by and grab it. The mantid is in the red circle. Let me know if you have any other questions about raising the adults, babies, breeding FFs, etc.
I haven't actually gotten up the nerve to feed any off to my panther chameleons...they are so cool and were "pets" to me before, soo it just feels wrong. haha! Do chams really like them??
Fearaffect
Avid Member
feed mantids to chams??
eisentrauti
Avid Member
Yes that's no problem. But if I have some, I would sell them and buy "real" food instead of giving them my chams
panther888
New Member
Of course I would never consider using them as a staple! I would think that they have little nutritional value, but as a snack for variety (and from what I have read) they shouldn't be of any threat as an occasional treat. ????(Assuming, of course, that the mantid isn't bigger than the cham!)
I, too, want to give roaches a try but haven't quite gotten the nerve to intentionally bring roaches into my house!
) I, too, want to give roaches a try but haven't quite gotten the nerve to intentionally bring roaches into my house!
MEPOKEU
New Member
Nice set-up Brandon.
I'm interested in the Mantis colony. where did you get them? I assume you hatched an Ooth? Easy to raise?
I need a side project like I need a hole in my head...
-Jay
To answer some of the questions:
I bought the mantis ooths from a pet store. The stack containers house the mantis. No doubt, some will eat each other, but im just using them for variety and entertainment value.
My cricket colony, which you see in the clear container. Im not sure if i just suck at raising crickets, but alot seem to be dying. They're laying on their backs kicking (i googled searching for the answer, but everything i found im not doing wrong).. Im feeding them a variety of greens, cricket crack and providing water in crystal form and a wet paper towel. The temp is around 78.
The roaches. So far lots of babies. A few adults have died, but i think the colony is finally kicking off.
I also have blue bottle fly pupae in the fridge.
My two chams are spoiled
ps- the roaches arent as bad as you think. I and my wife can handle them. They dont feel gross and actually i think are pretty interesting to watch.
dodolah
Retired Moderator
Some mantises can reproduce via parthenogenesis.
in this case, all babies will be female.
But, I am a bit clueless of which species can do this.
panther888
New Member
That is interesting about the parthenogenesis...I will have to look into it. I did catch mine after they were already adults so they could have mated before I got them, but parthenogenesis would be cool!!
MEPOKEU -- do you have the lid on that cricket container?? If so, I think this may be your problem of why your crickets are dying. Ventilation is VERY important. When crickets die they give off a toxic gas/odor, which in turn causes a domino effect and kills others. **remove dying crickets from tub immediately!** I use the large Rubbermaid containers (32 quart size? I think), cut out large squares on opposite ends and glue fine wire mesh in its place. I also do this with the lid. The majority of 2 sides and the lid should be mesh -- leave only about a 3" border of plastic to allow a surface to hot glue mesh to. (don't use plastic mesh...they can possibly chew thru it)
I too use eggcrate, but do not use a substrate on the bottom. Once a week I vacuum out the "dirt" (poop, dead crickets) off the bottom and there is little to no smell. Make sure to remove uneaten veggies before they go rotten. Broccoli seems to be a hit with my crix, and it doesn't rot as fast as other veggies. In addition to fresh veggies I give them a dry mixture of tropical fish flakes, ground alphafel pellets, repashy CGD (dry powder) and baby rice cereal. They really seem to love the fish food.
I have used the watering gel before, but it seems to dry out fast. You can put it in a small bowl and re-wet it every few days to make it last longer. Or you can use a damp sponge to give them water...but these do tend to get dirty and have to be changed often.
I have had great success raising my own crickets with this set-up...almost too much! They are prolific!
One last thing -- where do you get your crickets from? If you are buying them from a pet store, this may also contribute to the die-off. Often these crickets are sickly and do not last long, even when provided proper care after you get them home. I bred a few generations myself, but really had no use for the tiny pinhead and smaller sizes at the time -- I was having to GIVE them away by the hundreds. (Though I could use the babies now for the mantids) I order them 1000 at a time from LLL reptile, usually the 1/2" size since they live so long I can never feed them off in time.
Also the warmer temp you keep them at, the faster they mature...and die
MEPOKEU -- do you have the lid on that cricket container?? If so, I think this may be your problem of why your crickets are dying. Ventilation is VERY important. When crickets die they give off a toxic gas/odor, which in turn causes a domino effect and kills others. **remove dying crickets from tub immediately!** I use the large Rubbermaid containers (32 quart size? I think), cut out large squares on opposite ends and glue fine wire mesh in its place. I also do this with the lid. The majority of 2 sides and the lid should be mesh -- leave only about a 3" border of plastic to allow a surface to hot glue mesh to. (don't use plastic mesh...they can possibly chew thru it)
I too use eggcrate, but do not use a substrate on the bottom. Once a week I vacuum out the "dirt" (poop, dead crickets) off the bottom and there is little to no smell. Make sure to remove uneaten veggies before they go rotten. Broccoli seems to be a hit with my crix, and it doesn't rot as fast as other veggies. In addition to fresh veggies I give them a dry mixture of tropical fish flakes, ground alphafel pellets, repashy CGD (dry powder) and baby rice cereal. They really seem to love the fish food.
I have used the watering gel before, but it seems to dry out fast. You can put it in a small bowl and re-wet it every few days to make it last longer. Or you can use a damp sponge to give them water...but these do tend to get dirty and have to be changed often.
I have had great success raising my own crickets with this set-up...almost too much! They are prolific!
One last thing -- where do you get your crickets from? If you are buying them from a pet store, this may also contribute to the die-off. Often these crickets are sickly and do not last long, even when provided proper care after you get them home. I bred a few generations myself, but really had no use for the tiny pinhead and smaller sizes at the time -- I was having to GIVE them away by the hundreds. (Though I could use the babies now for the mantids
) I order them 1000 at a time from LLL reptile, usually the 1/2" size since they live so long I can never feed them off in time. Also the warmer temp you keep them at, the faster they mature...and die
Brandon,
If you cut almost ALL the top out and replace with screen, your deaths should stop. The only other way I have gotten the legs in the air deaths is when I put too much vegetables and fruits in.
Nick
If you cut almost ALL the top out and replace with screen, your deaths should stop. The only other way I have gotten the legs in the air deaths is when I put too much vegetables and fruits in.
Nick
Minihuey
Established Member
To answer some of the questions:
I bought the mantis ooths from a pet store. The stack containers house the mantis. No doubt, some will eat each other, but im just using them for variety and entertainment value.
My cricket colony, which you see in the clear container. Im not sure if i just suck at raising crickets, but alot seem to be dying. They're laying on their backs kicking (i googled searching for the answer, but everything i found im not doing wrong).. Im feeding them a variety of greens, cricket crack and providing water in crystal form and a wet paper towel. The temp is around 78.
The roaches. So far lots of babies. A few adults have died, but i think the colony is finally kicking off.
I also have blue bottle fly pupae in the fridge.
My two chams are spoiled
ps- the roaches arent as bad as you think. I and my wife can handle them. They dont feel gross and actually i think are pretty interesting to watch.
I remember reading when crickets die they release a gas that is toxic to other crickets. That is why you will see a mass of dead ones.
You need some kind of ventilation like a fan or something so the air stays fresh and it will keep away that nasty cricket smell.
