Parablepharis

    Hello guys,



    I have recently adquired some parablepharis and they are acting quite tricky when it comes the moment of feeding them. They are very fussy ! They are L4 but they are scared of flies. Only one of them catched one, but then, I gave her another one and started again with a fussy behaviour. Another one of them was brave enough to take a little roach, but most of them just ignore the food or scape from it. Mainly, they ignore it. I don´t know if this is a common issue with these species or where´s the problem. I´ll let them a couple of days without food that may stress them in their enclosures, but I am worried because they are thin and don´t want them to get weak or die. If you have experience with them, please, let me know how do you keep them and provide some advice because they are starting to worry me. Every help is welcome.


    Thanks.

    Hi,

    Yes that seems very common with this species.

    As far as i heard they highly prefer running food like firebrats and roaches.


    Greetings Simon :P

    Mantiden sind doch auch nur missgebildete Schaben.

    :twisted:

    Die Kultur von Honigbienen ist kein Naturschutz.

    Ouch. That´s something I should have known before. But fortunately still have some small roaches. Lets cross fingers and thank yoy very much for the info as always, Simon.

    Hi,

    Just to clarify, i personaly do not have expierience with this species.

    I just had a few people tell me that on seperate ocations.


    Good luck with them and a happy new year.

    Simon :P

    Mantiden sind doch auch nur missgebildete Schaben.

    :twisted:

    Die Kultur von Honigbienen ist kein Naturschutz.

    Hi Toxai,


    I have two Parablepharis kuhlii at home which are currently L6. I can confirm they are quite frickle eaters and soon get stressed out when there's too much going on in their enclosure.


    You aren't feeding them fruit flies, are you? They are not interested in them after L3. With mine, they usually go after their flies when I leave them alone for a while. They will rarely catch one when I am in the same room and do not move towards their prey, so you need quite active feeders that pass them regularly. I just drop the food in their enclosure, then leave them alone for a few hours.


    So flying insects work for me as a feeder. Please keep us updated whether the small roaches worked out for you!

    Hi again !


    Today, my experience was a little better. I´ve been able to feed them with small house flies I catched at my garden and they appreciated them. They ( the flies ) are kind of 3 D.Hydei sized. Another one of them catched a small roach I let fall just in front of it. I left a small roach in the bottom of one of them´s enclosure but it didn´t work. One of them catched a big flie. I guess it´s going to be quite difficult to feed them all in the same day. I will have to feed them by the rhythm they decide. If I had to say something from what I´ve seen it would be that they are one of the most difficult ones to feed I´ve had ( if not the most ) but not impossible. And I guess they are not familiar with persons as other mantis do, and they won´t act naturally in front of us. So I´ll try to set them in more natural ( small vivariums) enclosures for them to feel more " wild ". These ones are actually a challenge and that´s exciting !

    Do yours also tend to "stretch" once you go near them? When I enter the room, mine do not press themselves on their twig to appear as thin as possible, but instead straighten their arms and abdomen to look like a whole other branch themselves. Pretty cool!


    I agree that feeding is a challenge in early stages, but from L5 onward they seem to be less timid. I am also amazed by their size. My female in L6 is almost as large as an adult Phyllocrania paradoxa, yet there are a few more molts waiting for her. A really interesting species.

    Hey Nyarlathotep !


    Yup, they do often do that. It´s a very interesting behaviour. I´m absolutely in love with them and I have to make an update an it is that today my experience with feeding them was muuuch better. I was able to feed them all but one that I guess is about to molt. The small flies are a key for me. They love them and sometimes go for them through the enclosure just after I introduced it. That´s very good for me, considering how shy they are. I hope everything keeps so good like this.


    Regards.