Im gonna butt in on this thread. Sorry.
How do you know when a mantis is getting enough to eat? Like I have been told a couple / few times a week but haven't been told how much.
With my T's if the abdomen is starting to get a bit plump I lay off feeding for a little while. Is there any way to tell if your mantis is getting too much?
Yeh, it's the same as with T's. Go by how fat they are, lol. Although you will be surprised at how much mantids can eat. I feed my nymphs every day and the bigger ones every other day :2thumb:
I'm getting a peacock and 3 orchids, I would love a flower one too I might get one - I chose them all because they're all really pretty (and probably girlie lol) but it was hard choosing I think they're all awesome.
The Peacock is a third instar so I'm guessing not such a baby as the Orchids which will be seconds?
Are they less hardy when they're young??
Some species are tough as nails as soon as they come out of the ooth. But generally they are stronger from 2nd-3rd instar. Not many people will sell them at 1st instar for this reason.
where can I get enough fruit flies for 4-5 mantids?
You can get ready made cultures from livefood websites. One of these should last a few weeks, hatching out new flies when the original ones have all died. Just put some fruit in with them every few days or so!
I wouldn't worry about messing about making your own cultures, it's pretty fiddly and not really worth it if you only have 4 mouths to feed. lol.
They won't be on fruit flies for long anyway before they are moving onto greenbottles. Then you will have fun with maggots from the fishing shop :2thumb:
Gomjaba - flightless ones are fine for mantids, it just means they don't fly everywhere when you open the lid, lol. :2thumb:
