The adecuate moment for feeding.

    Hello again guys.


    This time I just wanted to clarify something that has been in my mind for a while. And It is when should and when should not feed a mantis not only looking at the time passed since its last food, but also at the appereance of the mantis. I usually feed my mantis twice a week, following a schedule. However, sometimes they are very fat because they ate a big roach or another big prey on the previous meal. So I was wondering if should I wait more ( maybe one week from a meal to the next one ) in these cases, as in my experience overfeeding them is as bad as the opposite and may provoque vomits and other issues. On the other hand, I guess one week in-between the meals is a lot and even if they look fat they may need to be fed. What do you think ? should I wait till they are thin again to feed them back even if it means a long time without eating, or is it better to feed them twice a week even if they are fat ?


    Thanks.

    Hey,


    I think it totally depends on the species, the larval stage and whether your keeping them in groups or not. Small nymphs need to be fed everyday and also a communal setup needs food around at any time. Also small species that don't take down big prey should be fed more regularly with 2-3 days between feeding.

    But if you keep bigger species like Hierodula and they are very fat there should be no problems waiting a whole week between feeding.


    Greetings,

    Leander

    Hi Leander !


    Of course. I should have specify that better. I feed the nymphs much more regularly. And I don´t keep mantises communally. I was thinking about a group of adult and sub adult rhomboderas which I feed with adult or almost adult Blapticas. And they are so fat feeding them twice a week that I was a little scared. But in case they are good with one week in-between... I guess that´s what I´ll try. Sometimes in one of the 2 meals of the week, I use to feed them flies if they were too fat, but I mainly try to avoid fies as much as I can as I recently learned in this forum that if they are not very well kept they may couse vomits, etc.

    Hi,

    i feed some of the fat ones only once every two weeks ;)

    I feed the bigger ones around twice a week, but the shape of the mantis is a indicator for me.

    I evaluate them every feeding time. If they are slim they get food, when they are fat or before a moult they dont get food.


    Greetings Simon :P

    Mantiden sind doch auch nur missgebildete Schaben.

    :twisted:

    Die Kultur von Honigbienen ist kein Naturschutz.

    Hi Simon.


    By " don´t get " you mean that you decide to not feed them or that the mantis decide not to eat when It´s fat ? because one of my adult rhombodera males is very fussy today with food and I don´t know if that can be an indicator of I should not feed him for now as he ate a big roach a week ago.


    I decided to start feeding them following a schedule because in the past I use to feed them with zophoba and tenebrios and the mantises looked so fat but I guess that was also because of the fat of those feeders and some mantises died. Probably they were fat but hungry. I don´t know. What do you think about that ?


    Anyway, It´s soothing to hear that you may wait even 2 weeks with the fat ones.


    Thank you very much,


    best regards.

    Hi,

    I decide not to feed.


    Some species tend to be saturated longer some are more "hungry", depending a bit on the feeder too, for example: My Popa spurca are typically fed only once a week when they are to big for firebrats, because after a roach they need some time (and they are more likely to overeat and suffer from a prolapse than other species) if i feed them flies and honeybees they need food 2-3 times a week.

    But if i look at my Deroplatis trigonodera, they are endless pits ;) they eat well two times a week.


    Adult females are a bit tricky as a fat abdomen could mean a big ooth is comming ;)

    I try to feed my adults at least once a week (sometimes only a "too small" feeder), but big subadults (and younger) might only get a few drops of water when the abdomen is well rounded.


    Greetings Simon :P

    Mantiden sind doch auch nur missgebildete Schaben.

    :twisted:

    Die Kultur von Honigbienen ist kein Naturschutz.

    I don´t know if you have this problem too, but most of mantises I´ve had turn more picky and fragile the moment they are adult. Specially males. In example, the rhombodera adult male I mentioned is much more picky with roaches now and he use to be super fierce at them. I hope he is good plus now that he is adult it is much more difficult for me to see if he is actually fat or not. I´ll let a pic over here of him.

    Hi,

    Adult males almost always take smaller feeders than subadults. Thats normal.

    They get a small meal everytime i feed. So twice a week.


    Adult females usually take bigger feeders once adult (with some exceptions of course)


    Greetings Simon :P

    Mantiden sind doch auch nur missgebildete Schaben.

    :twisted:

    Die Kultur von Honigbienen ist kein Naturschutz.

    What do you think ? Do you find it fat enough ? As said, he is very picky and ignore the food. I know the pics are not the best quality but I hope they work. The females are very fierce and eat perfectly.

    Hi,

    He looks well fed yes.


    With males it takes a bit of practice but if hungry the abdomen flattens before the genital area. The last bit will always seem round even if starved to death, but the part before that will flatten.


    Greetings Simon :P

    Mantiden sind doch auch nur missgebildete Schaben.

    :twisted:

    Die Kultur von Honigbienen ist kein Naturschutz.