Mantis for food?

[nstd]

So I had two ooths that I bought for my first grade class (We were covering a section on insects). Well fast forward two months, they hatched! It was a very interesting sight to see hundreds of mantis swarming around in a cup. I kept some, release some, and feed some. This is my reflection on feeding chameleons mantis nymphs.

It can be a hassle if you plan on feeding them as a staple. Reason being? You have to keep them in individual containers and feed them individually. They come in the size of a small cricket and by looking at the abdomen, I don't know how much "gut loading" you can give it. Maybe when they get bigger?

Other than being fun and interesting to feed your chameleon a praying mantis, I would avoid it as a staple.

Ending on this note, here is the reaction of my wife and I when we discovered that the ooth hatched. I also included a clip of my baby panther eating one.

 

[Remkon]

I've got some mantises now and when/if they produce offspring I will consider feeding them off.
You can keep them in small containers for quite a while, at least long enough to raise em to an edible size.
They are fun insects to work with too!

It doesn't make a lot of sense to use em as a staple since their diet in captivity usually consists of dubia and crickets which would make a better and easier to gut load staple for your chameleon anyways, but offering more variety in your chameleon's diet is also worth something.

 

[djdanny402]

I'm waiting on my first ooth to hatch
I plan on keeping some as pets / maybe got off spring , some release into my backyard and the rest as feeders.

At what point do they start becoming canabalistic?
And what's a good age for release ?

 

[Remkon]

I'm fairly new to mantises but I think it most should be separated when they reach L3 (3rd shed).

 

[nstd]

I'm waiting on my first ooth to hatch
I plan on keeping some as pets / maybe got off spring , some release into my backyard and the rest as feeders.

At what point do they start becoming canabalistic?
And what's a good age for release ?

I saw some aggression right after they hatched.

 

[nstd]

Im curious what's their nutrition ratios?