Praying Mantis As a Food choice

[jlif]

Hello Forum,

I hope to introduce Mantids to my Chameleon's rotating menu; and i have a few question for the forums.

Given the predatory nature of a mantis, will they attack my chameleon if there are many mantids in the enclosure?

Can someone point me to a link regarding how to keep many mantids in a single enclosure?

Thank you for your time.

 

[jmwhitel]

In for answers

 

[sandrachameleon]

mantis will eat each other if kept together in same enclosure. You can reduce this by heavily feeding them, keeping them well fed at all times with other prey and using a large well planted enclosure. But it wont completely cease them from eating each other. They are not meant to be together except when breeding (kinda like chams)

the mantis wont try to attack your chameleon, (in rare cases, they may see the chams eye as moving food)
but they may very well fight back when the cham tries to eat them.
some people use only young mantid or remove the spiky forelegs.

 

[RangoStar]

Or right after the mantis sheds, that way they cannot fight back at all. The downside to this is the lose of some vitamins and nutrients in the exoskeleton.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Or right after the mantis sheds, that way they cannot fight back at all. The downside to this is the lose of some vitamins and nutrients in the exoskeleton.

good point

 

[fathertime79]

I've feed small mantis to my Veiled with great success and raised the mantis with no problems at all. I just kept lots of kale available for the mantis. I let the larger ones breed to keep a steady supply. Right now I'm in the process of starting my mantis colony again (I didn't have enough room for them for a while).

I can't speak for all chams buy mine devoured the mantis and seemed to love hunting them throughout the enclosure. I highly recommend feeding them as a part of the rotation in your chams diet.

 

[werecat]

I feed them as a treat only. I don't have the space to breed them as most need to be separated. I have heard that certain species like Egyptian mantis can be kept together. I know there are a few species like this. Egyptians are on the small side, but that's not all bad.

One thing I would warn about feeding mantids is that you might not want to feed the largest ones. Some get pretty big and could be a choking hazard. Also, if it's so big that your cham has to struggle a bit to get it down, you increase the chances of it fighting back.

One more thing when you feed them… don't blink. That's how excited my cham gets for them!

 

[Deevo]

I work on a golf course and have been tempted to try to get a few mantids to breed and then feed. I would feed them off right away but they most definitely have come in contact with pesticide.

 

[Chameleonmaster]

If they're pesticides that you know of I wouldn't feed that mantis or any insect!

 

[nick barta]

Hello Forum,

I hope to introduce Mantids to my Chameleon's rotating menu; and i have a few question for the forums.

Given the predatory nature of a mantis, will they attack my chameleon if there are many mantids in the enclosure?

Can someone point me to a link regarding how to keep many mantids in a single enclosure?

Thank you for your time.

Hey Jason,

Could you explain your comment about raising mantis communally, by having lots of Kale available?:roll eyes:


Thanks!

Nick

 

[SSimsswiSS]

20 out of 20 chameleons love the added addition to diet.

 

[Chuck G]

Yummy! Great pics!

 

[Progrmor]

Stick insects compared to praying mantis? Wich is most healty?

 

[fluxlizard]

Stick insects compared to praying mantis? Wich is most healty?

Totally a guess but I'd say stick insects because they eat green leaves. = carotinoids and calcium.

Mantids on the other hand eat insect based protein. Surprises me a little this doesn't make them controversial prey items for chameleons what with everyone afraid of feeding roaches too much protein...

 

[pssh]

I only use mantids as treats generally, so I wouldn't worry about the protein (plus isn't insect based protein different than animal based?) I don't feed my roaches a ton of protein anyways and never animal protein.